∞
"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed
before the new one can come."
"I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new
day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere
behind the morning."
"The beginning is always today."
∞
Midweek Motif ~ Starting Over
Your Challenge: Write a new poem in which you sing of starting over. Or call it by its other names: reboot, renew, recommence, take two, going back to the drawing board, etc.
Midweek Motif ~ Starting Over
I hope your new year is going well! You may be continuing your "normal," rather than starting over ~ but we all have experienced a re-starting, whether it be in writing a poem, singing a song, trying to sleep, taking up a career, or reforming a government. Or maybe we just wished we could start something over again.
This prompt is also a response to Phillip Moffit's article "Starting Over" on his "Darma Wisdom" blog. He speaks of the moment of drifting away in meditation (just start over) and losing focus on resolutions (just start over), among other things.
This prompt is also a response to Phillip Moffit's article "Starting Over" on his "Darma Wisdom" blog. He speaks of the moment of drifting away in meditation (just start over) and losing focus on resolutions (just start over), among other things.
Your Challenge: Write a new poem in which you sing of starting over. Or call it by its other names: reboot, renew, recommence, take two, going back to the drawing board, etc.
∞
. . . .
Restore the animals.
In the name of Raven. In the name of Wolf. In the name of Whale. In
the name of Elephant. In the name of Snake.
Forgive us. Have mercy. May the animals return. Not as a resurrection
but as living beings. Here. On earth. On this earth that is also theirs.
Oh Great Spirit. Heal the animals. Protect the animals. Restore the
animals.
Our lives will also be healed. Our souls will be protected. Our
spirits will be restored.
Oh Spirit of Raven. Oh Spirit of Wolf. Oh Spirit of Whale. Oh Spirit of
Elephant. Oh Spirit of Snake.
Teach us, again, how to live.
(Read the rest HERE)
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THE GUEST HOUSE
By Rumi
Translation by Coleman Barks
By Rumi
Translation by Coleman Barks
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
Because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
∞
by May Sarton
On the ashes of this nest
Love wove with deathly fire
The phoenix takes its rest
Forgetting all desire.
After the flame, a pause,
After the pain, rebirth.
Obeying nature’s laws
The phoenix goes to earth.
You cannot call it old
You cannot call it young.
No phoenix can be told,
This is the end of the song.
It struggles now alone
Against death and self-doubt,
But underneath the bone
The wings are pushing out.
And one cold starry night
Whatever your belief
The phoenix will take flight
Over the seas of grief
To sing her thrilling song
To stars and waves and sky
For neither old nor young
The phoenix does not die.
Love wove with deathly fire
The phoenix takes its rest
Forgetting all desire.
After the flame, a pause,
After the pain, rebirth.
Obeying nature’s laws
The phoenix goes to earth.
You cannot call it old
You cannot call it young.
No phoenix can be told,
This is the end of the song.
It struggles now alone
Against death and self-doubt,
But underneath the bone
The wings are pushing out.
And one cold starry night
Whatever your belief
The phoenix will take flight
Over the seas of grief
To sing her thrilling song
To stars and waves and sky
For neither old nor young
The phoenix does not die.
∞
Find more inspiration at NPR's Starting Over:
A series of profiles of people who, by choice or circumstance,
reinvented or transformed themselves.
∞
Please share your new poem using Mr. Linky below and visit others in the spirit of the community—
(Our next Midweek Motif will be Sumana's ~
Life: Paradox And / Or Balance )
