My, oh my, this was not the year for blogging. This was the year for getting my act together...my Act II. I don't know what will become of this blog, but I know what will become of me. Increasing joy, always. Here's what Sara Teasdale says about joy:
The Answer
When I go back to earth
And all my joyous body
Puts off the red and white
That once had been so proud,
If men should pass above
With false and feeble pity,
My dust will find a voice
To answer them aloud:
"Be still, I am content,
Take back your poor compassion--
Joy was a flame in me
Too steady to destroy.
Lithe as a bending reed
Loving the storm that sways her--
I found more joy in sorrow
Than you could find in joy."
Damn straight, joy is a flame in me. While all our feelings lead us on our way, joy is my favorite guide. Favorite and faithful. My way right now, my so-called second act, includes college, learning more and more about motherhood, letting go of old shit, leaning in to new love. I am so much more than content.
1 comment:
This love is older than we could possibly imagine, I think. "The Journey" 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.
Post a Comment