Life is inviting me to grow right now with learning new knowledge, skills, and abilities, relearning and teaching others knowledge I learned approximately 40 years ago, and by adjusting to/creating a new daily habit/routine that no longer involves full-time employment.
Life is not simply inviting me to grow,
it is begging me to grow.
Even as flowers and plants and trees
are shifting their colour palette towards orange and yellowed green,
dying into a long winter’s sleep,
I feel a pressure on my solar plexus
pushing inward and upward.
I believe it’s a sink or swim moment . . .
do it or die.
Step up or step out.
It’s going to be hard work,
just at a time when I feel exhausted by the world . . .
tired and sore to my very bones.
It takes so much longer to do something
than it did years ago.
It just crept up on me slowly
and then
pounced . . .
just when I think I’ve turned a page
something reminds me
that I haven’t.
My parents would have told you that I was a willful child.
I have a picture of myself at age four
with a silver donkey pin
threaded into the straps of my denim overalls . . .
willful and determined.
So it’s in there somewhere,
that drive . . .
I just need to pull it out of my gut
and put it to work.
I need to make some changes
before I am overwhelmed
and surrender to that inertia.
Look at myself in the mirror and say,
“you can do this.”
I CAN do it if I act on my belief
that the Universe supports me,
for I am not so small and insignificant as to be unnoticed . . .
nothing is too small to be ignored by our Source
for ‘His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches me’. ♥
Having an open heart and open mind is very hard for me these days. Hope seems elusive and I find it hard to grow right now but I know that NOW is all I have and it is important that I be kind to myself and others. Two readings this morning have been extremely helpful to me. Please take time to read them both. I think they may be helpful to you, too. https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-work-of-grief-and-love/
The second reading I found on FACEBOOK so I copied it as some of you may not have access to FACEBOOK. It addresses growing one’s soul. It is pasted below.
“In 2006, at Xavier High School in New York City, an English teacher named Ms. Lockwood gave her students an unusual assignment: write to a famous author and ask for advice. The students dutifully mailed out their letters, never expecting much in return. After all, authors—especially the great ones—rarely have the time to respond to fan mail, let alone to an entire class of teenagers.
But one did.
Kurt Vonnegut, then 84 years old and one of America’s most beloved novelists, took the time to write back. He had already lived his long and extraordinary life: World War II soldier, prisoner of war during the bombing of Dresden, author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. By 2006, he had stopped making public appearances. Age had left him frail, and he often described himself with his signature mix of humor and sadness as “resembling nothing so much as an iguana.”
Still, he opened his heart to a classroom of strangers. His response wasn’t long, but it contained a message so powerful that it still resonates today.
Here is the letter in full.
Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:
I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.
What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.
Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?
Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.”
God bless you all!
Kurt Vonnegut
I love this Kurt Vonnegut story so much! I used to write poetry, I took courses in it in college as an English major, I read it every morning, and I wrote all of one poem last year. This is telling me to stop worrying about whether my poetry will be any good and just write it, along with the book I’ve been planning for a while.
I have been challenged to grow by learning to let go of people I love. By let go, I mean to have no expectations or desires of them in our relationship, so that I may greet every interaction with delight and gratitude…so hard for me to let go of my wishes🤷♀️
I’m entering the time of year when my workload intensifies in the amount and urgency of things I need to give my attention to. I’m growing in my ability to say no to small things that get in the way of completing larger, more essential tasks. At the same time I’ve also come to recognize certain elements of ADD in how I work. Whether I was always this way or the computer age created it, I don’t know (and I kind of think it’s the latter). Either way, I’m learning about it from various sources so I can better manage my attention effectively.
On a very different front, and just in time to charge my batteries before the intensity gets a lot heavier, I’m heading out on a two-week vacation starting next Friday, going to the UK with my older siblings. The travel with my siblings will be a growth opportunity–I’ve never spent this much time with them as adults! I may not post every day while I’m traveling so don’t worry about me if I go silent Sept. 27-Oct. 12.
I have become so aware of my physical body and mental state. I want to continue to grow old gracefully. I ask for confidence to see what I need for this journey.
Through my gut. Literally–I need to grow in order to heal my gut. Medications are one thing, but there are also some old patterns and conditioning that contribute to my stomach problem. In order to loosen those up, to even know what they are, I am becoming aware of the emotional habits that affect the stomach.
Life is inviting me to grow in awareness of what is going on within myself: my thoughts and emotions. I am reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh called “The Art of Communicating,” and he says that before we can effectively communicate with other people we need to learn to communicate with ourselves. I realized that I often am not aware of what is going on within myself and then I communicate it to others nonverbally without even realizing what is inside me.
“…before we can effectively communicate with other people we need to learn to communicate with ourselves.” That is really astute. I’d like to read that book.
