Pour yourself out like a fountain.
Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins.
Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive.
Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus
I watched the first tiger swallowtail butterfly float gently among the still bare branches of the woods this morning. Everything is starting to wake up in earnest. The woods have lost their deep quiet as the animals and insects begin to emerge. The growth cycle of the butterfly is a well known one--from egg to a caterpillar who spins a cocoon in which to transform into a butterfly. Thinking about it as it drifted through the trees I thought of those times in our own lives when we pour all our energies into one way of living and being only to reach a point when it is finished: a long project, a personal goal, raising families, relationships,retiring come to mind. Endings, even ones sweet with accomplishment, can leave us adrift, let down. They can feel like a death and we can find ourselves grieving in the leftovers, believing the best part of our lives is over. But it is there in the remainders we will always find an invitation to transform and become something new. In those times when we are wondering what comes next, whether we have used up all our opportunities, it might be useful to remember these lines and that graceful, beautiful aviator. One ending always breaks open the way for a new beginning. Take a long look, a deep breath. See? It's Spring.....
No comments:
Post a Comment