Grateful Gatherings Resources Live Fully Alive

We are all alive; but how Alive are we?

Br. David Steindl-Rast

Introduction

After about three weeks of mucky transformation in a cocoon, the luna moth emerges in stunning, translucent green, with intricate, eye-like dots on each purple-edged wing. When they fly, they seem like enchanting sprites in the woods, spinning their trailing tails with such dizzying effect that they disrupt the echolocation of the bats that pursue them. Then they find a mate and reproduce. And are gone in a week. Beautiful, purposeful, and very short lives.

It might be hard to live as fully over the course of decades as the luna moth does for one week, but the human yearning for full aliveness is an ancient one. Across time, people have danced and sung and walked by the ocean in search of an awakened, life-filled state. In her poem “The Summer Day,” when the poet Mary Oliver famously asks, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?,” she’s not asking about our professions or our to-do lists. She’s asking how we will live. Will we sleepwalk through life or live each day, each era as fully as possible? Will we be spectators or step into the ring? Will we wait for life to happen to us or go for the front seat of the rollercoaster, arms in the air?

Some days, it’s all we can do to get through. Life is complicated, challenging, and sometimes lonely. It can feel like things are muted and that we can’t quite find the switch to flip the bright lights back on. But unlike the luna moth, we have years to live, not days. And within those years, something rather extraordinary is possible. We are blessed with the capacities of reflection, abstract thought, imagination, and meta-cognition (we can think about our thoughts!). Our compassion and empathy can deepen. Our egos can be overcome. We can love in ways that transcend language. And each of these possibilities is not only the potential of an individual life, it’s the potential of our shared humanity and co-existence. 

In other words, we can grow and change and make the choice to live fully Alive, with that capital “A” that Br. David emphasizes in the quote above. And when we lose our way, we can begin again by remembering those moments and times when we’ve felt truly awake, whether years ago or just this morning. Tap into those experiences — those ways of living and knowing that live at the center of your being. They are guideposts for how to answer Mary Oliver’s famous question about what you want to do with your wild, precious life. Listen to your heart about what helps you live fully awake, and then nourish those things with all you’ve got.

  • What helps you feel fully alive? 
  • Is there an area of your life where you want to feel more awake?

Poem

The Second Music
by Annie Lighthart

Now I understand that there are two melodies playing,
one below the other, one easier to hear, the other

lower, steady, perhaps more faithful for being less heard
yet always present.

When all other things seem lively and real,
this one fades. Yet the notes of it

touch as gently as fingertips, as the sound
of the names laid over each child at birth.

I want to stay in that music without striving or cover.
If the truth of our lives is what it is playing,

the telling is so soft
that this mortal time, this irrevocable change,

becomes beautiful. I stop and stop again
to hear the second music.

I hear the children in the yard, a train, then birds.
All this is in it and will be gone. I set my ear to it as I would to a heart.
  • How does listening for “the second music” — your innermost self, your heart — enable you to feel most fully alive?

From Iron String (Airlie Press, 2013). Posted by kind permission of the poet.

Video

Br. David Steindl-Rast: How to Be Fully Alive by Oprah Winfrey Network

In this short excerpt from Oprah’s conversation with Br. David Steindl-Rast, Br. David describes full aliveness “on all levels — on the physical level, on the mental level, the emotional level, and the spiritual level” as the happiness we all long for. This is also a lovely reminder to return to the practice of Stop.Look.Go.

  • What practice in your own life — whether Stop.Look.Go or something else — helps you feel awake to life?

Practice: Remember What Makes You Feel Alive

Step One: Reflect

Bring to mind an experience, activity, or time when you felt fully awake to life. This could be a memory from long ago or something that happened five minutes ago. It might be a specific occasion or a whole era of your life. Close your eyes and let yourself savor this memory of aliveness. You might even write down a few words or phrases that come to mind.

Step Two: Get Specific

Complete the following two sentence prompts with a short phrase, either in your mind or on paper: 

  • “I feel like I’m sleepwalking through life when…”
  • “I feel fully awake to life when…”

Step Three: Do One Thing

Choose one thing you can do for yourself today to contribute to your sense of aliveness: call a dear friend, go for a walk, listen to music you love, look through a photo album, do something new and different — whatever would help you expand your sense of aliveness. When you’re ready, complete the following sentence, being as specific as possible:

  • Today, I want to feel fully alive by….

Step Four: Repeat

In the week ahead, try to do one thing each day that contributes to your sense of wakefulness. Enjoy, take note, and build on this practice.

Deepening Resource

Unlock Your Purpose: The Power of Doing What You Love by Reflections of Life

Enjoy this compelling invitation to think about your purpose in life and how doing what you love allows you to feel fully alive.