Living a good life can be pretty simple: open your heart to love what you love, accept the things you cannot change and endeavor to treat the world and others with the care, dignity and respect that you would wish to be treated with. In practice, any one of those things, though simple, can be incredibly difficult to do.
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How do I truly know what I love?
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What does it mean to open my heart?
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Can I keep my heart open when I’ve experienced such anguish in its breaking and the abuse it has suffered?
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How do I accept things I believe are unacceptable?
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What does it mean to treat others with care when I harbor hurt, anger and fear?
If you’ve wrestled with anything similar to the questions above, you know that the path to answering them is neither direct nor comfortable. This is why we have poets, philosophers, artists, writers, therapists, clergy, friends, partners, parents and others whom we can turn to in our dark nights to shed some human light to help us find our way.
My offering to you today are some words of wisdom from Richard Wagamese, an Ojibwe elder and author, who points us to a few simple practices to help us find our own path from confusion to clarity, from pain to patient wisdom. May you find in these words encouragement, inspiration and fortitude to support you in your journey of life.
From Embers
by Richard Wagamese
I want to listen deeply enough that I hear everything and nothing at the same time and am made more by the enduring quality of my silence.
I want to question deeply enough that I am made more not by the answers so much as my desire to continue asking the questions.
I want to speak deeply enough that I am made more by the articulation of my truth shifting into the day’s shape.
In this way, listening, pondering, and sharing become my connection to the oneness of life, and there is no longer any part of me in exile.
Listening, pondering and sharing are core practices for living a good life. Good thing we have made these practices a cornerstone of our Wild Inner Stillness retreats. The men who participate in these revitalizing weekends walk away with greater capacity to live in and treat their worlds with greater dignity, respect and care.
Check the website for info on our next Wild Inner Stillness Men’s Retreat. If you are seeking refuge and are interested in deepening your connection with the natural world, please consider joining us!