This morning, to start my day after a short sleep — the Muses woke me in the wee hours — I read some of the musings of poet-philosopher David Whyte, and listened to an inspiring, poetic and real conversation between Whyte and Krista Tippett of OnBeing.
Whyte says he grew up “from long lines of rebels and the dispossessed … my blood inheritance was around disbelief.”
Here are a few excerpts to nourish your heart and soul on this day …
“Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity. … Put down the weight of your aloneness and enter the conversation.”
“If you have a really fierce loss … then human beings have every right to say “God, if this is how you play your game, I’m going to manufacture my own little game, my own little bubble, and I’m not coming out into this frontier again … I want to create distance.”
(Some people stay there for their whole lives, while others return from that withdrawn state and re-enter the conversation.)
“Incarnation means being here in your body with Life’s fierce need to change you.”
“The more you’re here and the more you’re alive the more you realize you’re a mortal human being. Will you actually have the conversation and become a full citizen of vulnerability, loss and disappearance which you have no choice about?”
“There is no self that will survive a real conversation …”
“There is a quality of youthfulness which is appropriate to every decade of life … we have this fixed idea of youthfulness from our teens or our 20s, but actually there is this youthfulness that’s appropriate to your 70s, or 80s, or 90s.”
“Innocence is what we allow to be gifted back to us once we’ve given ourselves away.”
“Innocence is the ability to be found by the world.”
Enjoy the full conversation between David Whyte in and Krista Tippett of OnBeing (The Conversational Nature of Reality)
Related Inspiration from Sophia’s Children
Grief is a Wild, Untamed Life Force
The Return: Becoming a Source and Ambassador
From Fear of Older to the Wisdom of Elder
Big Love,
Featured Image Credit: Dawn by the Lake. PD image from hgwallbase.
November 5, 2017 at 4:34 pm
I love those quotes! I think this one may be my favorite, “Innocence is what we allow to be gifted back to us once we’ve given ourselves away.” It can be hard sometimes for grown ups to let go of all the cynicism and bitterness. 🙂
November 5, 2017 at 8:14 pm
Isn’t that the truth, IB! It can be hard to think of innocence like that when people feel like they’re (we’re) getting our a*sses kicked on a regular basis! 🙂 Blessings.
November 5, 2017 at 10:08 pm
Wonderful quotes Jamie.. And you certainly gift back to us.. 🙂
Have a wonderful new week..
Hugs Sue <3
November 5, 2017 at 10:12 pm
Thank you, Sue. You too. 🙂 David Whyte’s poetic sensibility is always nourishing. Blessings & Hugs to you too. Jamie
November 5, 2017 at 10:20 pm
It sure is.. 🙂 <3 and thank YOU.
November 5, 2017 at 10:44 pm
You’re most welcome, Sue. 🙂
November 5, 2017 at 10:59 pm
Beautiful words Jamie 💕
November 6, 2017 at 12:55 pm
Thank you, Karen. I’m glad it resonated with you. Blessings, Jamie
November 6, 2017 at 4:52 pm
Love Krista! Have not listened to this one yet. I was fortunate to attend two interviews for On Being and was invited to a private luncheon with Krista. Amazing person! Hope you are well. Cheers!
November 6, 2017 at 9:33 pm
Oh, how wonderful to have had that invitation and opportunity, Jeff! Yes, from her work and manner, she does seem like she’d be an amazing person. Her interview with the late John O’Donohue is wonderful and inspiring, too, if you’ve not listened in to that one. Cheers to you!
November 6, 2017 at 9:35 pm
Oh yes. That one I heard 🙂