At peace with a sign..

I was 20 years old and driving through the Australian Outback. I came across a sign that said "You are not in (location)". Before seeing the humor, I remember being extremely irritated and thinking that I couldn't have come up with a more useless and random sign if I entered a million dollar contest. That comment may lead a person to believe that I am completely void of imagination, but knowing the circumstances you may think differently:

At this point I had a '78 "three in the tree" Holden Kingswood whose engine we had put back together with coat hangers. An at home rust kit and had been applied "artfully" to the exterior, and we were relying on the gas in our tank and two full jerry cans in the "boot" to somehow take us to our next destination along a very flat, hot and isolated highway. The catch was the destination was unknown - we (thought)we were "flying by the seat of our pants". So you could see how my reaction to my unknown whereabouts, as demonstrated by this sign, was not as freeing and hilarious of a feeling as it would have been if I truely knew what "flying by the seat of my pants" meant. I could proclaim that as my intention, but I am not sure if I was able to truly understand the definition of allowing myself to be free from the inside instead of carelessly following an unknown path in search of the next soulful thrill.

This sign entered my life 12 years ago. I have randomly thought back to the encounter over the years, but it wasn't until today, in a hot yoga class, that I came to peace with the irony of it's truth as we can apply it to our lives today.

The beginning of my time on the yoga mat is usually spent by the teacher guiding me through a breathing meditation to let go of my day as it has passed, and the expectations of the day as it will come. Yet today, she said something different..."Let yourself be where you aren't..."

So I did... I let my breathe flow like water into areas it should go naturally, and I took away my conscious thought therefore allowing myself to escape from the heat, the exertion and the awareness of the person beside me. I was no longer in the physical "yoga class", and I was fine... free without the expectations that certain surface awareness can bring. Maybe that is the true meaning of "flying by the seat of your pants"... it isn't a destination - it is simply being where you aren't. Interesting.