Did you ever ride a bike with training wheels when you were a kid? Or even trickier, have you ever tried walking on a tight rope? How about paddling a canoe or kayak on flat water?

What these things have in common is that they all start out in stillness, with an air of chaos and uncertainty. That moment between standing still in anticipation and actually getting in gear is like being perched on the tip of a diving board.

More importantly, they all provide somatic lessons in balance and momentum. There’s a crucial moment between being poised in anticipation and tentatively making your first forward moves.

They say that the journey from zero to one is longer than the distance between one and 100. Getting off the starting line is the biggest leap of all. But those next 99 steps are where the rubber hits the road.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with being still. Life without pause for reflection is sure to be turbulent. Yet life, like time, moves predictably forward — one must learn to go with the flow.

Whenever Isa and I are talking about some tedious task or interminable ordeal, we often gesture with our hands as if we are rowing a boat.

It’s just how life is, sometimes the forward motion comes so fast and so quickly you can barely hang on, and other times you just have to put your shoulder into it and trundle on through.

This also explains why those sudden moments of trauma can create little sticking points in your consciousness that can hang you up later when you least expect it. You’re flowing along in life and something unpleasant throws you off track. Your subconscious builds a stop sign at the starting line.

Clearing trauma is crucial, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Learn by watching a duck — when one gets upset, they simply ruffle their feathers, shake off the water, and keep placidly paddling along.

Lately I’ve experienced training wheels of a different sort. Taking on a foreign language at my ripe old age is a serious test of my brain’s flexibility. I’ve got the apps and I’m taking online classes at the JC. But when I’m in the US, there’s not much chance at immersion.

A couple of months ago, I was selling records at the French Market in Marin and a friendly Romanian fellow invited me to an informal group that meets every Monday at a local café.

During the appointed hour, everyone does their best to socialize in French, regardless of their skill level. The chef, Pierre, grew up in both places, and a couple of the folks are retired French teachers. Others have been practicing for years, and then there’s a few like me who are struggling to string a few thoughts together.

Being on the spot in real time, thinking on my feet answering and asking questions feels much like riding a bike for the first time. It’s one thing to have a head full of vocabulary and grammar and rules of conjugation. It’s another to dive headlong into the stream of conversation.

Life happens at the tipping point between balance and momentum. Pair poise with progress when you dance between the two.

Much love till next Monday!

Merci et à bientôt!

M+

ML #670

Mark Metz
Monday Love Movement Calendar