This past weekend afforded me time to sit still and reflect. As I woke in the morning, as I moved through these slow, quiet days of rest the title of this post became so apparent. “Lie Fallow” the small voice inside me kept repeating until I could no longer deny it.
Anytime I sought to be busy it would retort, “Lie Fallow”.
As I moved into the week this phrase stayed with me.
My early morning walk to the studio is one of my favourite moments of the day. The city is still quiet. My mind is sorting through the dreams of last night, the promise and plans of the day ahead, all while I focus on the footsteps that carry me to teach. This phrase kept speaking to me, slowly turning into more than two words:
Lie Fallow.
Do not rush ahead.
Be still and let the earth beneath and within you rest.
Resist the urge to push forward.
Lie Fallow.
Do not fight the freedom of silence.
Allow the insides of this body to echo, reverberating feelings and memories.
See what rises up
See what falls away
Lie Fallow, not just until days end
Lie Fallow until the discomfort subsides,
Until the pain of past hurt turns into the healed scars of wisdom.
Trust the need for quiet.
Lie Fallow.
Too often, I fill the empty space in my life with busyness. I pack it full of “to do’s” or “must do’s”. When in reality, if I were being honest with myself, letting these spaces lie empty would serve me, and those I hope to serve much better. By letting the ground of my life, rest, recuperate and grow fertile once again.
So I will listen. I will lie fallow.
Definition: Fallow – (of farmland) plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production.
