Point Reyes Lighthouse

Point Reyes Lighthouse
3.4 miles
2 hours
Start: Sir Francis Drake Boulevard
End: Sir Francis Drake Boulevard
Includes: Sir Francis Drake Boulevard, Sea Lion Overlook, Point Reyes Lighthouse

Hike 20
April 26, 2013
Six-of-Cups
Community

The six-of-cups shows a boy giving a cup full-of-flowers to a girl. It takes place in the town square.

With this card in mind, Melinda and I headed for a walk to the lighthouse. We parked at where Sir Francis Drake Boulevard branches to Chimney Rock on the left and the Point Reyes Lighthouse on the right.

I was happy to have Melinda back from her recent trip to Hawaii. She is a great walking partner, always willing to stop to talk, admire the view or inquire about what we find.

In regard to the card-inspired theme, when I hear the word community, I get uneasy: like someone is going to ask me for money or to lift something heavy. If I refuse, I risk disapproval.

In my efforts to understand community and what it means to be a healthy, happy human, I question my negative response to the word.

Don't we all have quite enough to do without also having to do things for the community? What is community? Where does it reside? Is it somewhere outside the present moment?

As we walked, Melinda and I came into community with many things. We communed with a giant mound of very fine sand at the top of the cliff, a sand drift from who knows where, since the beach was far below.

We communed with sea lions chilling in the cold ocean waters below Sea Lion Lookout.

We communed with monkey flower and blue lupine.

We communed with black tailed deer, park service employees

and other park visitors.

We communed with lighthouse keepers of the past through their words and artifacts.

There were gladiola-like Point Reyes wallflowers and dazzling seaside daisy keeping us company

as well as the mystery of whale introduced through a perfect aperture created by nature, long ago, for connection of whale spine to brain.

The sky was there, the sea, the sand, the cypress and the wind. During our walk this was our community. We walked in it, talked in it, touched it and mulled it over in our minds. No one asked us for money and there was no heavy lifting.

The point is we are always in community. We are intimately connected to everything surrounding us. We are just as much a part of the landscape as anything else. Our presence changes the landscape for everyone.

As average humans, we feel an urge to be of service to others. As modern-day humans, we also feel cut-off from others and overburdened by the tasks of life. We have requests for help coming to us which hold little meaning. We are disinclined to get involved in anything new, since we can hardly do what is already before us.

The good news is helping our community is not something we squeeze-in in our spare time. Helping our community is something we have the opportunity to do at every moment. The best help we can give is right here, right now. This can mean a kind word, a listening heart, a smile or standing in the town square giving cups of flowers to anyone who walks by.

Being of service is meant to be a pleasure, like giving a gift just because you can. If we need help, we can be of service by letting others help us. Once we have what we need, we can help others. Gratitude for what we receive brings awareness to what we receive and how we benefit from it.

Once we have that awareness, the path is laid. We can walk the path in either direction: as giver or as receiver. Here is an example.

I walk every week on my private fool's journey. I invite friends to walk with me. Sometimes they do. This greatly enriches the experience for me by giving me company, idea intimacy, friends and fun. I consciously acknowledge the contribution to my project my friends are making. It means a lot to me.

Now, my friends who are walking are likely not doing it with a sense of burden. They come along as it suits their needs, and their needs are myriad and diverse. They are being of service to me, with no extreme effort on their part. Several friends have thanked me for the project, because it helps them to get out and enjoy the trails, which they may not have done on their own. This makes it enjoyable for all of us.

Now, since I have become aware of the service my friends are providing and the benefits I am receiving, I understand what this particular path looks like. Because I understand what it looks like, I recognized an opportunity to walk it as the giver. Here is an example.

My friend Simone is in yoga-teacher training. She asked if I might like to get together once-a-week to help her practice what she is learning. This is her asking me to go walking. Because I like yoga and my friend Simone, I say yes! We both benefit. We are both of service to each other.

Honestly, I am just starting to tap into the power of community. I think, in general, Americans suck at community. We've been so busy inculcating each other in our culture of independence we have lost our skills.

I suspect these skills with their inherent win-win-win outcomes are the answer to a lot of our trash problems.