I live my life in widening circles ...

Temporary Temples

The infamous, stress inducing, time sucking, 405 freeway in Los Angeles is not often, if ever, associated with calm, peace, and reflection. However, as I drove from Sherman Oaks to Beverly Hills by way of the 405 last Sunday, I experienced all three of these things. I was listening to the radio show called On Being with Krista Tippett who was interviewing Joanna Macy, a philosopher of ecology, a Buddhist scholar, and an exquisite translator of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.

It was late afternoon on a cloudless, sun drenched day and I felt vibrant and elated for no specific reason. For the first time in about a year, I noticed my entire being was at peace. No worries, no stress edging under my skin, no to-do list playing silently on repeat. I was living in a blissful moment of pure acceptance of my life ... career, relationships, body and mind. As I noticed this freeing feeling, I embraced it further and let myself indulge wholly in the words on the radio as I sped down the freeway. The poems read spoke to me, clearly a message from the universe, reminding me that this happy-for-no-reason feeling is what it's all about. No matter what job I have, what financial situation I am in, or how many things I did or did not check off my to-do list that week, life is what it is at that moment and we can choose the path of least resistance ... choose to be like water, free flowing and flexible when facing obstacles.

I am busier than I have ever been with my first corporate job, my relationships, and my personal career goals that I work on late into the night. The urge to tightly control everything that's whirling around me had grabbed hold of my spirit, anchoring it to the mundane, the physical, the temporary.

"I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it." Upon hearing these words in my state of true fulfillment, my soul soared once again and I remembered the truth. There is very little that we encounter on a daily basis that is worth the stress, the worry, the sadness, the frustration that blankets so many lives. Give in to the chaos, the imperfection, the path that is yours this time around. Ride the currents of life as a participating passenger aboard the ship called Earth and recognize that we were never meant navigate this world without getting lost along the way. I hope you find your own meaning within these two poems and enjoy ... your life.


Widening Circles
By Rainer Maria Rilke; Translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I give myself to it.

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.

I've been circling for thousands of years

and I still don't know: am I a falcon,

a storm, or a great song?

Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower
By Rainer Maria Rilke; Translation by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

Quiet friend who has come so far,
Feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

With Gratitude for Public Radio and wise words that guide us back home
~L~