Happy May and Mother’s Day to you all!
I hope this message finds you and your family well. With the warmer weather ahead, I’m already dreaming of backyard fun, pool time, roasting marshmallows, and a change to our typical daily grind.
I worked in higher ed for 11 years. This time of year was always full of senior celebrations, retirements, and graduation ceremonies. One particular May the College Chaplain sent out a message wishing the graduates well and included the poem below. At the time, it struck such a chord with me as I was debating on leaving my career for a new path, which I did just two short months later. I wanted to share it with you now, as this time of year always makes me remember that moment, and perhaps you are also contemplating some changes. I hope you glean something from it as I did then, or if nothing else, just simply enjoy a nice poem.
FOR A NEW BEGINNING
John O’Donohue
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 home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.
