Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Healing ~
Healing ~ Solitude is not an absence of energy or action, as some believe, but is rather a boon of wild provisions transmitted to us from the soul. In ancient times, purposeful solitude was both palliative and preventative. It was used to heal fatigue and to prevent weariness. It was also used as an oracle, as a way of listening to the inner self to solicit advice and guidance otherwise impossible to hear in the din of daily life. ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes
" I will love you always "
“I will love you always. When the smooth softness of youth is replaced by the delicate softness of age, I will still want to touch your skin. When your face is full of the lines of every smile you have ever smiled, of every surprise I have seen flash through your eyes, when every tear you have ever cried has left its mark upon your face,I will treasure you all the more. I will share your life with you, and I will love you until the last breath leaves your body or mine.”
Life Forward ~
How many times in your life have you needed to say this?
And do you need to say it again?
I'm not just talking about letting go of a relationship. I'm talking about letting go of other things that you love, but which might be blocking you from the path that you really need to be on.
You can love cigarettes, for instance, and know that they aren't helping you.
You can love your hometown, while knowing at the same time that you need to go.
You can love your house, and know that it's too big for you to take care of anymore.
You can love the people that you've worked with for ten years, but maybe it's time to let go, and start looking toward a new job.
You can love going out to drinks with your friends on a weekday evening, while also knowing that this is the very thing that makes you too tired for the rest of the week to pursue your passions.
While I've been on tour for BIG MAGIC, I've been asking the audience at the end of every night think about things they might need to start saying "no" to, in order to have more time and energy to do the things they keep saying they want to do.
The number one reason people tell me they aren't practicing their creativity is because they don't have time and energy for it — especially after they have given themselves away to everyone else.
Long ago, when I was struggling to become a writer, a wise older woman once said to me, "What are you willing to give up, in order to have the life you keep saying you want?"
I said, "You're right — I really need to start learning how to say no to things I don't want to do."
She corrected me: "No, it's much harder than that. You need to learn how start saying no to things you DO want to do, with the recognition that you have only one life, and you don't have time and energy for everything."
That's when I pretty much gave up watching TV. (Don't worry — I'VE COME BACK TO IT!) But for a few years in my twenties, when I was desperately trying to learn how to write better, and to become a published author, I had to say to TV, "I love you, but I'm letting you go."
Because I knew what I wanted to do (write) and I knew how I wanted to do it (with joyful energy)...and so many, many things had to be let go.
You would choke on your cornflakes if I told you some of the things I've said no to in my lifetime. Beautiful opportunities. Gorgeous adventures. Fun experiences. The chance to meet amazing people. And so many weekday night invitations, to go out for drinks with friends. (Weekends, too, often.)
I would have loved to have done all those things. But there is only one of me. And I know what I really want to be doing with my life, and I know what it takes to create that sort of devoted focus.
Practice saying it with me, everyone: "I love you, but I'm letting you go."
I don't know what the thing is (or things are) that you need to start saying no to, in order to live the life you keep saying you want.
But I have a suspicion that perhaps YOU know.
Is it maybe time?
ONWARD,
LG
And do you need to say it again?
I'm not just talking about letting go of a relationship. I'm talking about letting go of other things that you love, but which might be blocking you from the path that you really need to be on.
You can love cigarettes, for instance, and know that they aren't helping you.
You can love your hometown, while knowing at the same time that you need to go.
You can love your house, and know that it's too big for you to take care of anymore.
You can love the people that you've worked with for ten years, but maybe it's time to let go, and start looking toward a new job.
You can love going out to drinks with your friends on a weekday evening, while also knowing that this is the very thing that makes you too tired for the rest of the week to pursue your passions.
While I've been on tour for BIG MAGIC, I've been asking the audience at the end of every night think about things they might need to start saying "no" to, in order to have more time and energy to do the things they keep saying they want to do.
The number one reason people tell me they aren't practicing their creativity is because they don't have time and energy for it — especially after they have given themselves away to everyone else.
Long ago, when I was struggling to become a writer, a wise older woman once said to me, "What are you willing to give up, in order to have the life you keep saying you want?"
I said, "You're right — I really need to start learning how to say no to things I don't want to do."
She corrected me: "No, it's much harder than that. You need to learn how start saying no to things you DO want to do, with the recognition that you have only one life, and you don't have time and energy for everything."
That's when I pretty much gave up watching TV. (Don't worry — I'VE COME BACK TO IT!) But for a few years in my twenties, when I was desperately trying to learn how to write better, and to become a published author, I had to say to TV, "I love you, but I'm letting you go."
Because I knew what I wanted to do (write) and I knew how I wanted to do it (with joyful energy)...and so many, many things had to be let go.
You would choke on your cornflakes if I told you some of the things I've said no to in my lifetime. Beautiful opportunities. Gorgeous adventures. Fun experiences. The chance to meet amazing people. And so many weekday night invitations, to go out for drinks with friends. (Weekends, too, often.)
I would have loved to have done all those things. But there is only one of me. And I know what I really want to be doing with my life, and I know what it takes to create that sort of devoted focus.
Practice saying it with me, everyone: "I love you, but I'm letting you go."
I don't know what the thing is (or things are) that you need to start saying no to, in order to live the life you keep saying you want.
But I have a suspicion that perhaps YOU know.
Is it maybe time?
ONWARD,
LG
Faithful
Habakkuk 2:3 God has an appointed time to fulfill the visions, dreams, and desires in your heart. Just because it has taken a long time or because you’ve tried and failed doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. Don’t give up on those dreams! Don’t be complacent about pursuing what God has placed in your heart. Our God is a faithful God.
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Mary Oliver Poem
“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.”
― Mary Oliver
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.”
― Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver
“You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
― Mary Oliver
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.”
― Mary Oliver
A Poem
"A lifetime isn’t long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.
Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling."
— Mary Oliver (The Leaf And The Cloud: A Poem)
and the responsibilities of your life.
Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling."
— Mary Oliver (The Leaf And The Cloud: A Poem)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)