Human to Human

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How Is It That Some People Persevere?

That’s Perseverance, which my friend Meg wrote in 2010. It’s really a good goto book, mostly short one-page essays that touch the theme of perseverance. I’m glad for this collection. Meg’s been touching my heart for a long, long time.

In Perseverance, Meg asks,

How is it that some people persevere,
remaining steadfast and persistent no matter what?

How is it that some people, even with failures, betrayals, and set-backs,
still keep going, working for what they care about?

How do they not fall victim to exhaustion and despair?

How do they preserve their energy, their motivation, their faith?

I’m glad to have such questions guiding me. Reminding me — cause, most of us face those days when we say, or want to say, fuck it.

But also because, as my friends Jerry and Kathy reminded me yesterday in our Shades of Life Conversation, most people are inherently good, and care about neighbors, dogs, cats, gardens, helping out.

People persevere, I persevere, when we / I remember the bigger story, the centering purpose. People persevere when they / I have friends and colleagues that learn together, that laugh and cry together. People persevere when they / I have others that understand, “not today, I just don’t have it” or “it’s OK, I got you.”

Thx Meg. Thx to all my persevering peeps close in and a bit more distant getting to the enduring, persevering heart of it.

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One Moment, This Moment — Start With Joy

The photo — Kauai. Last year. That kind of flow opens me. That kind of company too (xo Dana).

Poetry this morning, about flow. And trusting the moment. And following joy. And loving others. And, and….

One moment at a time.
You, and I, we don’t need to combine and fix all the other moments together
as if there would be impressive efficiency and completion.
One moment, this moment, is enough, is plenty.

Especially when you, and I, we start with joy.
Joy has this way of blossoming with vigor,
and shaking the crusty dirty away and opening to the vibrant heart of new life.
Joy is reliable, and generally pretty available.

Watch for others that can be in the joy also — that’s key.
The other grownups, the other kids, the old friends, the person on the train that makes brief eye contact.
The dogs chasing balls in the park, the cats meowing for treats.
Joy with others has this way of swelling and affirming toward, well, more joy.

Here’s the crux of it — Life seems to claim you, and me, us dancing.
Or sometimes you, and me, us in the overdue heavy lifting.
Life can’t not flow. 
It insists with such kindness in this moment, and then the next, “I got you. Let’s go.”

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Love Is The Way To Meaning

I guess I’m on this theme, following yesterday’s share.

Today it’s Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s with Morrie.

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

For some this might be a great change. However, more most of us, this encouragement just brings importance nuance. Do what you do; do it with love of others.

I’m glad for the reminder.

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Love Is The Reason You Are Here

Hey.

My buddy Chris shared this recently. It’s a Louise Erdrich passage, from The Painted Drum, her 2005 novel.

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.

Yes, please.

To the words. To the sentiment. To the invitation. To the reminder. To the art, discipline, and joy of connecting principle to practice, centering to doing.

Hey.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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