What Appointment Were you Born to Keep?
Updated: Dec 7, 2020
“The heart knows things the head knows nothing of…” a friend once quoted to me. Some door cracked open when she said that. Permission somehow to trust my heart. To lean on the sort of wisdom that is inarticulate, vague, unclear yet has an indisputable authority. A deep yearning may be more reliable than a list of pros and cons. My tears may know something I don’t yet understand. I am amazed to see my body’s wisdom when I allow it to dance.
I want to trust hunches, stray thoughts, dreams, random images. I love the wisdom of my left hand that always says; ”slow down. Give up perfection.” The other day I was eating frozen chocolate chips out of the bag -- and feeling vaguely guilty about that. When I got to thinking that wisdom sometimes hides – even in frozen chocolate chips. Maybe they hold a message about wanting more sweetness in life. And maybe that wisdom is not something to feel guilty about, but to deeply pay attention to.
Most of us are better at making 5 year plans, setting goals, making sure we color in the lines and doing what we think we SHOULD – than we are at trusting our heart, our soul, our instinct, or “the supreme teacher than dwells in the cave of our own heart” as my yoga teacher used to call it. We are not so much in danger of not achieving as in not hearing the invitation of a bird.
The Appointment – Mark Nepo
What if, on the first sunny day,
on your way to work, a colorful bird
sweeps in front of you down a
street you’ve never heard of.
You might pause and smile,
a sweet beginning to your day.
Or you might step into that street
and realize there are many ways to work.
You might sense the bird knows some-
thing you don’t and wander after.
You might hesitate when the bird
turns down an alley. For now
there is a tension: Is what the
bird knows worth being late?
You might go another block or two,
thinking you can have it both ways.
But soon you arrive at the edge
of all your plans.
The bird circles back for you
and you must decide which
appointment you were
born to keep.