“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with
your one wild and precious life?”
–Mary Oliver
What to do with
my one wild and precious life? There has been a lot of conversation going on
about this question as the New Year approaches. And I personally do not find
making a list of resolutions very satisfying or effective in answering, so I
thought I would offer an alternative.
Why not just be more human?
What I mean by
this, is that it might be more to the point to find reasons to work with our
very human natures—the flaws and the fabulousness—not with an eye to sanitizing
our lives of the flaws till we are perfect images of balance, tolerance and
compassionate presence, but taking a more gentle, less aggressive approach, to
improve by doing something simple like appreciate our
humanity in spite of its obvious faults.
How about giving
resolutions, and ourselves, a break, and instead merely:
·
Make our life an
offering—begin the year with
the truly compassionate act of just accepting and offering ourselves, as we are, in all the fullness of our humanity
(happy, sad, stiff, relaxed, inspired, depressed ... ). This is all fuel for the
fires of transformation that take us from where we are now to the places we’d like
to be (i.e. more consistently content and peaceful places—our happy places).
·
Express gratitude—wake up to the ordinary blessings that are ours to enjoy, be more aware and appreciative of life in general. For as the Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh has
observed: “Ordinary things wear lovely
wings.” We need to allow ourselves to be blessed by it all.
·
Dedicate any merit—invoke a benediction acknowledging that any heart-opening, insight and intelligence that
ripple from us out into the environment around us, aren't only about 'marvelous 'ole me'.
So, what do I
plan to do with my one wild and precious life? I plan to honour its simplicity
and complexity—to live with integrity and passion, to make mistakes and enjoy
successes, to be fearfully, courageously, wondrously and inevitably all that I
am … tragically and beautifully human.
What else can be
done?
