My wife Leslie forwarded this poem to me after she received it from Dr. Laura Markham. If you don't know Laura, her book Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids is one of our bibles. I also went down to Brooklyn to interview her on 3 Books. She's a treasure trove of wisdom! And this poem by Kayleen Asbo below is one perfect example.
Poem:
As the hours of darkness begin to slowly wane from the winter sky, So too may the fearful places of your heart unclench their grasp on your life As the presence of light begins to grow with greater sureness with each passing day May your own courage blossom to open more brightly to truth and love.
Let this be the year that you turn off the television and silence the talk radio chatter in order to pick up the writing pen, the paintbrush, and watch the candle slowly burn.
May this be the year that you delight in seeing how much joy you can extravagantly spread. May you discover just how much beauty you can recklessly shower upon this thirsty world.
May this be the year that you tune both the dusty piano in the corner and the inner listening of your care-worn heart So that both can play in harmony with the chorus of creation.
May you break the invisible yardstick of impossible expectations and learn that just as you are, you are enough. May this be the year that you cease trying to march to an imagined ideal and instead, wrap your arms around the messy wonder your life really is, hold it close and do the tango.
Let this be the year you befriend your soul in its radical particularity, not forsaking it yet again for the bland demands and cravings of the masses. Instead, may you elope with the wildness of your own true calling, marry your soul to its deepest longings and invite the hungry world to the wedding feast.
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