#MicroPoetry|March ’24 Reflections

In this fleeting, yet profoundly significant moment, our awareness embraces the interconnectedness of life. This age-old realisation, echoed by Elders and Mystics across millennia, reveals that the Universe places a profound demand on us.

Our awareness in this precious juncture extends beyond self-satisfaction or personal illusory benefit; it calls for a harmonious existence with Creation. Much like we build upon the foundations laid by our predecessors, our actions become the groundwork for the unknown future. This entrusted legacy poses a poignant question: What bequest do we leave for the generations to follow?

After a lengthy journey, as we arrive at the mountain’s foot, we yearn for respite in its steadfast embrace. The arduous path, with new opportunities trailing behind, may evoke a burden under the behemoth’s looming shadow. In moments of fatigue, doubt, and concern, the original intention—to gaze beyond the horizon cast by our stone companion—often slips from memory. Yet, above the pinnacle we strive to ascend, a beckoning Light awaits, painted in diverse hues of possibility and promise. Despite the challenges, the mountain journey leads beyond to shared aspirations, encouraging us to persevere in the pursuit of boundless horizons.

We are moulded to engage with Creation and each other. We are meant to recognise beauty and, in turn, to steward it well to future generations. Our challenge is to honour the covenant we have with the Cosmos.

The Sirens’ song of acquisition tempts us to crave what we lack, rather than find value in what we share. This challenge is tough to face alone. Yet, when we acknowledge this truth together, we’re called to revisit our common bonds. In this shared insight, I suggest, lies the seed of liberation called Hope.

There are many types of courage. One is the courage in the moment. Such instances are not tied to what we do or who we are. It arises unanticipated and startles us into being fully present in a moment that would otherwise feel surreal, even fictional. It is in such instances, when clarity emerges that action is required of us that intellectually would feel illogical, even impossible. It’s then that a simple deep breath anchors us in the present, blurring away doubts as we courageously act.

Though we cannot deny that change is quite literally embedded into our very cells, which are constantly in flux, creating and contracting, growing and dying, we can imagine it is something that is done to us. From this vantage, it is easy to cast change the enemy.

This spiritual and intellectual resistance, however, detracts from the agency we in fact posses. Change is not something done to us, it is something we accept and allow. This shift in focus reveals a world not of danger but possibility, even in the midst of challenge.

We get trapped in habits we do not notice. Even though we may desire something different, a change that gives us happiness, comfort, rest, or hope, we follow the same cycles that keep us in the same position. This can be a challenging revelation.

But when we come back to the start, where we might hope for a different outcome, but are stuck by routine that holds us back, this awareness is liberating. Pause and see the cycle, then attempt something new. In that moment, things start to change.

We often tend to separate our experiences from each other. We usually focus on each one as if it isolated from one another and compare them using opposites: good/bad, right/wrong, joyful/hurtful.

The inner work, however, shows that each season relies on the other. The soil that nourishes and forms us asks us to see ourselves in a whole and connected way. We might consider our experiences, then, to be a community that interrelate and points to something bigger than ourselves. When we think about this awakening, the chance to see with gratitude begins to dawn.

We all have tripped, erred, and sometimes harmed ourselves and others. This reality is not something to reject, nor escape. But in the diversions of a global, around-the-clock world, we can deprive ourselves the chance to grow from our shared humanity. It is in participating in these experiences as wisdom companions, who share insight that we can start to pardon ourselves as learning emerges, and, in turn, extend compassion to others as a model of forgiveness.