Taking Stock…

“How we spend our days, of course, is how we spend our lives.”
–Annie Dillard

As the end of July approaches and the summer heat slows us down, this might be the perfect time to “take stock” of where you are in life.

Perhaps you had some specific goals or intentions for 2021 that need reviewing or updating. Or, maybe you just want the second half of the year to be better than the first half.

While we can’t control the pandemic or the surprises (good and challenging) that might show up, we can make small changes to encourage more peace, love, and joy in our lives. I think this wisdom from Jean Shinoda Bolen says it best:

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”

I invite you to grab an iced drink, a journal, a pen, and a comfortable seat somewhere to spend an hour or more this week taking stock of your life.

May you take the time to reflect upon your year so far and find the courage to make any necessary changes to welcome in more of what nourishes you.

Begin Again

“Taking a step in a different direction, I unravel the knot of past actions and old conclusions. It’s never too late to begin again.”
–Paula D’Arcy

All That Has Never Yet Been Spoken

I believe in all that has never yet been spoken.
I want to free what waits within me
so that what no one has dared to wish for
may for once spring clear
without my contriving.

If this is arrogant, God, forgive me,
but this is what I need to say.
May what I do flow from me like a river,
no forcing and no holding back,
the way it is with children.

Then in these swelling and ebbing currents,
these deepening tides moving out, returning,
I will sing you as no one ever has,

streaming through widening channels
into the open sea.

– Rainer Maria Rilke, translation by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy