"And out you stepped onto new ground..."

My mother sent me the following John O'Donohue piece/peace this morning and I'm reposting it here because YES. (My mom's friend Lois sent it to her first and I've now sent it to several friends as well because it's too good not to share with every man, woman and child who exists.)

Let's all put this in our pipes and smoke it, wanna?

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

- John O'Donohue 

It's an extremely liberating feeling knowing that the only way to GET where we're going is to wander and wait and pace and ponder and sketch and rewrite and take notes and start over and keep going. That we must breathe and think and be quiet in order to be loud. That we must rest in order to run. Sleep in order to wake. Listen in order to speak. Feel first a growing emptiness in order to find fulfillment, in order to unfurl... 

Thanks, John O'Donohue. Thanks, Lois. Thanks, mom.

GGC