Friday, October 22, 2010

The World Was Made to Be Free In

Whenever I'm a little lost, I find it helpful to have a poet by my side. Right now it's David Whyte:


Sweet Darkness


When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing:
the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you. 
         
              --David Whyte

I'm looking forward to see David Whyte in Vancouver next month, where he'll share his secrets in a workshop called What to Remember When Waking.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the poem. Sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn. Great. Loved the recipe too.

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  2. Merci! I keep returning to the lines "anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you." It's good advice for one who doesn't have a crystalized plan: just keep moving toward those things that vitalize you.

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