I. C. E. - Inner Cosmic Experience
Would you accept an invitation from the Guardian of Ice?
Winter is a portal that my curious self often has to coax my tired self out to explore. I'm not a fan of being cold. I like being warm and cozy, but experience has taught me that if I bundle up in the appropriate winter clothing the rewards of being out in the chilly landscape far surpass looking at it through frosty glass (although that can be quite lovely too!). There is so much that can be discovered in the bare, chill stillness. I'm reminded that magic abounds and the cosmic dwells within the miniature. "Do not become complacent." I tell myself. "Stay awake to the mystery within the frozen world!"
The wintery world is a portal, an invitation to shapeshift and cross over into other dimensions.
In the area where I live, we're blessed to be surrounded by lakes and ponds, a network of waterways that stretches for miles in all directions. With the lack of snow and abundance of frigid temperatures this winter, the ice has been able to grow a foot thick. At night I lay awake listening to it singing, like a great frozen beast that's awoken and is stirring and stretching in its frozen lair. Apparently when ice is new its song is higher pitched, and as it thickens the sounds it makes change, becoming deeper and more garbled in tone. I love the mystery of it!
My imagination comes alive with a new awareness and I tune into what's arising out of the strange, deeply vast cold.
Listen! Can you hear them? Great giants live amongst us! You and I walk within a landscape as if dreamt up by Tolkien. It's not too difficult to expand my view of the trees becoming Ents and fiery dragons swooping down out of the sky. After all, if you awaken early enough before the sunrise and look to the eastern sky towards the end of January and into February, just to the north of Venus you'll see the graceful constellation of Cygnus soaring along the path of the milky way; and if you continue around to the north, Draco the dragon will greet you, poised as if guarding his treasure. I could go on and on, but I digress.
ICE
I want to direct your attention back to that frozen magical world that awakens wonder and delight if you dare to cross the wintery threshold and shapeshift just a little. Never mind wearing rose-colored glasses. All you need is the heart of a child, the curiosity of a puppy and the desire of a National Geographic photographer to succeed. All these attributes exist within you and with a simple refocusing of your attention away from busy adulting behavior to wide-eyed gleeful, "it's Christmas morning!!" behavior you'll be well on your way to meeting giants, flying through the stars and exploring the crystalline dimensions of ice!
I.C.E. - INNER COSMIC EXPERIENCE
Traveling at warp speed we embark on an epic journey of discovery to distant galaxies and magical new star systems that once upon a time existed well beyond our conscious awareness.
In the quick blink of an eye, we're whisked across this frosty threshold and into another dimension, an eye-popping world that exists alongside ours. A magical realm which the cold has clothed and made manifest, where rainbows shimmer and water's secrets are held in stasis — frozen in a cosmic sea.
The magical realm of water frozen embodies all the minutiae of the elements of time and place captured for your gleeful child-self to see.
Temperature dictates how clear the ice is; cracks portray a passage of time when the cold settled in and the water molecules expanded; and hidden underwater springs betray themselves appearing on the frozen surface like nerve cells and gangly sea creatures.
The closer I looked the more I felt myself crossing over into a magical crystalline world. Was I looking through a microscope at the inner workings of a cell, the botanical cosmos of a blade of grass, a drop of sea water inhabited by frozen dinoflagellates and diatoms? Or was I flying over an icy mountain range as beautiful as the Himalayas, witnessing intersecting planes of existence only now visible to the naked eye, or was it even more grand — was I experiencing the speed of light?!
Macrocosm or Microcosm? One loses all sense of being when one chooses to forgo one's human sensibilities.
Oh, I so wish you were there with me to experience the astounding beauty of that frozen pond on that sunny winter's afternoon. What I want you to know is even though you weren't with me you can still experience these magical moments for yourself.
How does one enter the portal and cross over the threshold into magical worlds, you ask? How can you experience the extraordinary in the typical, ordinary, every day?
Ahh, the answer is simple really. All you need to do is be willing to do things a little bit differently...
1. Follow your sense of curiosity.
2. Say yes to what intrigues you.
3. Follow the path of delight.
4. Embrace what lights you up.
5. Sink into the moment.
6. Let the known world slip away.
7. Open to being fully present.
8. Accept what's happening.
WHEN THE GUARDIAN OF ICE COMES KNOCKING
I encourage you to accept winter's invitation. Cross over the threshold and fly amongst the stars that dwell within universes elegantly enclosed in frozen drops of water. Experience what it's like to travel at the speed of light or to witness what time looks like when it's frozen. Just maybe you'll return with answers and a heart full of magical cosmic delight.
One thing is for certain, you'll return to your familiar life having connected with a profound beauty and grace not found anywhere else.
You'll have had an Inner Cosmic Experience - I.C.E.!
