Category: Tenneson Woolf Poetry

Yesterday’s bike ride — a treat to myself. West toward Bacchus highway (it’s 2 miles). Then south toward Rio Tinto Mine (another 1.5 miles). Most of this is slow climb. PS: I’m slow and steady on a bike; not at all speedy and sprinty. Then a slight coast down to the mouth of Butterfield Canyon (.5 miles). Then west again, and up until I’m ready to stop (2 miles). More slow and steady. There’s no finish line. Just the enjoying.

Looks like the pictures above. All on a paved road. Total climb is about 1,000 feet. An hour to get there. What joy. Breath. And enough challenge to be a challenge.

A pause to take in the creek and the mountainside. Eat the banana and orange that I brought. Sip some water.

The return is pretty easy peasy. 30 minutes. Mostly a coast. Saw a Wild Turkey. I’m reminded.

Be still.
In heart.
In belly.
Just ride.
Just move.
So much flows from there.

I listened to Ian McGilchrist and Mark Vernon a bit (thx Marshall). They talk William Blake.

“We have imagination. True.
Imagination also has us.
What if the world weren’t harsh and random,
but rather kind and patterned?”

So. Yah. Riding. Moving. Imagination having me. Pretty good to carry into the patterned day.

I wrote this poem at a time of life, a time of trouble, when I was exploring a few important decisions. And a few nuances of boundaries. And the steps forward that went with a few lettings go.

For inspiration.

Say Yes, Say No

There are moments in our lives
when we are invited
to say a real yes.

It’s not the casual yes,
nor the flippant yes,
nor the sarcastic yes,
nor the inattentive yes.

A real yes
can change everything.
A real yes
can establish a new direction marking the difference that was “then” and what is “now.”

There are moments in our lives
when we are invited
to say a real no.

It’s not the casual no,
nor the dismissive no,
nor the distracted no,
nor the avoidant no.

A real no
can change everything.
A real no
can set new direction of a claimed life.

It isn’t every yes and no
that begins a great journey.
But some yes’ and no’s
reset the heartbeat of life.

I’ve been having this conversation with my 20 year-old. Looking for ways to guide him into these next 2-3 years of his life. And looking for ways that celebrate who he is. School is not an easy path for him — though he has new excitement about a music program. The jobs he has worked haven’t lit him up. He didn’t stick with them. He is slowly acknowledging that a job does relate to a few more choices — some moola helps with the basics of freedom that he wants.

In a recent parent moment of hoping to say something helpful, I landed on, “your twenties are a time to experiment, to try things, to see what you love, to learn a bit about what you don’t love.” He smiled. Like he was being seen in a way that he wants to be seen. I smiled back, glad to have spoken something honest, and that he could receive (phew).

Well, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about these increments of living. Twenties. Forties. Sixties (which I occupy). Eighties. It’s my search for the bigger, yet more simple story that guides. And, because I’m me, I prosed it. Phew.

If the 20s are for experimenting, 
trying things,
learning what you like beyond the context of your parents,

the 40s are then a time to thrive with what you love,
accomplishing things, 
and learning through a few rough mistakes or disappointments,

which makes the 60s a time to experiment again,
this time with what is simplified,
and comes from essence,

and then the 80’s, should those happen,
well this is a time to offer kind eldering to the others,
and enjoy a cup of tea reflecting on it all.