THE UNSPOILED CLEARING

“I am too alone in the world and not alone enough to make every moment holy.”

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

It seems there are two basic ways to feel the fullness of life, and both arise from the authenticity of our relationships. One is from our love of life, and the other is from the love of each other.

Often, in our solitude, we can discover the miracles of life, if we take the time and risk to be alone until the glow of life presents itself. This is the reward of all meditation. It’s like taking the path of our aloneness deep enough through the woods so we can reach that unspoiled clearing.

We can also reach that unspoiled clearing by taking the time and risk to be thoroughly with each other. This is the reward of love.

But our most frequent obstacle to experiencing the fullness of life, which I have suffered many times, is the hesitancy that keeps us from being either fully alone with life or fully alone with each other.

Being half anywhere is the true beginning of lowliness.

~ Sit quietly and let a point of loneliness that you carry rise to your awareness.

~ Breathe slowly and feel, if you can, which way you need to lean with it: more into yourself or more into the world.

~ Breathe deeply and try to move your heart in that direction.

The Book of Awakening

~ Mark Nepo