Riding on the handlebars...

When I was a child we often rode three to a bike. One on the handlebars, one pedaling, and one on the seat.

The handlebar riding was both exhilarating and terrifying, a sense of freedom, and holding on for dear life. Being the pedaler was for the one with the most stamina, and being on the seat I had to trust the people in front of me.

The coolest part being, we were riding together. Sometimes I was the engine, sometimes the caboose, and sometimes I was out front leading our way.

I could do it all, and truth be told, I loved the handlebars. Being out front shouting directions, feeling the wind on my face, the security of my hands holding tight. I trusted my friends. And of course we crashed sometimes. Falls happen.

We shared the bike because it was what we had, one bike for the three of us. We didn’t complain about not having another one, we didn’t go off on our own, we found a way to be together, work together, share our resource, and have a blast doing it.

We only had one bike.

It’s all one. We are all one.  We need to be cooperative, willing and able to work together.  We don’t need to be having the exact same experience but we need to be aware of our inter-connectedness. What I do affects you, and what you do affects me.

We need to take care of what we have. We need to cultivate our particular gifts. We need to be heading into the wind together.  

Are you a handlebar flyer, an engine, or the caboose?

Are you the one that can fix the bike when it gets a flat tire, or bandage a scraped knee when we crash?

Consider what you can sacrifice, and what you can lean into, that would take care of our "one bicycle".

So much love,

Carol