#MicroPoetry|January ’20 Reflections

Progress is a funny concept. It can be used in a manner that is linear – as a movement toward perfection. Though this might be the more traditional way of framing the word, this verse suggests that though a movement, it is not about moving toward some unattainable goal, but a journey in which sometimes things are held for a time, while others are discarded. In this movement, it is this insight that arises in each choice to let some go, in order to hold something new: even if for but a moment.

As this day arrives, how do you imagine it might unfold?
What hopes do you have and what goals have you set?
Questions such as these shape the day we will experience. Where we place our focus and intention shapes, often, that which we will experience. There are many things we cannot control as we awake to the new day, but one which cannot be taken away is the way we see it unfold.

What has this day brought you that might have whispered “you can’t do this?”
What unexpected event made your heart skip, adrenaline rush and fight or flight consider?
Everyday there are moments when anxiety or fear intrude unexpectedly. Sometimes even expectedly. They are not easy moments and often we force our through or hide or something in-between. In this poetic musing, I am exploring how these moments are not only possible teachers, but to navigate through them can be life-giving when we simply put our hand out to one and ask for help.

With what sounds do you surround yourself?
What art fills the spaces in which you walk?
What part do you feed within you?
These questions remind me of the incessant noise that too often detracts us from ourselves, the inherent beauty we each possess. When we recognise this in ourselves, it is not about mirror gazing, but awakening. When we realise that deep within which shines, it reveals that which we are called to give back to one another so others too may be inspired.

What does seeing mean to you?
How does awakening connect with the spiritual journey?
What do you think is the difference between knowledge and information?
Wisdom and data?
Exploring these questions, I suggest, can lead to a dawning awareness that wonder surrounds everything we do. This is an important learning that requires commitment to explore these questions without cynicism or apathy. This verse endeavours to make space for that tension to be named without slipping into (self-)judgment.

That there are struggles in life goes without saying. I am not sure this is ‘unfortunate,’ as much as the fact that it is the reality that our mortal journey inevitably leads to hurt, challenge and loss. There is no way, in my experience that this is made any easier by the privilege to bulldoze through it or use brute force to remove the obstacles that have, do and will arise. What I have seen in this journey, where grace and humour often meet, is the tenacious strength of patience. Of living into, sometimes with those inevitable struggles, is a blessing that resilience can help reveal.

Holding on to habits and the predictable patterns that shape our days are temptation that allow us a semblance that everything is okay. In fact, like and echo-chamber or feedback loop they ensure predictability and consistency. Though they may not be good for us, may limit us, they create the semblance of safety of control. This illusory safety, however, often obscures opportunities in which wonder and creativity portend choices that might belief-enriching.

Goal setting and mission statements, visioning where we might be and New Year’s resolutions are all ways we try to motivate ourselves. Whether that’s part of a spiritual discipline or health regime, they are certainly helpful practices. Sometimes, however, they distract from the moment in which we found ourselves most often: Now.
This stanza explores how to be present to the amazing Now, while acknowledging that awakening is always a goal toward which we all journey.