Cricket is out for a walk on this cool, but marvelous early spring day. The sun is out, and the skies are blue, which made Cricket believe that it would be balmy. Once out, she discovers that its quite cool, so she walks fast to keep warm. The trail is dry, but patches of snow are still visible in shady spots and everywhere she sees sun-bleached cheatgrass and remnants of dried, rust-colored flowers on broomweed stalks.
The red sandstone back-drop evokes its usual warmth in Cricket’s heart, reminding her of the encounter with Elephant (Cricket Meets an Ally) and Elephant’s What-is-your-intention? line of questioning. Cricket recognizes that Elephant is right – that having an intention is necessary for conscious living and conscious living is Cricket’s desire. After all, Cricket is tired of getting sucked up into each distraction and desires to live a more meaningful life. She hikes up the ridge closer into the cliffs, where it’s shady and cooler and turns east into the cold wind. The wind blows life directly into her face, the same Wind that always reminds Cricket of the larger reality – the world and beyond.
She envisions Elephant asking her:
How do you want to live?… What really matters to you?… What is your life about?…
Cricket looks around at the pinions and junipers, sagebrush and shadscale – they all seem to have the answers to these existential questions – each plant sitting in its designated spot on this earth, each plant individual and uniquely its own. This reminds Cricket of each individual human being on this planet and her intention quickly unfolds. Like each individual plant, Cricket’s desire is to become fully authentic; to become distinctly the individual that she is – to stand on her designated, rightful spot on this earth. To no longer be constrained by trying to be what she perceives others want her to be.
Cricket is suddenly aware of the unfolding possibilities of what authenticity means and how that may affect how she lives, her very life – the ability to fully express her heart, to stand up for what she believes, to speak honestly, to own who she is. Cricket stops and breathes in this pivotal moment. Her heart now completely malleable, dripping with softness. She takes in the cliffs, plants, blue sky – her heart brimming full. Grateful to Elephant and Wind, with new life vested in her, she heads down the ridge. Committed to this intention of being fully alive, fully herself, she turns toward home.
