This is a short book that took a long time. As my healing progressed, so did the summer. I was amazed at how long it took me to do simple tasks. When I first started to drive after a month I would organize my trips like I had done in the past, only to find that I could actually accomplish a fraction of what I had set out to do. I would notice minute details that I’m sure were always there but not seen when operating at a different speed.
The I Ching has been a part of my life for many years. When I was in China at a Taoist temple I noticed a hexagram over the altar and because I don’t know the hexagrams by heart, I wrote it down to look it up when I returned home. It was hexagram 17, depending on what translation you use (I’m using the Wilhelm translation), it is the Following; how appropriate for people attending at the temple. But it isn’t following blindly it states, “If a man (woman) would rule he (she) must first learn to serve”. That has always resonated with me – that sliding scale between leader/follower, teacher/student, etc. – because in that relationship both bring something and are nurtured.
illuminated by the divisions of bamboo
so it seemed only fitting to have the beach be a part of my summer.