Thanks to Clare E. for sharing this with me. I found it very thought provoking and affirming, as a way of encouraging myself to trust “right brain” experiences of interconnection and also to hold out the possibility of learning to live with more coherence and equanimity between the kinds of awareness offered by the two different sides of my own brain.
The mystical response,
agog with recognition
that this seething belly
is the fractal cousin
of the places and time where clouds of roiling and boiling
spit out new galaxies…
this gaping and precise flash of awe
is a logical outcome.
There is a time when the intelligent mind,
housed in a salty vessel,
a community of parasites
managing complex energy streams,
feeding on histories and physics and geographies,
nourished by an impossible continuum,
must simply weep
with tears of joy
in slack-jawed knowledge.
There is a place where the journey does not end,
the mind’s persistent quest
hushed, in subjugated and vital service
to the understanding of home
as a place equally inside
the unfound centre of a personal cell,
and an origin three billion light years away.
An honourable mind finds time
to fall on its knees
in comprehension of deep trust,
connection to an infinite web.
And the reason
it feels like bubbles
is the uncontrollable rising
conveys light emptiness;
a giddy connection of fat shapes
in roly-poly wonder,
the opposite of swallowing.
Effervescent essence
greets itself
at play in the froth.
It cannot be contained,
existing only in the now;
pops into soft droplets of remembrance,
a residue of rainbows.
Spontaneous liberation,
it can catch us by surprise
amid despair
or deep pleasure.
Most commonly transmuted into smiles or giggles,
sometimes a snort or belly laugh,
occasionally a quiet flick of one tear-rimmed eye…
these are the dance steps of joy.
Why these fences,
slippery barricades greased for deterrence,
barbs sharpened to repel welcome?
Come! she says
but not too close;
make haste!
but not too fast
lest illusion slip,
walls collapse,
the lonely posture
change.
By Sue Monk Kidd (the Secret Life of Bees). A book about mid-life change and I found it resonated deeply. She writes from a progressive Christian perspective that not all may appreciate, but for me it was a great reminder that these journeys have companions.
After 20 years of marriage, this book by Dr. Sue Johnson was a lifesaver! We only regret not reading it 20 years earlier…
I found this book by Sarah Susanka very helpful this year, especially for changing my relationship to time. A good working ‘hotch-potch’ of reflections and exercises strung together with her architectural metaphors and experience – she offers to help with a “life remodelling” and I found the renovations very beneficial!
Scoop up rich brown handfuls,
the kundalini travelling upwards,
use belly fire, escort towards the heart,
liberating softly
these tightly curled wings.
Relax into the upwards flow,
the gentle persuasion
coaxing and unravelling.
Unwrap the cramped delicate webs,
enrich them with the flow of lower blood,
stretch enough to see their vibrant splash.
Gossamer strength,
these fragile tools
provide what we need to alight,
perch on higher branches.
I arrive adorned with trinkets,
beautiful words and concepts,
beliefs I hold dear.
The archway bids me bow,
strip down,
enter plain and vulnerable.
Heat and steam,
dark and stillness
make way for inner light.
Names dissipate, words dissolve.
Light inside a diamond
choosing to distill as one facet,
allows for return to one name,
one humbled pen.
Let us give thanks
for generous frugality,
expansive sustainability,
abundance that allows for constant planting.
Let us sow new seeds
for others to harvest,
work in fields among the rocks and wild roses,
slowly removing the prickles to leave fertile room.
Let us learn from the cycle of seasons,
from the risk of frost,
the dizzying danger of overexposure.
Shovels in hand,
we dig up buried talents,
invest them in projects
with a high risk of flourishing.