Mark Nepo always offers me thoughts that remind me of who I AM, and this morning is no exception. In his book, “drinking from the river of light,” he shares of his early days of writing poetry, “I wanted so badly to become a poet that I held it in view like some hill I needed to climb to see from. But getting to the top, something was missing, and so I had to climb the next hill. Finally, I realized I didn’t need to climb to become a poet, I was a poet.”
And, of course, his words stirred up in me my own realizations of truth and the need to express them to others, hoping they are received by even one as I have been touched.
I titled this blog as I did because I think “arrival” suggests that one is not “there” yet, that one must achieve something or get somewhere when the truth is we are already where we need to be. When I focus too much on achieving, of getting somewhere, I miss the present moment and may also miss the very place I was searching for: a place of Peace. A place of Connection. In my busy-ness of doing in order to achieve, I miss moment after moment of experiencing that “arrival,” of moving from “knowing all about” to “knowing.” And there is such a world of difference between the two, although that is not something we can really understand until we are willing to become quiet, to perhaps stop our busy-ness, and just listen. And when we least expect it, we experience our “arrival.” We get a small glimpse of “who we have come here to be.” And after many such moments, we become more secure in truly knowing we are right where we are supposed to be; we don’t need to “go anywhere or do anything we have been thinking we needed to do.” We just need to become still, listen, and follow our inner Guidance System, known by many as “Good Orderly Direction!” And, for me, that is a recipe for a great way of living. Namaste, Steven