Sometimes the most radical thing a woman can do is listen to her own heart and meet her own needs.
This poem came spilling out of me last night as I was fixing dinner, contemplating an upcoming solo trip I'm taking and how others have looked at me when I told them, the little barbed comments they have said.
I've come to believe that when someone hisses, "It must be nice..." with such venom, it is their own repressed yearnings begging to be acknowledged, their heart genuinely longing for that thing that "must be nice."
How Dare She
How dare she take time for herself.
It’s not for work or family?
For herself?
How dare she go away for a week
to think
and write
and be still.
What about her children and husband?
What will they do without her?
Who will be there to cook their meals,
wash their dishes,
and pick up their dirty socks that all over the floor?
I agree. I have been guilty of that little phrase (although not to their face of course!) and it is strictly envy. I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip.
This is splendid, Kim! I agree with others, bravo to you for the initiative and wisdom to take this trip. May any guilt, doubt, fear and hesitancy dissolve into the wind.
Lol we saw one on our walk last night and I decided to include it because 1) they're super cool organisms and 2) the name is so revolting even though their existence is something sustaining me right now. Today I also learned another common name for that species is "scrambled eggs slime mold"! 😀
Lovely! I simply must get my hummingbird feeder cleaned out and filled. I’ve had a few fly bys and they are getting impatient! Omg remind me to tell you about the baby bird I rescued last week. I still have to finish writing about it!
Thank you Larry. I had the privilege of giving a guest sermon on this passage last year and it’s been a story of joy, nourishment and connection for me ever since.
Sometimes the most radical thing a woman can do is listen to her own heart and meet her own needs.
This poem came spilling out of me last night as I was fixing dinner, contemplating an upcoming solo trip I'm taking and how others have looked at me when I told them, the little barbed comments they have said.
I've come to believe that when someone hisses, "It must be nice..." with such venom, it is their own repressed yearnings begging to be acknowledged, their heart genuinely longing for that thing that "must be nice."
How Dare She
How dare she take time for herself.
It’s not for work or family?
For herself?
How dare she go away for a week
to think
and write
and be still.
What about her children and husband?
What will they do without her?
Who will be there to cook their meals,
wash their dishes,
and pick up their dirty socks that all over the floor?
What right does she have to be independent?
To be free
for a time.
The audacity.
This is so beautiful. Thank you for sharing this, and YES to going on that trip! Go without guilt, don't let them shame you. Yes yes yes.
This makes my heart so happy! Thank you.🥰
I hate that "must be nice" response. Like your dodging something.
Exactly!
The *audacity* to practice self-care! What a gift!
Thanks. I'm planning a similar time next March and appreciate the perspective.
Best of luck on your adventure!
I agree. I have been guilty of that little phrase (although not to their face of course!) and it is strictly envy. I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip.
Thank you!
This is splendid, Kim! I agree with others, bravo to you for the initiative and wisdom to take this trip. May any guilt, doubt, fear and hesitancy dissolve into the wind.
This is so refreshing to hear! Many thanks.
Sustain
More than livelihood,
sustenance is life-li-hood —
finding our true place
in the (neighbor)hood
of existence.
What is it,
physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually,
that will support
and accompany us
throughout our journey,
in hopeful, helpful ways?
For me, it’s been
other people fluent
in the laying on of ears,
who aren’t repelled
by a creek of tears,
and not separated
with a fog of fears.
How ‘bout you?
love this.
The laying on of ears - what a gorgeous turn of phrase!
-Bread and kale
-Nettle and root
-Sunshine and cloud
-Sighing and longing
-Resting and working
-Heron and hummingbird
-Eagle and snail
-Pausing our walk because one of us spotted a dog-vomit slime mold
-Drawing and writing
-Thinking and forgetting
-Staying in bed five more minutes to cuddle
-A song
-A prayer
-Breath
..dog-vomit-slime-mold ......ick.
Lol we saw one on our walk last night and I decided to include it because 1) they're super cool organisms and 2) the name is so revolting even though their existence is something sustaining me right now. Today I also learned another common name for that species is "scrambled eggs slime mold"! 😀
A beautiful and prayerful list/poem.
Thank you! This is the stuff that's getting me through right now.
I have uncovered a hunger
for birds, a gnawing ache
only satisfied by a sighting
.
of the robin hiding in the pine
and the delicate sparrows
with their song, the yellow flash
of finches alighting on the feeder
and crows collecting on the line,
the chickadees nesting between
branches I can see from inside
and the impossible hummingbird
hovering near and disappearing,
or the wrens I've yet to see
but have heard --
.
I am filled,
bird by bird,
but the hunger will return.
beautiful. we have a family of birds nesting in our little backyard shed/office, and it's the most tender thing.
FOREVER MOOD. This is so beautiful!
Lovely! I simply must get my hummingbird feeder cleaned out and filled. I’ve had a few fly bys and they are getting impatient! Omg remind me to tell you about the baby bird I rescued last week. I still have to finish writing about it!
I'd love to hear about it! You can always dm me!
