“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.
-John O’Donohue
“May the light of your soul guide you;
May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart;
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul;
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work;
May your work never weary you;
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement;
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences;
May the day never burden;
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities and promises;
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled;
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected;
May your soul calm, console and renew you.”-John O’Donohue
“When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days. When your mind becomes more acquainted with reverence, the light, grace and elegance of beauty find you more frequently. When the destination becomes gracious, the journey becomes an adventure of beauty.”
-John O’Donohue
There are places where you can love the night. Under the big sky, when cares are far away, as calm peace absorbs the day. Stars to get lost in, time does not work as when sunshine warms. Alone with yourself. The dog breathing. The stars and night breathing too. And the trees. The moon hidden.
Night wonders deep and satisfying.
“I want to live my life so that my nights are not full of regrets.”
-D.H. Lawrence
“What hath night to do with sleep?”
-John Milton – Paradise Lost
“Late, by myself, in the boat of myself,
no light and no land anywhere, cloudcover thick
I try to stay
just above the surface,
yet I’m already under
and living with the ocean”
-Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi
“Life is grace. Sleep is forgiveness. The night absolves. Darkness wipes the slate clean, not spotless to be sure, but clean enough for another day’s chalking.”
-Frederick Buechner, The Alphabet of Grace
“The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields, and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark. Darkness is the ancient womb. Nighttime is womb-time. Our souls come out to play. The darkness absolves everything; the struggle for identity and impression falls away. We rest in the night.”
-John O’Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
Here’s to the night and the promise of a new day dawning…
(written at 3am!)
Spring’s sweetness is so close! We awaken again to this glorious season of rebirth.
Time again to nourish our true self.
This poem by John O’Donohue eloquently expresses the longings that come with the unfolding of Spring.
Now, I am Impatient….!
Once you start to awaken, no one can ever
claim you again for the old patterns.Now you realize how precious your time here is.
You are no longer willing to squander your essence on undertakings that do not nourish your true self; your patience grows thin with tired talk and dead language.
You see through the rosters of expectation which promise you safety and the confirmation of your outer identity.
Now you are impatient for growth,
willing to put yourself in the way of change.You want your work to become an expression of your gift.
You want your relationship to voyage beyond the pallid frontiers to where the danger of transformation dwells.You want your God to be wild
and to call you to where your destiny awaits.
-John O’Donohue
