By the light of the silvery moon
Last night, after a challenging Pilates class, S and I took the canoe out on the bayou. He had packed a delicious picnic dinner – sandwiches on homemade herb bread, chocolate chip cookies, and a cinnamon roll to boot! We paddled (ahem, he paddled) around under the crisp, cool air and twinkling lights and took a pulse of where our hearts, mind and souls are right now. The water was surprisingly warm. My mind was surprisingly calm. I felt “in the moment” – how rare is that?
It made me think of this poem by Robert Bly:
Things to Think
Think in ways you’ve never thought before.
If the phone rings, think of it as carrying a message
Larger than anything you’ve ever heard,
Vaster than a hundred lines of Yeats.
Think that someone may bring a bear to your door,
Maybe wounded and deranged; or think that a moose
Has risen out of the lake, and he’s carrying on his antlers
A child of your own whom you’ve never seen.
When someone knocks on the door, think that he’s about
To give you something rare: tell you you’re forgiven,
Or that it’s not necessary to work all the time, or that it’s
Been decided that if you lie down no one will die.