Resisting the current

In yoga this morning, our instructor was beside herself with emotion about the inauguration. I think the feeling was mutual among most in the class and most in the country. She talked about how part of yoga was finding the good streams and stepping into them. She invoked the image of this historic inauguration and the good stream of energy that people across the world are feeling and how we should step into and contribute to that positive energy.

I was thinking about this as I watched the inauguration. Stepping into the positive streams. It seemed to me that my chosen role is so often (perhaps too often) a riffle in that stream. I seem to always want to block the flow--to implore people to take some time to think about the energy rather than following along with that.

Anyone in stream restoration will tell you that riffles are healthy. They keep the water from moving too fast and incising the stream. Being a riffle is a position of constant unhappiness, though. Fighting the current is no fun. It occurred to me that perhaps I should make it a point to join the current more often. To revel in its force and power in order to fully appreciate it. Once I fully appreciate, perhaps I can more effectively place myself as a riffle.

But I also wonder about the current. I hope that, just as in yoga practice, the members of the current don't get lazy and just follow along. I hope that current-goers understand that the stream is working and every member must engage in propelling it along in the proper path. Don't just let the current carry you. The work is not done, America. It has but just begun.