Here is the first in a series of tiny-little-practices-that-make-a-difference.
The liminal space between sleep and waking is a fertile place for writers and artists, anyone engaged in creative endeavors, really. Here is a way to attend to the awakening you experience every day . . .
Pay close attention to the moment you become aware that you are coming awake.
What is coming through from the dream time into the waking time?
What sensations do you feel as you pick up your body?
As the particulars of life come tumbling in, how are you feeling?
How much of a ‘yes’ can you greet the day with this morning?
Before you make that first big move of the day, before you put your feet on the floor and rise up out of bed. . . Place your hands gently on either side of your very own face. Tune into the miracle of touch as your fingers make contact with your cheeks. Holding your face in your hands as if you were an infant, whisper to yourself, “Good morning, glory.”
Note: If by chance there is a loved one beside you, turning to them and repeating some version of this gesture is a lovely addition to the practice. Finding your children, and adjusting the practice for age appropriateness is a great way to remind yourself and them of their glory. My experience is you that cannot avoid being an embarrassment to teenagers, but their take on direct gestures of appreciation will evolve over time . . .
And finally, here is a poem some dear friends shared with me the other day.
LIGHT
~ Bernadette Miller
I want to write of the light
but I do not know
whether words can illuminate
the way it hangs
upon branches and bird wings
and broken things
returning beings to beauty.
Can words spin substance
from sunshine and decay?
Can words cajole
celebration from night-weary
birds?
Can words warm surfaces
of stones and sorrows?
Can words reveal richness
in mundane
and battered
things?
I do not know.
But if we would write
a tomorrow
which is wider than wounds
we have worn,
we might wield words
like benedictions
and remember
blessings
within brokenness,
beginnings
within endings,
and beauty
within all things.