How close to the edge
Stay within limits, the safe spacein the middle. The edge is for dreamersand revolutionarieswho believein better and live in hope.
Courage
Tomorrow is a new day
Indeed, tomorrow is a new year. Yet, in reaching for my usual John O’Donohue’s blessings – For a New Beginning and For a New Year – I sensed that 2023 might require something different of us. I don’t know what it is, though I suspect we might need more courage and hope than we have … Read more
On the emotional cost of letting go
Sometimes finding our courage to live the rhythm of life is sad and painful. This isn’t only about letting go of the things holding us back but also laying down our attachment to things that have been lovely and good. Not holding on too tightly, yet honouring what is precious. Because the rhythm of life … Read more
Courage to live the rhythm of life
We live in a culture that promises to make everything safe and OK. Nothing extreme, nothing too demanding or exposing – as long as we follow the unwritten rules. Let’s take the essence of the experience and bottle it for consumption rather than experience the highs and the lows. But that’s not life. And it’s … Read more
Being open to seeing what is already there
How often do we see what we expect rather than what is there? It’s not that we are intentionally deceiving ourselves. We’re just in a hurry, and our brain is filling in the gaps. So re-reading Steven Pressfield’s brilliant book The War of Art yesterday was one of those ah-ha moments for me. Are the … Read more
Voices of story and truth
Words shape the way we see the world. However, language is more than the words we use. There are the external inflexions – our tone, phrasing and vocabulary – and these are held in the flow of our movements and posture. Yet our knowing what is being communicated is even more than these. We subtly … Read more
Owning our stories of struggle
It takes courage to own our stories of struggle. Not making them into a melodrama, but recognising the truth that life isn’t always easy. And neither are we. These stories start with us looking in the mirror and choosing not to airbrush the imperfections. Nor making excuses, but instead choosing to love and be loved. … Read more
Naming on the path to wholeness
Our longings are for what is out of reach. And our yearning is only in absence, not in fullness. Yet naming is a courageous act of vulnerability. It’s a vital first step of embodiment, a means of making real what we need. So I wonder what we might need to name in becoming whole?
Looking the other way
Avoidance or inquiry,the choice is ours;curiosity or fear,we decide;protection or compassion,the way of our heart;open or closed,choose courage.
Finding courage to stay in the open
Partway through the week, I found the word to describe what I was sensing. Rawness. Like when everything you touch feels like sandpaper, coarse and uncomfortable. A painful edge that you can’t define enough to do anything about. It was in the air, both here and around the world. I sensed it for others and … Read more