I’m glad to be reminded of this William Stafford poem below, The Way It Is. It was Ann Linnea who recently wrote of it in her blog. She was naming how her and Christina would often use this poem as a re-entry reminder to people transitioning from the deliberate learning space of a retreat or of a vision quest, back in to the world that isn’t all of that. I’m reluctant to call what we go back to as the “real world” because I’m stubborn about deep spaces for learning and loving being the “real world.”
For the many of us creating new worlds — with our courage, with our vulnerabilities, with our isolations, with our deep communities, with our clarity, with our messy middles, with our irrepressible dreams, with our day-to-day consistencies, with our new stories, with our insistence on vision, and, and, and… — I love the reminder.
Enjoy it again here. Thx Ann.
The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow.
It goes among things that change.
But it doesn’t change.
People wonder abut what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
I love this poem! It was a guiding light for our friend Michael Jones and became one for me as well. It is a good reminder as I prepare to leave the hospital today or tomorrow after 15 or 16 days. In the midst of all it all I think I’ve managed to hold onto the golden thread … as I will continue to do after this extended hospital stay to settle into my new reality. Thank you for the reminder of this wonderful image.
Karen Hilfman Millson with gratitude.
Thank you Karen. Yes to such weaving. You in your hospital departure. Michael in his musical and poetic ways. William Stafford in his sharing of essence. Wishing you, and for all of us, the clarity of thread.