Contemplative Inquiry

Everything changes. I took the picture above at 6.41 am, the midpoint of an early morning walk. The clouds are dark and roiling, though not a current threat. They are moving quickly. Towards the beginning of my walk, a little after six, the sky had looked very different.

Early morning walks, honouring the high summer’s gift of extended light, are a recent innovation for me at this time of my life. I now feel fully recovered from my falls and proficient in the use of my walking stick. My 77th birthday has inspired a more programmatic approach to diet and exercise.  June 2026 so far has been relatively cool and this has been good for my energy and motivation.

I notice that these walks are not especially meditative. I do not stop and look much. I don’t have a full direct sense of interconnectedness and non-separation, though I hold these as a strong conviction. I’m more goal-oriented and that narrows my horizons in the now. I’m still in the now because there’s there’s nowhere else to be. But my subjective experience feels different.

Often, as the summer develops and the Solstice is not far off, I celebrate clear contrasts of light and shade. This year, and this morning in particular, I have found these contrasts softened and more variable. Light and shade are harder to distinguish from each other. They don’t stand out in an obvious way. Yesterday evening, at 9.15 pm a little before sunset, I had the same sense at the end of the day. The interplay of light effects, and the rapid change (not shown in a still image) gave the whole sky a look of creative turbulence. I am happy to embrace this energy.