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Into the Peace of Wild Things

Advice Column

Hello friend,

Are you crazed again this holiday season even though you vowed to simplify this year? If so, we are in the same boat!

I wonder if taking a moment to reflect on this short poem might be soothing. I found it when I was preparing a celebration of life for my dad. I think he would have liked this one, and the imagery makes me smile on the inside. 

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

Wendell Berry, from The Peace of Wild Things And Other Poems (Penguin, 2018)

I absolutely love this time of year. AND, I’m craving the peace of wild things as I’m doing the whole, fabulous, “hustle and bustle” thing. I think I might carve out some time for a stroll in the woods that are just a short drive from my neighborhood in Poway, CA. 

I hope whatever creates peace in your life, you are getting it. And I wish you a beautiful holiday.

With love,

Lisa

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