"Dust in the Wind" and Close Calls

Today I am grateful for safe travels for my husband Darcy and the time he got to spend with his son Arthur. I am also grateful for songs that help me process emotions, both those welcome and less welcome ones.

My recent soundtrack has included two Kansas songs: Dust in the Wind and The Wall. 

I heard "Dust in the Wind" on my way to work yesterday. I thought of my mom, my sister Mary Jo, my own existence.

Kansas guitarist Kerry Livgren wrote the song after reading some Native American poetry and coming across the line "For all we are is dust in the wind." Here are some of the lyrics:

I close my eyes only for a moment and the moment's gone

All my dreams pass before my eyes a curiosity

Now don't hang on

Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away

And all your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind

Everything is dust in the wind

This song sometimes strikes me as sorrowful, and at other times it is extremely profound. This morning it is both for me, and that is the gift of an open-heart, paved through living gratefully and fully embracing the struggles and the joys. 

A little further down the road yesterday morning, there were sudden brake lights and we all slowed down for what I soon saw was a pair of geese crossing the road. Likely mates, and geese mate for life, they both made it safely into the median. A close call and tragedy averted.

Life is full of close calls. Tragedies that never happen. Certain death avoided within inches. A pause and a closed mouth, sparing harm to feelings.

Living gratefully, I feel the edge of those close calls we all get, and I also live on the edge of the simple joys of embracing existence. A pause in the present moment brings me into those simple joys, floods me with hope and peace.

Before I become dust in the wind, I will continue to pursue that joy, hope, and peace.