Start Close In

Start close in,
don't take the second step
or the third,
start with the first thing close in,
the step you don't want to take.
Start with the ground you know,
the pale ground beneath your feet,
your own way of starting the conversation.
Start with your own question,
give up on other people's questions,
don't let them smother something simple.
To find another's voice follow your own voice,
wait until that voice becomes a private ear
listening to another. Start right now
take a small step you can call your own
don't follow someone else's heroics,
be humble and focused, start close in,
don't mistake that other for your own.
Start close in,
don't take the second step
or the third,
start with the first thing close in,
the step you don't want to take. ~ David Whyte

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Question: After reading last week's question and answer, I'd like you to say more about developing innocence for adults.

Answer: Great. In most cases, we need only reclaim our lost innocence and not develop it from scratch. This is good news - coming home to our lost innocence is an easier journey. Here are some ideas:

· Make a place for innocence in your life. Create an altar to innocence. Make a daily offering or prayer to the power of innocence in the World. Do some art work. Derive your own definition of the word innocence and make a collage, sculpture, drawing, or painting to celebrate and honor innocence. Invest in the imagery and mystery of innocence.

· Begin each morning by remembering that you are perfect as you are. Even though you may believe that there is much about you that is not perfect, look at yourself in the mirror and know that it is equally true that you are perfect today as you are.

· Take time each day if possible to open yourself to the beauty of nature. Find a spot where you can feel safe and nurtured and allow the Earth to support you in this way.

· Periodically, consider how you might show up with more innocence in your day. What old strategies are you using to avoid pain that you might legitimately change now? Take a risk where it is appropriate and make space for more innocence in your life.

· Be your own best friend. Pay attention to your environment and friends. Have you created an environment for yourself in which innocence and trust have a place in your relationships?

For more ideas, see Nature and The Human Soul, page 106
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