Existential analysis aims at nothing more and nothing less than leading [people] to consciousness of their responsibility.*
Viktor Frankl

Brigid challenges us to be people on our knees, that is, people midwifing new births for this moment in time. The good news is that we don’t have to create the births. Our role, rather, is to midwife what is trying to come forth from deep within the human soul.**
Philip Newell

Viktor Frankl is one kind of midwife,
Philip Newell is another kind,
Then there’s you,
Not a copy but different again.

We have each found ourselves
in different contexts and situations,
Wonderfully diverse in
our mixes of talents, energies, and values.

I wrote out a sentence this morning
describing my midwifery–
Perhaps take this moment to
refocus on yours.

*Viktor Frankl’s The Doctor and the Soul;
**Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

The loser has more in common with the winner than with the person sitting on the sidelines…Results tend to find the person who stays in the game.*
James Clear

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.**
The Apostle Paul

Goodness may lose many times
but this game is a long one–
It will take the rest of our lives.

I’m not giving up
on your goodness
or mine,
No matter this morning’s
radio news stories.^

*James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: On winning and losing, making the most of accidents, and when waiting doesn’t work;
**Romans 12:21;
^What is the goodness you will not give up on bringing into the world?

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People’s cognitive machinery is preprogrammed for regret.*
Marcel Zeelenberg and Rik Pieters

In fact, it may be the question that our lives pivot around or, indeed, the whole world revolves around. Can we be forgiven?
Nick Cave

You did something and you shouldn’t have,
You didn’t do something and you should have.

Regret is a gift if we’ll embrace it:
We choose not to make that mistake again.

Some say they have no regrets–
So why sing about it?

Regret can sting something rotten,
But not regretting hurts more, and others too.

Perhaps we’re afraid that we won’t be forgiven–
Perhaps life is all about forgiveness.

If we learn to forgive ourselves
and move on, what others think pales to us.

Healers in fairy tales generally represent a calm and unperturbed aspect of the psyche…Every woman’s psyche contains this “fixer.” It is part of the wild and natural psyche and we are born with it.^

*Daniel Pink’s The Power of Regret;
**Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan’s Faith, Hope and Carnage;
^Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run With the Wolves.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

Creativity isn’t learning the right answers but asking the stronger questions.*
Robert McKee

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us…You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.**
Marianne Williamson

When you were born,
You were caught up in something
utterly amazing–
Life breaking out into breath.

You must have some questions.

Not the answers of others but
your questions –
Grown out of who you are
and what you must do –
Uncovering original answers.

Perhaps take a moment to
write out your questions–
Never trade them for hasty answers.

*Robert McKee‘s newsletter: Make Your Dialogue Meaningful;
**Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work.

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Life is a day…A good day happens by design.*
Bernadette Jiwa

What you love to do will grow in you, so long as you stay true to who you are and all yourself to change and develop freely.**
gapingvoid

Perhaps,
Even now,
There are parts of
who we are that
we haven’t allowed
into the light of day
to grow.

Even now
it’s not too late–
After all,
Here’s another day.

*Bernadette Jiwa’s Briefly blog: Life Is A Day;
**gapingvoid’s blog: Life Without Dissonance.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

If gifts and responsibilities are one, then asking “What is our responsibility?” is the same as asking “What is our gift?” It is said that only humans have the capacity for gratitude. This is among our gifts.*
Robin Wall Kimmerer

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us…You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.**
Marianne Williamson

Taking up the responsibility
of your gift is to find
your greatest freedom:
If you are stuck,
It is your lifesaver.

Gratitude notices what this is,
Responsibility lives it for the world.

(If you were to name your gift, your responsibility, what would it be?)

*Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass;
**Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work.

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This is what pilgrimage into the heart of the natural world does to us. It invites us to be.*
Philip Newell

For so many of our destinations, no straight road takes us there.**
Rebecca Solnit

I look forward
and believe
I need to find the most direct route.

I look backward
and see
this has rarely been so.

If I am prepared
to turn this knowledge into wisdom then
I may slow down,
Take a break from an idea,
Allow Earth to renew me,
Play a little,
Enjoy the company of others,
Allow the road to lead me where it will.

We don’t have to arrive breathless
or hurried
or broken
or hurting
or disagreeable
or jaded
or alone.

*Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul;
**Rebecca Solnit’s No Straight Road Takes You There.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.*
Epictetus

I brought the right words but there was something missing in the speaker I came to be: a listener.**
James Carse

Perhaps we are pondering the same thing…
Yet I am unable to see
what you see,
Nor feel as you feel
what is deeply
formed by your experiences.

Forgive me if I forget this,
And I will–
But hopefully you will find me listening
as hard as I can.

*Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic;
**James Carse’s Breakfast At the Victory.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

The need for adventure is a blue moment. We embark on the adventure of life with hope and optimism, believing that something indescribably beautiful awaits discovery. And we’re willing to risk the ultimate disappointment.*
AleXander McManus

Many of the important things in life are endless. Do not approach an endless game with a finite mindset. The objective is not to be done, but to settle into a daily lifestyle you can sustain and that allows you to make daily progress on the areas that matter.**
James Clear

I read somewhere that we don’t so much
go on an adventure as
we are met by adventure.

If so, then to live with
openness, hope, and optimism
readies us for when it arrives.

We do not know whether it
will unfold or not, but there is
a daily possibility for surprise and new birth.

Perhaps our continuing openness
is the ultimate adventure.

*AleXander McManus’ Blue Moments;
**James Clear’s On ignorance vs. genius, the history of every day, and the process of becoming yourself.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE

By focusing on our experiences from the perspective of a narrator who has to create a story, journaling creates distance from our experience. We feel less tied to it.*
Ethan Kross

By learning compassion, we learn how to activate a particular state of mind and brain pattern in us associated with caring and nurturing that have soothing qualities.**
Paul Gilbert

I found direction and purpose
when I began to journal.

I guess this included compassion,
Although I didn’t name it as such back then.

It felt like I was giving myself time
to reflect and to start over.

To be able to face my errors,
To learn from them and to grow.

What I found was an emerging purpose–
Getting things so wrong hadn’t lost this.

Obversely, it appeared to clarify and distil purpose
when I took the time to notice.

This won’t be for everyone
but it may be for you.

*Ethan Kross’s Chatter;
**Paul Gilbert’s The Compassionate Mind.

SOME RANDOM THIN|SILENCE