Wow, Jenifer, I submitted my comment before I read the others, and I am struck by how similar our responses are! Here is hoping that we both can learn to grow in awareness and reflection of our emotions ♥️
Academics are not my strength, and I have a writing assignment to complete. On one hand, it puts me under pressure, but on the other hand, I realize it is a great opportunity for me to practice and improve my writing skills.
Charlie, I can see why you’re trying to stay calm seeing your post. The recent Charlie Kirk shooting we’re all aware of is a toxic debate on both sides to put it in a nutshell.
During my meditation, I found myself being invited to let go of things that hold me back, mostly limiting beliefs passed down from others’ limiting beliefs! I feel like I’m invited to grow each day. I always want to be the best version of myself and to give to others all of the wonderful things that have been given to me to help my journey smooth out – that gift came from my yoga practice and exploring the 8 limbs. My yoga invites me to grow. There is still so much to learn and always will be! I feel like a tree, grounded in my values but reaching for the sun and all that the universe has to offer.
Wow Sunnypatti, “I feel like a tree, grounded in my values but reaching for the sun and all that the universe has to offer.” What a beautiful image to carry with me-thank you!
I was going to answer Tracy, but she’s become the least of my problems. I have my backstage political skills to guide me and have learned from my Paw Mu rebellion mistakes. When speaking my mind with people like her especially, I tend to give more politically correct answers, because relationships and maintaining harmony within the family is important to me.
I feel like I am growing within my Company – today I am going for a Service Award Luncheon – celebrating my 5 yrs. Time flies, hard to believe it has been 5 yrs already. I hope to continue working with this Tissue Bank until I retire. I work with amazing people, have learned a lot and really love what I do. I believe in our mission to honor donors and save lives through organ and tissue donation 🙂
One thing for certain, life has allowed me to to grow somewhat old. My heart has beat around 2,094,808,000 times. Never been told to do that. It just does. Life has led me here, and I continue to grow . . . . older. But with gratefulness for the coming of a new day, this day, to do it once more. To be alive with the wonders of our home, earth. Namaste.
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Life is inviting me to grow right now with learning new knowledge, skills, and abilities, relearning and teaching others knowledge I learned approximately 40 years ago, and by adjusting to/creating a new daily habit/routine that no longer involves full-time employment.
Life is not simply inviting me to grow,
it is begging me to grow.
Even as flowers and plants and trees
are shifting their colour palette towards orange and yellowed green,
dying into a long winter’s sleep,
I feel a pressure on my solar plexus
pushing inward and upward.
I believe it’s a sink or swim moment . . .
do it or die.
Step up or step out.
It’s going to be hard work,
just at a time when I feel exhausted by the world . . .
tired and sore to my very bones.
It takes so much longer to do something
than it did years ago.
It just crept up on me slowly
and then
pounced . . .
just when I think I’ve turned a page
something reminds me
that I haven’t.
My parents would have told you that I was a willful child.
I have a picture of myself at age four
with a silver donkey pin
threaded into the straps of my denim overalls . . .
willful and determined.
So it’s in there somewhere,
that drive . . .
I just need to pull it out of my gut
and put it to work.
I need to make some changes
before I am overwhelmed
and surrender to that inertia.
Look at myself in the mirror and say,
“you can do this.”
I CAN do it if I act on my belief
that the Universe supports me,
for I am not so small and insignificant as to be unnoticed . . .
nothing is too small to be ignored by our Source
for ‘His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches me’. ♥
Having an open heart and open mind is very hard for me these days. Hope seems elusive and I find it hard to grow right now but I know that NOW is all I have and it is important that I be kind to myself and others. Two readings this morning have been extremely helpful to me. Please take time to read them both. I think they may be helpful to you, too.
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-work-of-grief-and-love/
The second reading I found on FACEBOOK so I copied it as some of you may not have access to FACEBOOK. It addresses growing one’s soul. It is pasted below.
“In 2006, at Xavier High School in New York City, an English teacher named Ms. Lockwood gave her students an unusual assignment: write to a famous author and ask for advice. The students dutifully mailed out their letters, never expecting much in return. After all, authors—especially the great ones—rarely have the time to respond to fan mail, let alone to an entire class of teenagers.
But one did.
Kurt Vonnegut, then 84 years old and one of America’s most beloved novelists, took the time to write back. He had already lived his long and extraordinary life: World War II soldier, prisoner of war during the bombing of Dresden, author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Cat’s Cradle, and Breakfast of Champions. By 2006, he had stopped making public appearances. Age had left him frail, and he often described himself with his signature mix of humor and sadness as “resembling nothing so much as an iguana.”
Still, he opened his heart to a classroom of strangers. His response wasn’t long, but it contained a message so powerful that it still resonates today.
Here is the letter in full.
Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:
I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.
What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.
Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?
Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash recepticals. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.”
God bless you all!
Kurt Vonnegut
Thank you for sharing this story-such insightful advice.
