I recently found this poem by Mary Oliver and I just had to share it. I realize it’s a well-beloved poem and I am very late to the party! But the line, “You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves” really speaks to me! It helped me understand that who I am is good enough. What I like, what interests me, and what makes me happy are all ok and good enough. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. There are no shoulds and no rules. Just let yourself Be.
I have updated my website. It is a work in progress. It reflects how I have shifted and changed over the last couple of years. I am following the soft animal of my body and doing what brings me joy. I invite you to do the same!
Wild Geese | Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
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