This time of year there’s a collective hustle and bustle. An urgent need to wrap up year-end projects, wrap up presents for family, friends and neighbors.
We’re wrapping up things for everyone else…
and yet we neglect to wrap ourselves in the stillness and bone deep rest that our nervous systems need.
As Mary Oliver says;
*****
“Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.
The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.
But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.
Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.
*****
This message at my dear soul sister Bethany’s yoga studio captures it all;
“Deep rest is divine action for the soul.”
My wish for you this holiday season is that you find DEEP REST.
May you become quiet as a feather.
May you be able to let the demons of “never enough” shout their torments, while you lie still just long enough to access glimpses of your inner temple.
Your inner temple holds all the secrets to your deepest longings + gifts + purpose.
I keep forgetting and relearning (and relearning again…and again) how deep stillness is the door into the temple of relocating my own needs, desires, inspiration, energy and aligned action. It’s really the door to everything I long for. And yet, I can get so caught up in the hustle and bustle, that I neglect the very thing I most want.
The sign above, and Mary Oliver’s poem, were a timely reminder for me. And my wish is that this short note is a timely reminder for you, dear soul, to slow down long enough to remember who you really are.
May you find both tiny and luxurious moments to be quiet as a feather today, and every day,
Vanessa