When you find David Whyte in the Grocery Store
I had one of those Sundays where everything has enough space. Those days are my absolute my favorite.
Somewhere I saw the recommendation of switching the idea of, “I am stressed” to “I need to prioritize rest.” I couple that with this from Russel Brand about “Green Needle” or hearing what you think… (yikes) and I have been tending a bit more to the weeds and pacing of my mind space. That means tending to the calming on the internal world, which ends up solving a lot of problems.
I have been feeling the tug for spaciousness and bigger thinking. Hard to do when one is rushing, so I have dialed that down a bit and let the a-ha’s emerge. It is working. That looks like space to walk in the woods and catch a few stocking stuffers, and make dinner, while having time to write—all in the same day. That is what we call a 40-something miracle. A little of each, a little bit of what needed to be done and a little bit of what begs to be tended to.
Instead of music or a podcast, I used driving to the grocery store to shuffle all the ideas my mind, sorting out for the upcoming year and what wants to be created. As I was leaving the grocery store, I stopped at the in-house little library. The first title I saw was about Planning Your Future: Retirement Made Easy. Yes, please. And the second was David Whyte. There was one of my very favorite voices sitting, waiting for me in Mom’s Organic grocery store, as my reward, talking about Crossing the Unknown Sea, Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity.
Here’s a snippet:
I have been chatting with friends about the evolution of their work, odd endings and beginnings. Feelings that intentions are being answered in peculiar fashion. The call to show up differently and resourcing the necessary trust to make that so. The current theme that I am hearing course through is that people are being led to lead in ways they would have previously never considered. They are being led, almost back to skill sets that seem to be mundane but hold a great service—just like finding David Whyte in the grocery store.
If you are feeling a pull towards that which you do not expect, lean in. Don’t run away, as Whyte says: “There is no hiding from work in one form or another.” But this is not the work of drudgery. No, this is about the work of being yourself, of answering the call, trusting that the micro-decisions of trust will create tapestries of living. I recently heard that the days you spend on the beach drinking margaritas are few, but the hours you spend at the breakfast table, at the desk, and how you treat the grocery lady (I’m expanding here) are what makes a life. It is in the small attunements and the fierce polishings that make the day, that make a life.
So make space for it. Whatever it is, and that includes the silence to hear your own heart-speak and the space to listen.
📝 Rebirth is on tour with #womeonwriting. You can win a free copy here.