Recognizing Your Own Voice… (and Heeding It)
A poem by Mary Oliver shows us how to move past the noise and distraction (and why it matters)
If you could use a reboot and a refresh right now,
or are suffering from a bad case of overwhelm that I wrote about in my last newsletter on Reducing Overwhelm…
I have just the thing.
It’s a beauty of a poem by the late Mary Oliver.
May it steer you back in the right direction
home to you.
Ahhh…🙌🏼
The Journey
A Poem by Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice – though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do – determined to save the only life you could save.
—From Dream Work by Mary Oliver
Questions to journey home with…
What true voice do you recognize as yours?
What voice in you needs to be heeded?
Speaking of reboot and coming home to yourself…
In case you missed it
Give the gift of spaciousness
Looking for a holiday gift that creates more space without taking up space? Consider gifting The Journey Home to a friend or family member.
Your title says it all. Recognizing your voice and heeding it.
Beautiful! I love Mary’s words about saving our own life. I just text a friend about how if we don’t take care of ourselves then no one is going to do it. It’s not easy for some of us caretaker types.