This is beautiful, A. What a flourish of an ending: “I am filled bird by bird but the hunger will return.” Oh my, what precious wisdom.
Food.
Shelter.
Clothing.
Don't get greedy.
Need and greed, two desires from different parts of our world!
Wonder what you'd get if you put greed and need in a ninja blender.
What a beautiful poem, Kaitlin, and a gem of a prompt to wrestle with.
Sustain
^
“What do you need,” Laura asks
as we dive into deeper spiritual territory.
I pause and respond, “very little, really.”
But my heart, brain and mouth
seem to be out of sync.
A crow cackles outside the window.
I wonder about this space between
what we need to survive and
what we need to flourish and thrive.
Need, desire, want, joy
these emotional cousins of life
that wind their way into our being.
^
My mind turns to the notion of sustenance,
and those things, people and places
that truly sustain me, nourish my spirit,
recreate and restore my whole being.
Sustainability comes with a soul-need
to renew and replenish our wells of wisdom and wonder.
^
I write a simple prayer for sustenance,
for warm and gentle moments,
gentle and gracious touch,
beauty beyond definition,
peace in my deepest darkness,
Loving kindness for the road ahead.
^
And I pray that my sustaining
does not deplete the ability of others
to sustain themselves.
Does not decrease the physical
and emotional supplies
that my kindred need to flourish and thrive.
^
I clip into my bike to ride into this spring day,
an essential part of my sustenance;
Conscious that for too many,
there are scarce moments for play and jubilation.
I ride into the wind, sustained in the knowing
I am an interconnected part of this mysterious world.
So beautiful—I write a simple prayer for sustenance,
for warm and gentle moments,
gentle and gracious touch,
beauty beyond definition,
peace in my deepest darkness,
Loving kindness for the road ahead.
Thank you so much, Bruce.
Sometimes I think there is both so much and so little space between surviving and thriving.
I hear that, A.
I've been worrying lately
That I seem to get/need
Sustenance
From sources
Outwith myself
More and more.
But then again,
I am still
A little sapling
Of a mother -
This role so new to me
That of course I need
Tending to in it.
To those who help
To bolster, encourage
And sustain me I say -
Thank you for
Your presence;
I'll get you back some day.
sapling of a mother 💜
This is beautiful, Sarah. The world, and your family, are blessed by your motherhood. 🙏🏻
Sustenance
What is it that
feeds us
sustains us
motivates us
to keep moving forward?
Is it healthy eating?
regular exercise?
enough sleep?
Or is it what we read
what we watch
or what we listen to?
Or where we go
what we do
how we fill our days?
Or maybe it is
the love of those
we spend our time with
that precious connection
that gives us life
and sustains us.
This is very kind and tender, Jane. Thank you for sharing.
God of the dry bones scattered across the wild valley,
you told Ezekiel to speak life into people who seemed dead.
Give us voices to speak joy over neighbors
in need of nourishment, because joy
is the soul food that resurrects
Your spirit within us.
Joy as nourishment to hungry folks.
Nice.
I love this January, a splendid casting of that prophetic and visionary passage.
Thank you Larry. I had the privilege of giving a guest sermon on this passage last year and it’s been a story of joy, nourishment and connection for me ever since.
Wow, what a treat! I expect you did a great job!
Thanks Larry! I hope so. It’s always an honor and a responsibility.
I've learned that most of our sustenance, electrolytes, as they call it
does not come from food
or coconut flavoured drinks.
Our very cells are bound together
by the energy we share with
land, waters, winds,
trees, dirt, sand, leaves,
sunshine, rain, salt, iron.
I can think of no better reminder
to hold each other close
and nature closer.
Our everything nourished and nourishing
as long as we remember
to touch
and be touched.
- beyond consumption
Here, have this ripe
tomato, I grew it for you
taste the sun
in its flesh, hear the hum
of bees that danced
the flowers into fruit
And look at the color!
Blush pink like my cheeks
after pruning for hours,
feel the plump weight
in the open palm
of your hand —
How marvelous is this world
where a single seed transforms
soil into sustenance, vines to flowers to
fruit, juice rolling down our cheeks
“Bees that danced the flowers into fruit”—I love it!
Thank you!
Give me food.
Give me shelter.
Give me water.
Then I can survive.
Give me love.
Give me purpose.
Give me beauty.
Then I can thrive.
And if I survive.
And then I thrive.
Let me then provide
Sustenance to others.
Sustenance
Dayenu—It would have been enough.
Water, a stomach filled with food—
Nutrition would have been enough;
But I craved more and so grasping, I got rich foods and desserts,
And more.
Until overstuffed I couldn’t get the
sleep I also needed.
I should have been satisfied with enough,
Particularly when my neighbor longs for barely enough.
Dayenu—it would have been enough.
Manna and community in the wilderness,
But we demanded meat.
Quail in the evenings
Every day.
No variety at all.
Let’s try worshipping something else, a calf maybe.
Dayenu—
Nothing is ever enough!
To dance
Is sustenance.
*gratitude and longing* ❣️