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Dear Ones, There is a passage from Austrian poet and novelist, Rainer Maria Rilke, that I have loved since I first read it in my dog-eared copy of Letters to a Young Poet.
In a letter about living each moment fully, Rilke advises his young protégé to, “…be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves…”
He says that one day we will live our way into the answers.
Isn't that wonderful? Not to have to know the answers yet?
This is especially poignant to me now, because I’m filled with questions and there are no answers in sight. I’m learning to love the questions because they are leading me to places I have never been before. Deeper places. So over the weekend, I gathered up all of my questions and invited them to be answered on the blank pages in the back of my Gratitude Journal. It gave me a starting point for defining who I might become as a result of this great transformation we are in. Answering the questions was a gentle practice. I listened in the dark stillness with the goal of emerging from the cocoon a little more true. A little more authentic. Who do I want to be when I rise with new wings?
All great challenge and suffering asks this of us.
Who do I get to be because of this? When we open the door and invite the questions in, we allow our true self to emerge in all her wisdom and vulnerability.
We allow her a safe space to speak without criticism or judgment. We remind her that there are no wrong answers - that this is an adventure in learning to love ourselves and others more deeply. Through the answers, we embark on the beautiful path of becoming a little more loving, a little more kind, a little more peaceful. So today we celebrate the questions and give them a safe space to be examined. Grab a journal, sweet friend, and a cup of something steamy. Open to the wisdom of your soul on the edge of something new.
Pandemic Wisdom: 12 Questions for Your Soul:
1. What am I grateful for in this time of social distancing?
2. What activities from my old routine do I want to leave behind?
3. What important future plans were cancelled? What doors have closed? What might this be teaching me?
4. What does my daily spiritual practice look like? What do I want to add or leave out?
5. What groups of people or situations can I send daily prayers to?
6. What self-care practices bring me peace, comfort and joy? If I spent less time on my screens, what would I spend more time doing?
7. In what small ways can I practice kindness at home?
8. In what small ways can I practice kindness in the world?
9. How can I commit to my spiritual practices in changing times?
10. What aspects of my highest self do I want to carry with me into the New World?
11. What is my ultimate hope for the future of our world?
12. How can I contribute to that hopeful future? (Love, blessings and prayers all count.)
So there you have it. Questions for your soul. And answers that are yours alone.
Remember to be patient with all that is unsolved in your heart - to love the questions themselves and ask them again and again as you grow beautiful wings.
I leave you, my friends, with an affirmation and the gentle reminder that everything is possible when we nurture our inner world, connect with the power of Divine Love, and respond to the outer world from the place of truth, hope and peace within.
We can do this. With love. Together.
So much love and many blessings, Mary xo
All is well. Everything is working out for my highest good. Out of this situation only good will come. I am safe. -Louise Hay
