Let’s continue to build on yesterday’s invitation to consider a pause, silence, space, even REST, as a necessary part of creating anything. 

Take a moment (or several) today to contemplate your relationship (ahem, resistance) to the idea of rest…

After many years of sitting with my own resistance, I’ve begun to trace it back to one very specific place: hard work.

The concept of “hard work” feels so darn ingrained in our cultural conversation (and my own inner dialogue, just me?) that last week I found myself trying to “work hard” at moving through the process of these 40 days, even making the space for rest, and even the seeds of reemerge I’m now planting. 

It’s amazing how sticky this immediate inclination is — 

How quickly, efficiently, and precisely can I put the pieces back together in a neat way and “get to the other side”?

To “hard work” my way to a “solution” or “answer.”

Even when it comes to 40 days of practice. 40 days of intentional pause.

So today I’ll share some lines from poet Nayyirah Waheed, that have become absolutely everything in my search for a more nuanced reality than just plain old “work hard” and treating everything like a problem to be solved.

In case you need an alternative idea too…

“you do not have to be a fire

for

every mountain blocking you.

you could be a water

and

soft river your way to freedom

too.

— options”

Ahh yes, options and soft river-ing. I think I'll try some of that today.
Cath

LEAVE A COMMENT: HOW DOES IT FEEL TO CONSIDER SOMETHING BEYOND “HARD WORK” AS A WAY TO GET THROUGH TO THE OTHER SIDE? 

LEAVE A COMMENT #2: ANY OTHER POEMS AND POETS YOU LOVE TO RECOMMEND?

Day 26: Early Morning Meditation

Another day, another choice — 12 minutes of breath awareness or another round of alternate nostril. That firey heat of disciple and devotion!

OR —

DAY 26: QUIET EVENING WIND DOWN PRACTICE (10 Min)