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,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
This poem by Mary Oliver really speaks to me as it does to many, many other people! I love what I love and have quit making apologies for who I am or who I am striving to be. Impossible to believe that it is November, the year 2010 is winding down...it has been quite the rollercoaster ride for me. I have been choosing a word of the year for several years now. Boy, Howdy...did the word Release really stir up some interesting dirt. I am tired albeit in a very good way...shifting through all the "stuff" that no longer works in my life is painful, exhausting yet exhilirating! I am coming out the other end with a better knowlege of my loves, my purpose for me, my family and my world. Currently pondering my word for 2011...a cautionary tale...be careful of your chosen word...it may put you to work in a BIG way!
I am happy knowing I am a mass of contradictions, aren't we all. What have you learned this year and are you totally grateful for having that experience?
6 comments:
Connie, I love your picture, the poem is very powerful, I had not read it before. My word embrace has taken me to a better understanding of me, I was going to embrace ever day, did not realize I had things from my past I needed to embrace too. I will have to start thinking about my word for next year. Time has so flown by. take care, hugs from Canada.
beautiful poem.... i did not know if i wanted to cry or smile.. it is truly a wonderful poem thank you for sharing blessings to you and yours.
I like you just the way you are.
As for a word, I've never done it. Read about it, heard about it, thought aboutit, never did anything about it.....
Beautiful...all of it: the sentiment, the poem, the sky picture, and the new photograph of you. Love it!
i am learning every day, and grateful for each lesson (even if it was hard to learn).
lovely poem. thanks for sharing. thinking of you. one love.
what i have learned this year>>>that a person does not have to be a leader to be loved by god>>.not a bishop or stake president or highcounsel man but i was a hometeacher, and neighbor and had a kind smile on my face
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