It's Not Just Fishy Business

Every year around this time, the salmon leave the ocean and swim up Pudding Creek for their spawn. They leave the depths of the ocean, travel upstream around fallen trees and against the currents, and reproduce. Shortly thereafter, they die.

It really is quite a feat of trust and diligent effort, although I doubt that the salmon think of it that way.

Just like the salmon, we are embedded in this huge thing that we don't have control over. Climate change! Politics! Relationship problems! Fires! Health issues! Structures of oppression, power, and wealth!

From the garden, I can hear the salmon as they splash and jump through the strong steady flow of water rushing to the sea. They push through, moving against the stream.

 The Buddhist path is said to be "against the stream," and just like the salmon, we can keep going upstream into the unknown. We can do our best to wake up and remember that we are a part of something bigger and that our worth doesn't have to be determined by external factors like beauty, wealth, or even "smarts".

The journey upstream for the salmon is its last and contains with it the promise of something new, the next generation.  Within every ending is a new beginning, and within every beginning is an ending.

Remember to keep going, just like the salmon, into the unknown and unfamiliar territory of the future. Bring your trust and your diligent effort with you, and don't forget to do a little yoga and meditation along the way.