The Woman Who Fell from the Sky

In an old Haudenosaunee creation story, a woman falls from the Sky World.

Below her, there is no land.

Only water.

As she falls, birds rise to meet her.
They soften her descent.

The animals gather.
They see she needs a place to rest.

One by one, they try to bring earth from beneath the waters.

Some fail.
Some return exhausted.
Still, the effort continues.

At last, a small piece of earth is brought up and placed on the back of Turtle.

From that small beginning, the world begins to form.

What a beautiful image.

A fall becomes a beginning.
Water becomes possibility.
A turtle becomes ground.
A small handful of earth becomes a world.

In everyday life, we also fall.

Not always dramatically.

Sometimes we fall from certainty.
From a plan.
From an identity.
From the way we thought life was supposed to unfold.

At first, there may be no ground.

Only confusion.
Only uncertainty.
Only the feeling of being suspended between what was and what has not yet appeared.

But often, something rises to meet us.

A friend.
A breath.
A small kindness.
A quiet moment.
A part of ourselves we did not know was still strong.

And slowly, ground appears.

Not all at once.

A little earth.
A little support.
A little willingness to begin again.

Awareness does not always stop the fall.

Sometimes awareness is simply noticing:

I am falling.
Something is holding me.
Ground may still be forming.

And perhaps life is not asking us to return to the old sky.

Perhaps it is asking us to help create the ground beneath our feet.

Living with Awareness @ Gamantra.com