Balance Archives - Page 4 of 4 -

Wildlife….Two Sides of a Story

By Simone Lipscomb | September 14, 2013

Photo taken by Laguna Key Team member today of raided and consumed soon-to-be hatchlings

Today I received a text from my friend and sea turtle team leader than one of our nests had been raided and consumed by a fox. 105 eggs of nearly hatched loggerhead sea turtles became the meal of one of our beach foxes.

Sadness enveloped me. Not just for this precious, threatened species of ocean-living reptiles but for the skinny, malnourished red foxes who eek out a living in the dunes of the beaches. We have had problems with foxes this year. They have approached us very closely as we sit near the nests at night.

One night I was sitting at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico, avoiding the interaction and chatting among visitors at the nest. I wanted to connect with the tranquility of the evening. I felt something close-by and turned around to see a fox curled up maybe ten feet from me. I suspect humans have been feeding them and she was awaiting a morsel, a tid-bit of something to help stop her hunger.

So now, tourist season is over and easy handouts are no longer coming from well-meaning guests of our beaches. Even the garbage that might have fed them has all but disappeared. So what is left are hungry foxes.

These foxes are so skinny they look like slim cylinders of red fur with four stick legs. The extra food sources during our busy season causes them to have more babies; however, when the food source is gone, starving foxes will go to great lengths to obtain nourishment.

Our sea turtle nests have predator grates staked on them but let’s face it, if you or I were hungry we would work hard for food and persist in obtaining it.

I can’t be angry at the foxes or vilify them. They are wild animals trying their best to survive. I know there are lessons for us in this tale but it doesn’t take away the feeling of loss, of sadness.

Part of our team after processing a newly-laid nest earlier this summer.

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Infinite

By Simone Lipscomb | August 28, 2013

Nest sitting for sea turtles has the reward of helping insure baby loggerheads find their way safely to the Gulf of Mexico. But there are other reasons I volunteer for this work of love. This evening reminded me of the value of spending time outdoors, not for the hoped-for end outcome but for everything else that happens.

Six p.m. to nine p.m. was my shift. It was still sunny and bright when I arrived at the nest but the air was dryer than usual and the sky was clear…an oddity this summer after forty-something days of rain. I set up my beach chair and reclined so I could gaze into the cerulean sky.

Within minutes I relaxed and felt myself unwinding. Tension drained away as the waves gently sloshed onshore. Gulls flew west to their roosting place for the evening. The space of quiet in nature was mirrored within me. Everything within became incredibly still. I didn’t sleep but simply found myself in a place of perfect peace.

As the light gradually faded tiny stars began to emerge from the darkening sky. That time of transition from day to night is most magical, most powerful. As other team members gathered I moved to sit on the sand at the water’s edge so I could experience just a little more time of inner quiet and stillness.

I felt clean on the inside….really clear and clean. Open, expansive and yes, even infinite like the night sky. The fuzzy part of the Milky Way was easily seen in the distance in the open sky over the Gulf and I pondered the immensity of it all but mostly I just sat and looked at the now-black sky sprinkled with shimmering stars…..and the night-black ocean.

The best word I know to describe the evening is infinite. I’m learning to appreciate stillness and silence and I’m learning to be receptive to the bounty of blessings that are waiting to fill me and my life….and yours, too…wherever you are and whatever is in your sky this night. May it bring the experience of the Infinite.

A Healthy Dose of Nature

By Simone Lipscomb | August 27, 2013

Sometimes a bit of nature helps me find balance, especially when I have sudden and unexpected emotions pop up. Things have been going well for weeks with my heart opening with feelings of it delightfully expanding in unconditional love and all the good stuff. Then for some reason, around lunch time, it was like poof! And I felt off balance.

It’s normal to have ups and downs. Being human and living life guarantees emotional tides. But when they bounce in and jump out, like my orange boy cat trying to scare me, I don’t get it.

It was like a dark cloud hanging over me. But I went on with my day–shopping at the natural food store in Pensacola, planting veggie seeds in the garden, potting plants for the courtyard fence and I still felt weird. So I decided to head south.

Our sea turtle team has a nest very close to hatching so I drove down to the beach for sunset with my camera and tripod and visited with folks and took photographs. At one point I sat on the damp sand near the water’s edge and just allowed the motion of the waves to cleanse the cloud from around me. I sang a while to the sea and by the time I left, was feeling better. Still a bit ‘off’ but lighter.

No matter what I’m going through, a healthy dose of nature seems to make everything better.

Focusing with Intention

By Simone Lipscomb | August 21, 2013

1187094_506793456068912_195484924_n — Pure Barre image

I was standing at the barre on tip toe on one foot with the other leg and foot straight out behind me pulsing little pulses down and back up. My legs were screaming and shaking and I wasn’t confident I could complete the set. I refocused and went deeper into my muscles and pushed even higher on my toes.

Sweat was more than glistening as I completed that part of workout and felt strength surge through me. “YES! I made it!”

Driving home I contemplated my Pure Barre workout. Why is it I feel so good afterwards? My mind is clear, my body feels open and pleasantly fatigued, and I find a new sense of balance each day. My daughter insists that the 55 minutes a day helps her maintain focus and think of nothing else for that precious hour. I agree.

With busy lives we tend to focus on everything outside ourselves….jobs, school, kids, relationships, environmental issues, social issues….an endless list of potential distractions. All are important but sometimes hard to ‘turn-off’ in our minds. What Pure Barre is teaching me is to connect deeply with my core, to be physically and mentally in sync.

And as is so often the case, my current spiritual study theme is being mirrored in the physical, day-to-day life. This week the task is to do everything with intention–to focus full attention on everything I do. An intense task. I realized in class today the intensity of my focus and ability to communicate with one muscle or a small area of muscle boosts my spiritual practice. When I am able to surrender my mind completely to the task at hand, I can make it through those challenging workouts.

By putting everything I have into the task in front of me, I can see amazing results. Whether in my body, my mind (thoughts, focus) or spirit.

The other major teaching Pure Barre is helping me learn is that the most important relationship I can have in this world is the one with myself. Not from a selfish point of view but from a point of balance. If I am balanced and aware of what’s happening within me, I can be clearer in my relationships with everyone else. And so I finally understand this truth: This time of my life is to develop a very deep and healthy relationship with myself…body, mind, spirit. End of story.

Whatever clicks for each of us is where we can focus our attention…our intention….and become healthier, happier individuals. As for me, you’ll find me focusing with intention and gratitude at my local Pure Barre studio. (Disclaimer…nobody is soliciting my writing or paying me to share my process….this is my wild heart fired-up with something that is working for me).