1/11/10 – Breezes in Kona

To look at environmental conditions of wind, heat, humidity, dryness, and dampness is a key to understanding the motivational imperatives of each of the elements. I’m not sure I’m fully present to all the implications, but wind become more clear today in observation of its effects on trees and water.

Wind is the energy of change, of movement and of motivation (a condition of being moved). Wind is the energy that animates and gives birth to all ideas in terms of the journey from A to B. It creates the game of life embodied in the notion of “its better over there than it is over here”.

Without wind, the surface of the ocean would have no motion and would be clear, calm, and non-erosive, having no directionality.

I see that there are two distinct realms of existence for water. The deep Yin existence and represented by the depths of currents and pressures deep below the surface. The churning of waves, of surf and foam exemplifying water’s chaotic nature, represents the shallow Yang existence.

I see the split nature of Yang Water (Bladder) and Yin Water (Kidneys) as being personified in the movement of Waves (Yang), and Currents (Yin). Currents are controlled by their own willful purpose and are unaffected by much other than their own weight and gravity. Waves, however, are very much affected Wind and the energy of change.

In the same way as change has us be vigilant and responsive to threats and changes taking place in real time which is most akin to the Bladder meridian which represents the nervous system – a system designed to process and respond to changes, and potential dangers by responding directly and immediately to any contact with change. The deep waters, however, are not as concerned with responding to change as they are willful to their own directionality and are not affected by external conditions.

In terms of relationship to Wood and creation of new ideas, wind gives us directionality. Without a particular course to take in life the potential of our willpower is never directed in any specific direction and all our energies are contained. No wind, no movement, no direction. Without wind, Fire would never spread. In the same way our warmth would never spread and our passions would never be ignited from our embers to move out to others. The Earth would never be cleaned as the Fires would never rage across it, and seeds would never be pollinated and no fragrance of what is nourishing would ever drift before us to entice our appetites to life. In the same way our minds would never have any new food to integrate, nothing fresh, and nothing nourishing. No wind and our air would never be refreshed, the trees would not be cleaned of old growth and no room would be made for the new. The Winds of change remind us that nothing is permanent and that all passes on and nothing stays the same. Without this energy Birth and Change, nothing would have motion.

Stagnation is the worst thing that can happen to us. Without wind to create change, we would be inert, lifeless, directionless, overly contained, barren, uninspiring, and completely untapped. Trapped in a rut we’d be repeating the same patterns, or we’d be inert in our inaction.

The greater the wind, the greater the change. Trees snap, fires rage, and the earth is stripped of its nourishment, all that is valued is blow away and scattered. Wind is also the energy of stress and if we are not supply, we can snap against it easily.

I watched the breeze come into Kona today and clear the air and gently stroke the trees. In animating the trees they revealed their flexibility and beauty in their dance with change.