The Way of the Elbow

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Paeans & Dithyrambs

A circle is perfect if every point of its perimeter lies equidistant from its center.
A triangle is isosceles if each of its angles measures 60°.
Four corners engender a quadrilateral.

But consider the cloud-capped peaks at sunrise in mid-September.
Or the air that tastes like rain,
The lines in marble
Or the grain in wood:
Such organic forms possess their own perfection;
An order that defies description.

Do we see a cottonwood & criticize it if it's crooked? Suppose a fox stalks past the window: do we evaluate its coat for inconsistent coloration? Do we hold preconceptions about how the rocks should look? If meaning is engendered by contrast with its opposite—as warm against cold or up against down—then to speak of "perfection" in nature hardly makes sense: everything simply is. Nature transcends imperfection; she reconciles relative & conventional opposites. Geometric order may be beautiful, but natural order is sublime.

So it is with the human body: inherently whole. Symmetry is Euclidian; the body is Nature. Never broken, how could we presume to fix it? Our work is not to rectify anything; imperfection is perfect from the start. Cherry blossoms bloom without motive, and how wonderful the springtime is for it! The songbird warbles, but he has no end in mind. To sing is what he is; his companion comes just because she loves the song. The Sun never doubts himself to rise, & think of planets. This is how we journey through the Rolfing® Ten Series: like we've already arrived.

Image of a bee polinating a flower.