Stranded!

I’m finally back home after spending 3 days and 2 nights in Winter Park.  A spring snow storm brought about 4 feet of snow to the front range and central mountains, closing the main highway and pass to Winter Park (Berthoud) for over 24 hours. I was fortunate enough to have a friend with a couch to spare. Ordinarily one might complain when being stuck for 3 days away from home – not me! With over 3 feet of snow to ski and a nearly empty mountain I was in heaven.  I’ve never experienced this much snow in Colorado before – every turn was waist deep and immaculate.  Faceshots could be found on groomers. An absolutely amazing way to end the season.In addition to the incredible skiing, the weekend also provided plenty of opportunity for practice. I was essentially stranded with my ski gear and nothing else. I had no vehicle, no clothing, no laptop, no phone, no books, not even a toothbrush. I had friends bringing these things up to Winter Park but they weren't able to leave Denver all weekend and I was stuck with what I had on me and in my ski pack. At first there was a lot of frustration with my inability to ‘do whatever I wanted’, but I eventually settled into a more simple life, simply going with the flow and being dependent on other people’s schedules.  How did we survive before cell phones? Without a phone, I would have to commit to being at a certain place at a certain time and just wait until someone arrived. What originally was very frustrating became very enjoyable. Yesterday as I sat waiting for my friends to show up at Mary Jane I found the opportunity for meditation as the first rays of sunshine in 4 days snuck through the clouds. I know as I travel around the world later this year I will find myself in this predicament almost daily, and its important that I be at peace with it.My practice as of late has been taking a deep look at what it means to slow down, to disconnect and to not put undue expectations on myself.  My friend Marc just started reading a book about our relationship to time – he quoted the author saying “time is both our most abundant resource and yet our scarcest”. What does time mean to you? Is time real? Does time exist outside of the psychological mind?  Maybe I should read the book :)  That’s what I’ll be looking at this week.