Holding Tension

Holding tension is both an art and a discipline. 

Like drawing a bow, a yoga pose as a beginner, or sitting with a partially formed idea. We can hold on to the tension until it becomes unbearable and goes off suddenly like a released balloon in all sorts of unpredicted directions, we can gently unwind it, or we can sit with it, become familiar with it, harness it, direct it, and release it with intent.

I sense that it is what "now" feels like for many people, myself included. The tension is being created by the pull of the familiar in one direction and the knowledge that we will have to change and embrace unfamiliar habits and practices in the other. It is getting stronger by the day. 

I have written before about it, describing it as a 'quickening", and that term still feels appropriate. A heightening of the senses, awareness of an accelerated heartbeat, alert for something we know is there but cannot see or describe.

Johnnie Moore brought my attention to a short video featuring Patricia …