Ode to immobility

My dear friend Phil and his lovely wife Yoko came to visit us this week to introduce us to their newest addition, 2-weeks-old Akari. She is the cutest little half-japanese rose button... The girls had fun playing with her sweet big brother, Mikaël while the adults chatted away.

Phil and Yoko live in Montreal and have chosen to not own a car. For them, coming to visit us in the forest is a big change of scenery and it was very interesting to see our little space through their eyes. The pine needle smell, the space (Yoko was telling me how big our tiny-to-me house was in the eyes of a Japanese), the quiet... Phil said I should sit outside a bit and find some inspiration to write an ode to immobility. I thought it was an interesting idea. Immobility is the opposite of who I am and, at the same time, it is also related to the quality of one's presence in the now, something I strive deeply to achieve.

How does it feel to be immobile? Right now, it feels like being stuck. I was thinking about it while driving my Westfalia this morning and it made me smile (try driving a Westfalia and not smile anyways, it's just plain impossible!). I could not get passed this in my head: Immobility can bring community, family... and French books at the library. It didn't feel very convincing... Then my mind drifted towards the past...

When I was 20, my friend Phil introduced me to rock climbing. He also made an attempt to summit Mt. McKinley while we were working together at an outdoor store in Montreal. Then, he lived in Japan for three years, traveled throughout Asia with Yoko and climbed Mt. Fuji, among other things. Soon after, they also traveled to South America. Right now, he is back at University and working at the same time, living in a small apartment with two little ones and his nights are quite short. If someone could feel trapped and unhappy, well, it could be him. But he is totally content. Isn't contentment a great thing? 

One of my favorite authors just wrote a great book that I want to read. Magical journey: an Apprenticeship in Contentment. Yes, I'm thinking I could learn something about that...

But now, I have an ode to immobility to write...