Ambling.

Sometimes you just need to be free from the physical constraints of life: your education, your work, your family, your faith, your friends.
Sometimes, you just need to amble.
When was the last time that you walked around town aimlessly, wanting nothing, searching for nothing, free of obligations? Too long.
When was that last time that your mind was so at ease that you noticed the soft coo of a mourning dove and smiled, or the pretty trill of a song bird, and wanted to sing along?

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When was the last time that I meandered, nay, ambled through a park and noticed the way the sunlight filters through the leaves of the eucalyptus, or the ducks interacted with one another in the pond?
Too long.
For too long has my society held me in its grasp. The decisions I have made in terms of my commitments to friends, family, the faith, school -- they have all "held" me back from being one with life.
But knowing this, I am able to take the time to detach myself and look at life in a broader sense, I am able to amble again.

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An amble is not necessarily a stroll in the park, or a walk through the woods. It can be any leisurely way you let your mind loose of its earthly holds.
I amble in my mind, as I lay down in the grass behind my house, listening to the sounds of the birds chirping, the wind rustling through leaves as the branches sway, the water as it laps up against the edge of the lake.
I amble through my relationships as I meander about my campus, with no particular place to go, observing the way students will avoid one another until they recognize a face, or how staff will go out of their way to smile at a disabled kid, even if he has friends around him.
I amble through my soul as I sit down in peace and quiet with a prayerbook, meditating on the existence of a soul, and allowing it to amble through the writings as it so pleases.

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Ambling produces the best meditation, the most beautiful observations, and a sense of calm throughout.
Please, take the time to amble this week. Clear the second half of your day, and just be. Just exist in this world, which is so beautiful and worth existing in.