Christopher
Credit Christopher Gary Lawson
Christopher
My favorite place(s)...
There are two places that I consider my favorite(s). The ocean and the mountains. Growing up in New York City, these were not easily available to me. But I always had a drive and connection to them. Moving to Los Angeles made it a possibility and reality. As I sit writing this, I'm thankful to be at one of them... the ocean.
The ocean has been a constant source of peace for me. It's a place to find grounding and to realize how minuscule I and my problems are compared the the vastness of this world. You cannot help but feel small, yet somehow connected to the largeness of it.
I am as poor a swimmer as it gets, and have nearly drowned on a number of occasions, but the call of the ocean always lures me to it. I can recall surfing my first wave and feeling the immense power of the ocean under foot. It was like riding on a stampede of horses... so humbling. I have come to feel that I can pour my soul and worries into it. During the Tashlikh prayer, on the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah, worshipers symbolically throw their sins into a source of water. I have learned to bring my worries to the ocean in a similar way, by going to it in meditation and standing in prayer at the shore. During the early phases of the COVID pandemic, getting to the ocean every day, even if only for 10 minutes, was a way to have an encounter with peace during such a tumultuous time.
The mountains, however, are my testing grounds. I have taken to running in the many mountains and canyons that SoCal has to offer. I try weekly to take a trip up to a canyon and run the trials up and then back down.
I find that mountain running has become a barometer for where I am physically, mentally and spiritually. Running and especially up a mountain is never easy. No matter your physical conditioning, running is a challenge. I can recognize in how I am able (or unable) to push myself further, what state of mind I am in. I am a firm believer in the 3 that makes the one- mind, body and spirit. When they are aligned, that is the sign of optimal health. It's also a reminder of the consistent climb that life is.
We are always climbing to achieve our goals, and that reward is to reach the summit, honoring the trail along the way. I find that when I reach the summit, I take the time to take off my running shoes and sit down and meditate and pray. Then its back down to try again another day.
Peace
