Perseverating on Wild Flowers

To Perseverate: repeat or prolong an action, thought, or utterance after the stimulus that prompted it has ceased

Anaconda, Montana- July 28
I've always loved the word 'perseverate'. Why say 'obsess' when you can say 'perseverate'? It's a verb that has been active in my not too distant past, a verb that kept me from sleeping, troubled by gardening hiatus, and generally felt like the opposite of staying in present time.

I noticed, in the last few days, that there was pretty much nothing that was hooking me into that worried, fretful preoccupation. My thoughts were mild, fleeting, centered mostly on the moment at hand.

Today, in a hike in the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness, around the upland beauty of Storm Lake, there were only wildflowers... everywhere, in all colors, healthy, glistening in the sun. It's almost all my mind could focus on. I had been relieved of the constant vigilance for bears by a local hiker who told me where to hike. "If you're lucky enough to see a Black Bear, don't worry," said he. So I didn't, and it was only wildflowers that claimed my attention.

Again, I am aware that this jumping out of the day-to-day preoccupations of my regular life has created space and calm and balance. Despite the ever-changing landscape and minute by minute required decision making, there is so much interior room to notice the beauty and the repeated moments of magic. This is important! This could be a recipe, something to bottle and promote.

I don't know if the solo version is an important ingredient. I think for me that it is, at least for now. The self directed choices that only need to work for me retain no static, they are mine and therefore always meant for me. Given as a gift to celebrate and reflect on.

In this world that has always been in the process of going mad, always been struggling to find balance  and peace, there are wildflowers in the hills, almost anywhere. They are a balm and a tonic. I send a prayer of gratitude.