It's an hour's hike down 755 feet of spirals and switchbacks to the floor of Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico. My knees protest the unrelenting steepness of the trail and my emotions protest the loss of light, the descent into darkness.This journey into the womb of the earth scares me, which surprises me. I recall neither physical nor emotional intensity during my last visit here, in 2005. I remember only the sculptural beauty of the calcite formations and the ghostly otherworldliness of this underground realm.
This time, though, the trek has me close to tears at times, and I'm embarrassingly relieved when I complete the mile-long circuit of the 8.2-acre Big Room and find myself waiting for the elevator to whisk me back to the surface.As I return to the light, I'm suddenly aware of the powerful metaphor I have just experienced. On this day before my birthday, I have had my own rebirth: into the womb, which, however embracing, is still dark and confining for a spirit accustomed to infinite light and space...up through the birth canal with remarkable speed and ease...and into a new day, a new life, a new outlook and a renewed purpose.
Tomorrow, on my birthday, I expect to ascend to the heavens and touch the stars -- with a visit to the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of west Texas.
The rebirthing continues...
Carlsbad Caverns NPS photos by Peter Jones: #1 Cavern entrance; #2 Big Room formations
A beautiful metaphor beloved one.
ReplyDeleteRebirth is always a blessed event.
It is always a pleasure to read your chronicles.
Thank you for sharing your feelings.
Have a wonderful time looking into the cosmos...send a wish my way...that all that are now awakening experience a beautiful rebirth...such as yours.
Love and oneness,
Mara
Dear Mara,
ReplyDeleteThank, as always, for blessing me with your energy and your comments.
Blessings, always,
Mark David
hau'oli la hanau!
ReplyDeletehappiest birthday, Mark David!
much aloha, Connie Rios
Brought back some oooooold memories. I took the Carlsbad Cavern tour when I was just ten years old on a family vacation. Still can rememeber the absolute silence and the drip. drip. drip when the tour guide had us all be quiet for a couple minutes and listen. And the splendor of the sights. Very intense. But then so is our "regular" "everyday" life and world if we but pause to really look and wonder, right?
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing such a powerful experience.
ReplyDeleteYou're going through a lot of unsettling changes, it makes sense that this rebirth is not without its difficulties!
Take care,
I.
Transformation is, by its very nature, un-settling before it can be re-settling!
ReplyDeleteYou might also enjoy the most recent piece on my other blog, titled Surrender to the Journey.