I have always loved this poem by Mary Oliver which I posted back in 2007. These days it has even more significance as I ponder the life of my late mother. I have tried not to annoy you, dear readers, with a constant revelation of my every thought over the past six months dealing with the end of my mother’s life but the one constant is a deep regret at what I perceive as her living just a shadow of her life rather than delving into its rich beauty and discovering the nuggets of gold that lie underneath the often distressing and sometimes tragic realities of human experience.
We only get to live one wild and precious life at a time – although we have a series of lifetimes and shift in and out of one body to another, we do not get to live parallel lives. We only have the one, and every moment is precious. Now that I am past the 60 year mark, each year goes by more quickly.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
Unfortunately, this is something I do NOT do well. I rarely pay attention, being too concerned with what needs to be done. I am not good at being idle, or strolling through fields. But this IS what I want to do with my one wild and precious life, beginning today!
[related_posts limit=”5″ image=”50″]
hey lynn, grieving is a journey and it takes time so take the time to take as much time as you need ! i have never been annoyed by anything you have written :)
Thank you – beautiful – and in the process of letting go of both my parents, something I remind myself again and again. It’s like a moving meditation – coming back and back to point. Peace to you!
Beautiful! So often it is the death of a loved one that teaches us how to more fully live. Peaceful blessings …
I’ve been going to a friend’s workshop to help him with some backordered tentmaking. I stop at a Whole Foods on the way and have breakfast. This past week they also got in plants for sale so after breakfast I got to stop and smell the roses! Then I walk the 15 minutes there. It’s nice at this time of year to go slowly and see the landscaping people are doing, small architectural features on the old houses. Things you don’t see whizzing past in a car.
“how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields”
yes you can. I too an past 60 now. falling to the grass, maybe not. gently placing yourself there will be a better idea. get your nose to the earth, stay a while and tell it, “thank you”. I think the effort of getting down to it and up from it, that too must be a metaphor.
Best to you Lynn. You touch all of us with every single piece you’ve written.
Dear Lynn,
I’ve been one of your regular’s for the past year and always enjoy your personal and astrological insight. I am also a fellow astrologer, although I do not have a clientele or a blog. Your perspective has been valuable on many occasions and I find we are experiencing similar parallels in our life, probably due to being very close in age. My own dear daughter passed away very suddenly in 2009 and I have struggled with the loss every day since that time. I often describe my life now, as “before” she died, and “after” she died, as though there was a huge rip in the fabric of my history and I am clinging to the tiny piece that is left. Never apologize for writing about your experiences concerning your loss.
I was also wondering if you might have any personal insight about your own second Saturn return that you would like to share, as I do believe mine is having a very emotional impact on me. I recently had a rather abrupt revelation about my own life as it suddenly dawned on me, there isn’t enough time left. It actually shocked me. Of course I have always known that we all get old and I have prepared for it logically, but my revelation was a bit more than the usual understanding of aging. It has affected me almost as much as a death and I find myself grieving for my life. I mean really grieving. Did you have a similar experience?
Hi Sherry, the Saturn return, whether the first, second or third, affects everyone differently depending on each person’s individual relationship with Saturn. For some people they are very productive times, and for me that was definitely the case. Google has a bunch of articles I have written on the Saturn return, and some of these are my own stories. I hope you will find them useful.
It’s lonely here since my playmates left
and I can’t forget that I’m bereft
of all the pleasant sights they see
which the Piper also promised me.
For he took us he said to a joyous land
joining the town yet just at hand
where waters gushed and fruit trees grew
and flowers put forth a fairer hue.
The sparrows were brighter than peacocks here
and their dogs outran our fallow deer.
The honeybees flew without their stings
and the horses were born with eagle’s wings.
-The Pied Piper of Hamlin.