Often we can find that our body tenses up at moments of transition, such as Sunday evenings, or in the anticipation of something which will happen tomorrow or in a few days. This can even affect our sleep as the mind switches into problem-solving mode, and works on resolving what is perceives as a type of “danger”. We can easily become agitated, and there is a sense in which our spirit gets jittery, or in a type of “flux”. As the poet does here, this is precisely the time we need to create some space – maybe in meditation or getting out in nature – which will “hold us”, allowing us to become calm again. In this way the power of tomorrow over our spirit today is weakened.
It is time now, I said,
For the deepening and quieting of the spirit
Among the flux of happenings.
Something had pestered me so much
I thought my heart would break.
I mean the mechanical part.
I went down in the afternoon
To the sea
Which held me, until I grew easy.
About tomorrow, who knows anything.
Except that it will be a time, again,
For the deepening and the quieting of the spirit.
Mary Oliver, Swimming, One Day in August
Photo: Glendalough on a soft day, April 5th 2014
