Thursday, June 17, 2010

Holding Nothing Back


Walking into the bedroom tonight, my eye was immediately drawn to a book called The Exquisite Risk by Mark Nepo. It was sticking out from under a few other books in a stack by my desk.

The title alone is a good place to hang out and ponder. The word, risk, reminds me of a therapist I saw probably twenty years ago, after my first marriage ended in divorce. I was a shell-shocked thirty year old who had managed to get out of a rough marriage in one piece with my daughter by my side.

During one session, she said, "You don't take many risks, do you?" And I remember thinking, Are you kidding me, lady? I stopped seeing her after that.

I like to open a book and read what shows up. I opened The Exquisite Risk and landed on page 54 and found this poem called Holding Nothing Back. And, like any good writing, it made me think. And feel.

Some days I look back over my life and it feels like it's been one huge risk. And other days, I'm still poised on the edge of my nest waiting to leap. Often, I can't seem to decipher where I'm at all. And maybe it doesn't really matter.

Holding Nothing Back

My purpose
at last,
to hold
nothing
back.

My goal:
to live
a thousand years,
not in succession,
but in every
breath.

~ Mark Nepo


1 comment:

  1. it's all worth every moment, cb. risk is overrated. the whole world runs on it and much is lost in the losing. hold the line, sweep and love.

    ReplyDelete