As I look out my window, it seems to me that everything is on fire. Everything, everything is alive with the energy of the Big Bang. The energy locked up in my own little fingernail has all the power of tons and tons of TNT. I am surrounded by and in relation to a myriad of dynamic shapes, each with its own expression of being alive.
Some of the fire of the Big Bang comes together in recognizable, organized forms such as rocks, trees, mountains and humans. All of us, animate and not, are patterned expressions of energy locked up in an organized, functioning shape. I have senses that can tell me some of the features of those shapes.
Some days it is clear to me that all these shapes embody a certain intelligence and awareness. On those days, everything around me perceives my presence and I perceive theirs, each of us with our own intelligence. Most days and above all else, I just sense the presence of energy that throbs with the rhythm unique to its own form. Everything is on fire.
This is the joy of awareness.