Thursday's Reflection: The Endless Practice by Mark Nepo

An ongoing theme for me in my writing and in the rest of my living is to become the person I was created to be, to let my essential being thrive and grow. Imagine my delight, therefore,  when I discovered Mark Nepo's most recent book The Endless Practice, Becoming Who You Were Born to Be. Nepo, who is a poet, philosopher, cancer survivor and author of fifteen books, is one of my sacred companions, even though I have never meant him, but his words have often offered me exactly the direction or insight I needed.

My gift to you today is a sampling of Mark Nepo's wisdom found in The Endless Practice. I invite you to read them carefully, perhaps even reading them out loud, and allow the teaching to enter your heart. What is the meaning for you? Is there a reason these words are offered to you right now? What is the invitation for you in these words?

Here we go. 

Life is now about uncovering the essence in each moment, each conversation, each experience, and less about building anything or journeying toward some imagined destination. At this stage of life, I'm being asked to exhaust the struggle and deepen my relationship to the mystery. p. 55

Often, in our drive to make sense of our experience, we go too far and assume our experience is the experience. In our want to find patterns, we often extrapolate what happens to us into a philosophy of life, which in time we think is the philosophy of life. We burn our hand on a stove or break our heart in love and then we're teaching others that fire and love are dangerous, not to be trusted. Soon, the only ideas that have value are those that confirm what happened to us. We certainly need to make meaning and form our own direct understanding of life, but only to offer that understanding, that philosophy, as one thread in the fabric of life. To understand the weave, we need to find other threads. pp.94-95.

Being human, there are always cloud like veils that drop between us and our direct living. Sometimes, we have to part the veil with the clarity of our mind. Sometimes, we have to let the rush of our heart billow the veil away. Sometimes, we need the love of others to pull the veil aside. Parting the veil is a working act of faith; an act of ultimate concerns; an act of bringing all of who we are to bear on opening ourselves up when we're shut down. For when we're shut down, we tend to sink. When we're open, we tend to meet that buoyancy and rise. p. 193

Little by little, it's the courage to assume our full stature one more time that enables us to do the heartwork that always makes us come alive. It's the turn from hiding to giving that releases Heaven on Earth. p. 232

Quick Hits

"daily taste of holiness"
"repotting ourselves"
"living a life of care"
"Lean into the tender place."
"Experience is the taste of God."
"We are here to love the light out of each other."
"What's in the way is the way."

More Nepo--My Favorites
* The Book of Awakening, Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have
* Facing the Lion, Being the Lion, Finding Inner Courage Where It Lives
* The Exquisite Risk, Daring to Live an Authentic Life
* Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, Staying Close to What is Sacred

Also,  http://threeintentions.com and http://www.marknepo.com

An Invitation
Do any of Nepo's words resonate with you? I would love to know.