Rhythms And Routines...
6.23am
I am sitting on the balcony with a coffee - Rodja's studio is a mile down the road so I have the luxury of twenty minutes or so to be here, before I need to be there...
I love ‘alone time’ in the early morning… I always have, time to reflect and sit and enjoy a ‘coffee meditation’ before running.
The 6am start has been a lifelong practice really….
My Dad used to do a series of exercises at 6am; pull ups, press ups, squats and more - and I often used to join in, I have vivid memories of doing deep ballet like squats holding the bathroom towel rail when I was about six years old... Mirroring his deep squats…
The light is golden, day has only just swept in and with it came torrential rain, hot and dramatic - for about ten minutes - which is what happens here... It reminds us we are on a little island… The wind whirls in and all around, the waves crash against the shore and the rain tips down, before the wind whirls the clouds off across the sea again.
Rhythms and routines seem to establish with ease, wherever we go… We soon adjust and flow with the routines of the people around us, and our own settle in too…
As human beings, even in the unfamiliar, we seem to create the familiar - we go to the same table in restaurant and we create running loops we know.
In the mornings, as I sit on the balcony sipping coffee, I am used to seeing the lady setting up her stall with green bananas (always) tomatoes (sometimes) plantains (always) potatoes and papaya (sometimes!)
In the evenings when we walk to dinner - which we have taken to doing more and more - cooking seems to have been abandoned in favour of our wander into the village where we eat a simple Caribbean meal in the bar nearby. It feels a nice end to our days of creating and running, and the day flying by…
The group who hang out together, sitting on the roadside outside their house, are part of the tapestry of our daily rhythm. Their music is very loud and familiar now, as is their regular offer to us as we go by… 'You want some Bob Marley man' (dope!) – So far we have turned them down each time…
And I now go to Rodja on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7am - and on Sunday the traditional long run is in place - intervals Tuesday and Thursday - and so it goes on… We flow through life with familiar patterns…
And within all the familiar patterns that support us as we journey and discover each strange and unfamiliar land, Anadi and I are creating something new together; and clearing anything that holds us back from discovering what this new life might look like!
6.42 - Change…!
Rodja has just emailed me to say he isn’t feeling very well – so I adapted my 'plans...' I looked in to see if Anadi was stirring - he was - and so I suggested if I made him a cup of tea, he might fancy an early run...? And perhaps we could go to the gym in the evening....
I read last week on my friend Didi's Facebook timeline that the qualities of an astronaut are: Adaptability, Resilience; Curiosity, Ability to Trust and Creativity/Resourcefulness....
It struck me that they mirror what is required of a competing athlete, and in truth qualities that are useful as a human being, being human on this planet too… but in the competing there is always the challenge of ‘being on the line’; a space where resilience is required and adaptability to look after and listen to your instrument - you - your body…
A curiosity as to what might emerge, what is possible? What lies on the running path ahead, and and the journeying within…?
Creativity and resourcefulness to always be open to making something new, out of nothing other than the raw material of you; and being vulnerable in each step, trusting yourself and those around you who witness you at your most vulnerable in the running race, where nothing is hidden, and you are exposed and transparent for all to see… It is hard to hide mid-stride flat out in a race…!
It's why I run, to access the deepest creativity within me, and go deeper into self-discovery… And then to take the learning into each day....
Running offers the opportunity for us to connect to one another and to those cheering us along the way; in our running kit; out on the open road; dependent on ourselves and trusting in the next step…
And these qualities are ones that can sustain us on the running road of life; each moment, each day, each step; being adaptable, resilient creative, resourceful curious...
Not knowing what is next and trusting that we will manage whatever unfolds….
After Anadi had drunk his tea, we ran to the land of the Cactus, and the wild horses and approached our beach from the other direction.
We thought this meant our dog wouldn't come with us...
There were lots of kite surfers on the Beach… I was so engrossed watching them prepare - the wind was whipping around playfully - the waves frothy - a great day for kite surfing for sure… So engrossed, that I didn't notice 'our dog', but he noticed us; wagging his tail with delight, he raced up to me, and put his wet sandy paws on my legs in a happy greeting. He then scampered ahead of us, excited to be 
‘going for a walk’ as we headed off the beach the other side…
After about a mile, I said
'Lets take him back - he likes to be taken for a walk, but if we go back to the beach, he seems to stay…'
So, we ran back, and as soon as we had run along it near to where we picked him up, he raced away to join his other doggy mates and seemed happy with his 'shorter than usual' walk...
'So now we know...' I said, 'he takes us for a walk and we must always bring him back...!
He is simply establishing his routine with us...
