Never give up

There’s a remedy -only one – for the paralysis seizing your throat to mute you,
numbing your hands:

Remember the great ones, remember
Cezanne doggedly sur le motif, his mountain
a tireless noonday angel he grappled like Jacob,
demanding reluctant blessing.

Each life in art
goes forth to meet dragons that rise from their bloody scales
in cyclic rhythm: Know and forget, know and forget.

It’s not only
the passion for getting it right (though it’s that , too)
it’s the way
radiant epiphanies recur, recur,
consuming, pristine, unrecognized….

And then, look,
some reflection of light, some wing of shadow
is other, unvoiced.

You can, you must
proceed.

Denise Levertov, For Those Whom the Gods Love Less [extracts]

Flow

You cannot do yoga.

Yoga is your natural state.

What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.

Sharon Gannon, 1951 – , yoga teacher, animal rights advocate, musician and author

Take the step

He who jumps into the void owes no explanation to those who stand and watch.

Jean-Luc Godard, 1930 – , French Film Director

Witness

Everything changes once we identify with being the witness to the story, instead of the actor in it.

Ram Dass

One day at a time

With the ongoing uncertainty about the virus, some wisdom from the Desert Fathers

Do not be anxious about tomorrow Matthew 6:34

Abba Poeman said: This is said for the person who is struggling and has not much strength, so that he should not be worried, saying to himself “How long must I have this struggle?”.

He should rather say to himself “Today”.

David G. R. Keller, Desert Banquet: A Year of Wisdom from the Desert Mothers and Fathers

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Sunday quote: our deep sense

We should not give up on our dreams or any deep sense that persists over time, or let it be blocked by our fears.

Since the powers of nature in this dreamer, in that dreamer, and in the macrocosm of nature itself, are the same, only differently inflected,

the powers personified in a dream are those that move the world.

All the gods are within you,

Joseph Campbell, The Masks of God