I love this Kurt Vonnegut story so much! I used to write poetry, I took courses in it in college as an English major, I read it every morning, and I wrote all of one poem last year. This is telling me to stop worrying about whether my poetry will be any good and just write it, along with the book I’ve been planning for a while.
I wrote the poem last September and am once again in the season that inspired it. https://biketoworkbarb.blogspot.com/2025/02/sweet-harvest.html
I have been challenged to grow by learning to let go of people I love. By let go, I mean to have no expectations or desires of them in our relationship, so that I may greet every interaction with delight and gratitude…so hard for me to let go of my wishes🤷♀️
I’m entering the time of year when my workload intensifies in the amount and urgency of things I need to give my attention to. I’m growing in my ability to say no to small things that get in the way of completing larger, more essential tasks. At the same time I’ve also come to recognize certain elements of ADD in how I work. Whether I was always this way or the computer age created it, I don’t know (and I kind of think it’s the latter). Either way, I’m learning about it from various sources so I can better manage my attention effectively.
On a very different front, and just in time to charge my batteries before the intensity gets a lot heavier, I’m heading out on a two-week vacation starting next Friday, going to the UK with my older siblings. The travel with my siblings will be a growth opportunity–I’ve never spent this much time with them as adults! I may not post every day while I’m traveling so don’t worry about me if I go silent Sept. 27-Oct. 12.
I have become so aware of my physical body and mental state. I want to continue to grow old gracefully. I ask for confidence to see what I need for this journey.
Yram, Yes! I also wish to grow old gracefully:)
Through my gut. Literally–I need to grow in order to heal my gut. Medications are one thing, but there are also some old patterns and conditioning that contribute to my stomach problem. In order to loosen those up, to even know what they are, I am becoming aware of the emotional habits that affect the stomach.
Life is inviting me to grow in awareness of what is going on within myself: my thoughts and emotions. I am reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh called “The Art of Communicating,” and he says that before we can effectively communicate with other people we need to learn to communicate with ourselves. I realized that I often am not aware of what is going on within myself and then I communicate it to others nonverbally without even realizing what is inside me.
Thanks for mentioning this book, Elizabeth. I’m tagging it in my (already very long!) list of library books to look for in future.
“…before we can effectively communicate with other people we need to learn to communicate with ourselves.” That is really astute. I’d like to read that book.
By reflecting on my emotions that I’ve been ignoring
Wow, Jenifer, I submitted my comment before I read the others, and I am struck by how similar our responses are! Here is hoping that we both can learn to grow in awareness and reflection of our emotions ♥️
Academics are not my strength, and I have a writing assignment to complete. On one hand, it puts me under pressure, but on the other hand, I realize it is a great opportunity for me to practice and improve my writing skills.
My Ngoc, I remember you telling me this morning. Extra time would certainly help.
Life is inviting me to grow in my ability to stay calm, during this time of turmoil and political chaos. And of course in my ability to be empathetic.
Charlie, I can see why you’re trying to stay calm seeing your post. The recent Charlie Kirk shooting we’re all aware of is a toxic debate on both sides to put it in a nutshell.
During my meditation, I found myself being invited to let go of things that hold me back, mostly limiting beliefs passed down from others’ limiting beliefs! I feel like I’m invited to grow each day. I always want to be the best version of myself and to give to others all of the wonderful things that have been given to me to help my journey smooth out – that gift came from my yoga practice and exploring the 8 limbs. My yoga invites me to grow. There is still so much to learn and always will be! I feel like a tree, grounded in my values but reaching for the sun and all that the universe has to offer.
Happy Thursday 🙂
Wow Sunnypatti, “I feel like a tree, grounded in my values but reaching for the sun and all that the universe has to offer.” What a beautiful image to carry with me-thank you!
I love your analogy,
dear SunnyPatti . . .
“I feel like a tree…” ♥
Me too!
I was going to answer Tracy, but she’s become the least of my problems. I have my backstage political skills to guide me and have learned from my Paw Mu rebellion mistakes. When speaking my mind with people like her especially, I tend to give more politically correct answers, because relationships and maintaining harmony within the family is important to me.
I feel like I am growing within my Company – today I am going for a Service Award Luncheon – celebrating my 5 yrs. Time flies, hard to believe it has been 5 yrs already. I hope to continue working with this Tissue Bank until I retire. I work with amazing people, have learned a lot and really love what I do. I believe in our mission to honor donors and save lives through organ and tissue donation 🙂
Congratulations on your work anniversary, Michele!
Enjoy your celebration,
dear Michele . . .
I celebrate you too. ♥
Congratulations on your 5th year, Michele. Your work is valuable ☀
Congrats on 5 years! You are doing important work!
One thing for certain, life has allowed me to to grow somewhat old. My heart has beat around 2,094,808,000 times. Never been told to do that. It just does. Life has led me here, and I continue to grow . . . . older. But with gratefulness for the coming of a new day, this day, to do it once more. To be alive with the wonders of our home, earth. Namaste.