I am going to just be
riding on the waves
of whatever life offers me
surrendering to its gifts.
I am going to just be
not thinking all the time
about
what has been
should be
or shall be.
I am going to just be
enough as I am
enough as life is
observing, allowing
like the orange poppy allows the sun and
the rain and the breeze, just budding, blossoming, decaying.
I am going to just be
with the smell of coffee
the anguish of my broken heart
the beauty of a Rilke poem
I am going to just be
not because it's better
but because it's all there ever was
to living
I am I am I am
by Marie-Josee
May you become the gracious and passionate subject of your own life.
From Blessings for Absence, by John O’Donohue
Self-reflection
A. Preparation:
Sit somewhere where you will not be disturbed, get present to yourself and your environment. Feel your feet on the floor, notice your posture, take some deep breaths. Close your eyes for a while. Then, when you feel calm and present, answer the following from your heart, do not overthink, just say what ever comes up. And more than one answer is fine too.
What I long to see healed in the world.....
The beauty of..... is a source of joy in my life.
The neglect of..... makes me sad at heart
My heart is broken open by the loss of..... in the world
My spirit is kept alive by people who express..... in the world
I am determined to change..... in the world
I am excited and hopeful when I see..... in the world
B. Reflection:
What do I see and feel about myself from doing this? What moves, touches me? What do I see about what matters to me and what drives me? What thoughts and ideas do I have right now about what I could possibly do with this, how and where and with whom this can impact how I live? What first step could I take to make that real?
If you found this intriguing, feel free to get in touch to find out more about transition coaching.
Painting by Rhys Shurey
On meditation
A daily (or at least very regular) meditation practice has helped me enormously to learn to stay present and manage the many wanderings of my sometimes-over-active mind.
There are so many great resources online to assist in learning how to be with and focus the mind as it is.
My favourite meditation app for about 4 years now has been Headspace. The variety of topics within the app, as well as associated modalities like moving and focusing, is growing all the time. You can trial the app for 10 days for free, or use the Netflix series Headspace and Headspace for Sleep to find out if this approach to meditation feels right to you.
My other more recent access point for meditation has been the work of well-known Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, who you can find at renowned online publishing house Sounds True - https://www.soundstrue.com who also offer a host of other resources around mindfulness, personal and societal transformation and spiritual development.
For a New Beginning
by John O’Donohue
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
From
To Bless the Space Between Us
And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom.
by Anais Nin
The Journey
by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.