This post is about balance. And play. Sometimes, I find it easy to take myself or the world events too seriously. I find, while the events are serious, I need a reminder to have a heart full of play. A playful heart encourages playful actions and in this world, that helps lead the way forward.
With a playful heart, I have been lead to sleeping bumblebees. I first bumped into one that was hanging on an explosion of goldenrod arching into my front walkway. “I am sorry to disturb you little bee. Keep dreaming and remember this disruption as a sweet dream when you wake up.” After that, I took note that bumblebees were EVERYWHERE on the goldenrod and that they stayed there until they warmed enough to move again. How vulnerable they looked. My playful heart encouraged me to sing to the bees in the early morning, so I did.
This practice became a new morning ritual for me. Sometimes I would sing, sometimes I would talk to the bees and gently welcome them into the morning. It was playful. It was joyful. My heart felt so full to start the day. I felt my scale tipping towards joy and love every morning. My body responded to this practice and wanted even more. I began to go out and wish the bees goodnight in the evenings as well. I often say goodnight to the honeybees on the land and love that sense of connection. This practice of saying goodnight to these more exposed, very vulnerable bees felt different. I felt as if I was tending to my own vulnerable spaces inside my body as well. I felt the need to hide my own vulnerabilities soften. I felt more in balance with myself.
As I still continue this practice, I am sinking into more of the play. What funny sleeping arrangements and positions these bumblebees have at night! Here are a few of the patterns that I am finding as I tiptoe around in the evenings and mornings.
The main sleeping arrangements are: close enough to feel community, comfort in touch, alone. You can see examples of this below in consecutive order:
The main sleeping positions are: fully exposed, under the flower, getting creative, shown in that order below.
The flowers can change, yet these patterns above seemed to hold true no matter the type of flower. What is interesting about this, is imagining humans in the same situations. Well, in general, not actually sleeping on flowers. It is easy to see the patterns if you think of your own sleeping arrangements and positions. Do you sleep near a person (or being, perhaps your cat or dog shares the bed with you), need to touch them while sleeping (even if it is just your toe poking over, or are you a “I have the whole bed to myself” sort of sleeper? Do you sleep on top of the covers, completely under, or toss and turn and end up in some strange contorted position?
As you can see, a playful heart can be silly and fun and take you down some interesting thought paths! In my case, it helped me find some balance as well!
Here’s a few more pictures of sleeping bees for you to enjoy! Can you pick out the patterns of sleeping arrangements and positions? 🙂
Have a playful day!
The Dragon is the Dream of the Bee 