The goats on the hillside

This weekend I drove up to Tuna Canyon for an evening walk near sunset.

Right where our rental home burned down last year.

What I saw on the hillside beside the place surprised me.

More than 500 goats had been brought in for brush clearance.

Temporary electric fences guided them slowly across the dry terrain.

They moved together through the brittle grass, eating everything in their path.

I stood there watching them work. Different sizes and colors.

A Great Pyrenees rested near the center of the flock.

It became clear they weren’t there to react to a fire.

They were there to help prevent the next one.

— The insight —

Most people wait until something becomes unmanageable before giving it attention.

A health issue appears.

Burnout arrives.

Anxiety builds quietly in the background until it can no longer be ignored.

Modern life is often structured around reacting after the fact.

But the goats were working differently.

They were tending to the hillside before the danger arrived.

Removing fuel slowly, steadily, and without urgency.

Meditation can function the same way.

Not as emergency repair, but as quiet preventative care for the mind.

— The shift —

Try noticing what has been quietly accumulating lately.

Not the crisis.

The conditions that eventually create one.

Take a few moments today to clear a little space before it becomes necessary.

A few conscious breaths can sometimes prevent a much larger fire later on.

— Heard this week —

“Most people don’t need more information.

They need more space to hear themselves think.”