A wish for the new year...

It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and focus to write...life gets in the way I suppose- children, family, work, illness & recovery, renovations, a business.

Preoccupation with world events and the 24/7 news cycle kept my mind busy with what ifs, weighing it down. That, in particular, has led me to...not a commitment, that word feels too hard to me but a desire perhaps, to refocus on the moment this year. To engage with presence in the life I have, right in front of me and all around me.

I have always loved poetry as it often seems to get at something deep that is hard to express with other words. If you've worked with me, I may have shared a poem or two with you because I felt it expressed something important, better than I could. So today, in this unplanned moment, I'm sharing a favourite that was shared with me. In the spirit of the new year and for your enjoyment, reflection or maybe a little inspiration...

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clear blue air, are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-- over and over announcing your place in the family of things.