Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."
~ Mary Oliver ~
The Adventure today has been very quiet, full of sleep and taking care of our home and catching up on my work for Susannah Conway's wonderful Unravelling: Living in My World class. But I've been thinking this week as I posted my 500th entry here and have been listening to Mary Oliver's wonderful new CD, Many Miles, which includes "When I Am Among the Trees" quoted above, that I might share with you where the phrase "enjoy and love" came from for me.
A couple of years ago when I was riding to work with my sweetie, who was doing the driving, and we were stuck in traffic in the usual spot, I was spacing out looking at the woods along the highway. I was just in a sort of reverie. And then I felt like I got a strong message from the trees: enjoy and love. That if that's what I accomplished in that day, to enjoy and to love, that would be a successful day. It was such stark contrast to all that I'd been worried about, the things I felt I needed to make happen and the way I felt I needed to prove myself on some subtle level. To enjoy my life and to love those around me seemed like a radical approach. But it felt like the best wisdom I'd maybe ever heard.
Posts
