Reflections...and New Beginnings


Reflections...looking back on this very full and meaningful week...seeing the days with eyes at present both tired and heavy, though on other days they were filled with joy and wonder. A birthday, my seventieth, meaning I have now been on this earth for 25,567 days...seems incredibly short and amazingly long, doesn't it?

Reflections...reading poetry, my favorite Mary Oliver, and ruminating on her poignant words in "When Death Comes":

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
                     *              *            *               *
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Reflections...writing some words of my own...

that's life
"Always begin again," said St. Benedict...
"Have beginner's mind," said the Buddha...
and here i am-
a new day, a new year, a new time of my life,

and the call comes again...
"Be willing to risk," the tender voice cries.
"Be open to transformation."
and i hear the invitation to live

without expectations...with no attachment
to the outcome...to simply show up,
to be open to whatever comes my way...
the baby steps of a new beginning.
                                                 Ain't life grand?

creative process
Wait
Wait and listen
Listen and be still
Be still and open
Open and wait
Wait...

Accept what comes
Accept and give thanks
Accept and release
Accept...and wait...

Reflections...how will I fill the next 366 days? Where will life's path lead me? And isn't it wondrous to have it be such an adventure even at the dawning of my seventh decade? A new job...caring for my family...being held in thought and loved by friends and family...all of the joys and cares of daily living, all of the banes and blessings. Indeed, ain't life grand?!?

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