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This Is the Time to Be Slow

by John O’Donohue

This is the time to be slow,

Lie low to the wall

Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let

The wire brush of doubt

Scrape from your heart

All sense of yourself

And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,

Time will come good;

And you will find your feet

Again on fresh pastures of promise,

Where the air will be kind

And blushed with beginning.

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https://youtu.be/yNwC2TpKBBk?feature=shared

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BLESSING FOR FALLING INTO A NEW LAYER OF GRIEF

You thought

you had hit

every layer possible,

that you had found

the far limit

of your sorrow,

your grief.

Now the world falls

from beneath your feet

all over again,

as if the wound

were opening

for the first time,

only now with

an ache you recognize

as ancient.

Here is the time

for kindness—

your own, to yourself—

as you fall

and fall,

as you land hard

in this layer

that lies deeper than

you ever imagined

you could go.

Think of it as

a secret room—

this space

that has opened

before you,

that has opened

inside you,

though it may look

sharp in every corner

and sinister

no matter where

you turn.

Think of it as

a hidden chamber

in your heart

where you can stay

as long as you need,

where you will

find provision

you never wanted

but on which

your life will now

depend.

I want to tell you

there is treasure

even here—

that the sharp lines

that so match your scars

will lead

to solace,

that this space

that feels so foreign

will become for you

a shelter.

So let yourself fall.

It will not be

the last time,

but do not let this be

cause for fear.

These are the rooms

around which your

new home will grow—

the home of your heart,

the home of your life

that welcomes you

with such completeness,

opening and

opening and

opening itself to you,

no part of you

turned away.

—Jan Richardson

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When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. It is always there and the more deeply you learn to listen, the greater surprises and discoveries that will unfold. To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of your life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth. You gain a new respect for yourself and others and you learn to see how wonderfully precious this one life is. You begin to see through the enchanting veils of illusion that you had taken for reality. You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence. You know now that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

Excerpt from Divine Beauty

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Elaine Dunstan: Selkies.

In my dream

the seals came

to claim me, as their own

their silken bodies, soundless

slipped through dark waters

their eyes burning, with

compassionate intelligence.

Will you go?

world weary as you are

will you go with them?

will you gaze into wild eyes

dive in, those soulful black pools

and come up in the deep swell

of all your uncast dreams

follow that seamless descent

into the dream of all things

where the ancient flow

floods us, with

bittersweet nostalgia

for a time when, we

knew how to dream

to reclaim the true pelt

so we could return

once again, nourished

to live our lives

in simple wonder

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“Walking Down Blanco Road at Midnight” by Naomi Shihab Nye

There is a folding into the self which occurs

when the lights are small on the horizon

and no light is shining into the face.

It happens in a quiet place.

It is a quiet unfolding,

like going to sleep in

the comfortable family home.

When everyone else goes to sleep

the house folds up

The windows shut their eyes.

If you are inside you are automatically folded.

If you are outside walking by the folded house

you feel so lonesome you think you are going crazy.

You are not going crazy.

You are beginning to fold up in your own single way.

You feel your edges move toward center,

your heart like a folded blanket unfolding

and folding in with everything contained.

You feel like you do not need anyone to love you anymore

because you already feel everything.

you feel it, you fold it, and for awhile now,

it will quietly rest.

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Source: we heart it.com

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