On a recent visit to Kripalu, a yoga center in western Massachusetts, my sister and I took a late afternoon walk before attending a dance class. But before we went inside, we stood gazing at the sunset. Snow covered the sloping hill side, and bare trees showed off their elegant architecture in fading light that seemed to have been infused with fairy dust.

Silently we took all of this in. And silently I spoke to the exquisite landscape, which seemed to be shimmering with meaning: What have you come to tell me? I asked.

No answer.

Then, I heard my sister, say, “Embrace me!”

I turned to look at her. “Excuse me?” I asked.

“Well, I felt like the landscape was saying that, ‘Embrace me!’ ” she explained a bit sheepishly, “so I just said it out loud.”

What a funny way the world has of talking to us! I asked the question silently, my sister heard the answer in her head and gave it voice.

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p.s. My sister (who also happens to be a prolific blogger)  is visiting from her home in Japan. She is without her computer and without her camera, so she was not able to post on her own blog this week. She asked me to blog about our shared experience for her, so she could participate in Corner View even while she was “unplugged.” I hope you will visit her blog, too, and read some of her touching posts!

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p.s.s. Asking a question of an inanimate object, symbol, or image, is a dreamwork technique called Active Imagination. It is often useful to dialogue with dream symbols in this way to engage the sub conscious and the conscious mind to find meaning in a dream or waking experience (such as an illness, accident, or encounter with nature). I write about it elsewhere on this blog.