Friday, October 31, 2014

MOVE CLOSE IN




I love this idea of taking the first step.  Just the first step.   All of us have one or many things we wish to do or create or say or complete.  It is so easy to get lost in the idea of all those pieces that go into the whole process.
When I garden, I don't go sit inside and plan what I need to to do.  I go out into the garden and do the NEXT thing that comes into my sight.  The next thing that wants me.  The next thing I can do right now.  Right NOW.   That will inevitably lead me to the thing right behind it.  It is a good way to begin that next task.  That next piece of creativity, that next work project, job application, dinner or self improvement thing on the list.  

David Whyte has a lovely poem about  this..   I love the line "start with the first thing, close in..."   Here it is for you:




START CLOSE IN
Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.
Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.
To hear
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes an
intimate
private ear
that can
really listen
to another.
Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.
Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.
START CLOSE IN
River Flow
New & Selected Poems
Many Rivers Press © David Whyte
Photo: © David Whyte 2013: Monastery Door: Ittingen, Switzerland.

OK SO SAY YOUR THING TO THE GODS, THEN PUT ONE FOOT DOWN IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION... THERE YOU GO.      Blessings,  Misty  10/31/14

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