Never Give Up
/
What keeps you going when you have hd enough, when you feel the struggle is too much, or you feel like your effort is in vain?
Read More
Wording The World
Star Chart
/
One of the great themes of life is the relationship between personal agency (choice and volition) and the greater forces that move us where they will (the “hand of providence”). When choice and chance align, it is truly as if we are blessed by the stars. How do you balance choice and chance in your life? How do you relate to the greater forces of life?
Read MoreStruggling To Relax
/
At times, many people, myself included, face this irony of working hard to relax. Our bodies become accustomed to tension and we hold tightened muscles unconsciously. The unnatural tension becomes natural. Consequently, we must work at relaxing and struggle against what has become normal in our bodies. Where do you carry your tension? What do you do to manage it?
Read MoreYou Are Here
/
This sign at the entryway to the Kalamazoo Nature Center is the closest thing I had to a picture of a map with a pointing arrow that reads “you are here.” But actually I think this fits the bill even better!
One of the greatest balancing acts in our modern world, is to find the sweet spot between the rush to the future and enjoyment the present. Fall is a great reminder to do so. As the weather cools, the days shorten, and winter starts to bare its teeth, we need to ready ourselves for the storms while enjoying the last of the harvest season.
You Are Here was previously published in my 7th book of poetry, Bearing Witness, available at amazon or for digital format, click here: Bearing Witness.
We are always at that point
on the map of our lives
that says, “You Are Here.”
And we always start
from here and now.
No matter how rugged
or smooth the terrain,
how twisted or straight the path,
how difficult or easy the steps,
we are always right we are,
always at the tip of the arrow.
We live like royalty
while we clothe
our hearts and minds in rags.
Toss them aside.
Don a dream coat,
stitched from the colors
of your life —
the sunshine yellows of happy days
and deep blues of sad ones,
the garden greens of growth
and the burnt browns of loss,
the metallic grey of loneliness
and the bright red blossoms of love —
and wear the wonder of this life,
taking the next step knowing
you will land again in another now,
complete in itself, with more than enough
for all your desire.
What are you doing to harvest your time and your life?
Please share your thoughts and comments below.
© Nick LeForce
All Rights Reserved
Not An Easy Truth
/
If you are not attentive, the world will take you, hijacking your spirit for its own ends. The hidden message in the popular dream of the world that we can "have it all" (that we can be rich or famous or above the rest) is that we must give our all to the dream. But if that dream is not truly yours, then you lose yourself in the bargain. What do you do to make sure you hold on to yourself in a world that wants to take you over?
Read MoreForever Etched
/
There is a certain kind of equanimity that sometimes comes with age. Our lives may become narrower with infirmity but out hearts become wider with acceptance. Most of us are harsher critics of ourselves to a degree we would never go with our friends. Self-compassion is one of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves. How has aging (or maturity) helped you to accept your own foibles and foolishness?
Read MoreDreams In Each Other
/
I often imagine what life a stranger might have lived based on observation: how the person moves or talks or from some interaction with others. I sometimes use these observations to create a oppose about the imagined life. Dreams In Each Other is an example of how the other partner in a couple can serve as a placeholder for an issue which can then be held or resolved in a way that is not possible within oneself.
Read MoreToday Is The Day
/
Have you ever awakened in the morning and felt like something in your life had changed? I have. When I read great poets, like Rumi or Hafiz or David Whyte, I sometimes get the same feeling, as if there is another, unencumbered version of me or as if I live another life that is richer and fuller than this one in a parallel universe that is just a breath away. What if you could, in the space of a breath, become a richer, fuller version of yourself? How would you know it had happened? What would be different in your life if you lived the unencumbered version of yourself?
Read MoreThe Road Before You
/
Roads, paths, and trails offer powerful metaphors for our lives. We travel along, sometimes with clarity about where we are and where we want to go, but more often following a path because we are on it and not because we choose it. Where is your road headed? Are you following a path because you are on it or because you choose it?
Read MoreIt Was Your Voice
/
One of the greatest blessing in life is to find someone who inspires you to go beyond where you have been and to step into a greater presence in life. Of course, we many find our role models and inspirations come from different people and places at different times in our lives. Who whispers to your soul? Who inspires you to step into a greater presence in life?
Read More
