WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T MISS THE BEAUTY

This, ‘being good’ thing may not be something that concerns you – but if it does I just want to let you know there are voices other than the judging ones planted in your mind. By the way, preoccupation with “what other people think” and “comparing oneself to others” might fall under the same umbrella as ‘being good’. You could even call it ‘perfectionism’.

Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes, other voices. There are other ways of looking at things now that we are no longer children and don’t depend on adults for our very survival. Here’s one profound and loving voice you may want to ponder:

WILD GEESE – Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers. Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

When we’re feeling restless, uneasy and fearful in the face of the unknown; when our activated bodies seek safety, Mary Oliver suggests something simple – but quite startling in its depth. When you can’t soothe yourself and you need relief from the absence – or the closeness – of others, go to nature wherever you can find it. And we’re pretty blessed on our Island to find it so close. I’m not suggesting that you ride a bike or zoom around on an ATV. It would be better to walk, sit, listen, and bathe in it. Nature soothes and inspires. It just is, always in the present.

A word of caution though: Most of us are prisoners of our thoughts. To feel the deep and true connection to “the family of things” we need to pay attention to ourselves – to the sensations of our body. When you’re on the beach or forest path, shift your attention to your body and open yourself to the natural world’s powerful effects. And if you’re lucky enough to have a yard or garden to putter in – do that, walk barefoot and dig your hands into the soil.

To be sure, we need to do the right things that experts in infectious disease are asking us to do, but we don’t need to make “being good” all this is about. We can connect with the beauty even as we endure the uncertainty and higher-than-usual anxiety.

#covid19 #mindfulness #taketime