Mark Nepo

And just see kind of your reactions to it and how it lands with you within the context of what we're talking about and your broader work.

In 2018, I sat down with a spiritual teacher and a poet named Mark Nepo.

And at that time, Mark posed this question to me that he said from his view, he thought was one of the most important questions we might ask ourselves in this lifetime.

And in not being a question with a simple or a static answer, but more one that we sort of carry with us as a companion through life and live into the answers over time.

Yes.

Well, I think, you know, my friend and mentor, Mark Nepo, talks about his books as being like children.

And so I do feel like I've had a lot of children in quick succession, but I love them all so much.

And they're all wonderful.

Usually I don't want to, but the huge cup of coffee that I make for myself is enough of an enticement to sit down, you know, get my butt in the chair.

And then usually I have something inspiring nearby.

So a book by Mark Nepo, a book of poetry by Naomi Shihab Nye or Mary Oliver, Mirabai Starr, her book Ordinary Mysticism has been a lovely companion recently.

And I just read that for a little bit and then I just write and I allow myself to be guided through my writing It's just automatic writing.

And then just the other day, I read in a meditation book, another thing I'm trying to work on, but I'm not going to divert.

It's by Mark Nepo.

I read this passage, The Need to Speak.

He describes how we sometimes imagine that speaking honestly will lead to rejection or misunderstanding and that we need to remain silent.

And I tried to do my best and overdid it and didn't manage to get something to shape that.

we could work with so i'm doing what that source that i haven't brought recommends which is to slow down and wait and be patient and feel my way into it and let the process of me and it unfold over time so that one on the yi jing um and patience and cultivating qualities as opposed to over-efforting all the time is going to come later and um We have this source instead this week that has been waiting in my long list of sources for a long time by Mark Nepo called Fame or Peace.

And we'll do what we ordinarily do, which is I'll read it and then you'll read it.

And then we'll see what conversation arises, the arising responsiveness of each of us and the in-between of us with Mark Nepo's piece, with the insides of us and with this bigger field that you and I but many other people are in Lizzie of all of you who are listening or watching and paying attention to these conversations being part of them that's all part of it it's never just you and me having this conversation Lizzie there's many other presences alive in this And you can find the source at toningtowards.life in the email, but also in the show notes.

And one thing you might want to do if you're listening or watching is you are very welcome to press pause and find it, neither have it in front of you or read it if you want to have, if the written word helps, which sometimes it does.

Obviously, of course, you can find it afterwards.

So this is Fame or Peace by Mark Nepo.

It's from his wonderful book, The Book of Awakening.

as a time to slow down.

And Mark Nepo, he speaks to this in a beautiful way.

And one of the things I always come back to is slow down the train that is me until what I come back to is seeable, touchable, and feelable.

And that, like when I think of my disembodied self, that's a train, right? My brain's going, I'm moving fast.

How could I possibly let that go? And when we're willing to let go, we open up all manner of new possibilities.

According to Mark Nepo, surrender is like a fish finding the current and going with it.

Am I calling you a fish? Absolutely not.

Unless you want to be called a fish.

the room.

Well, I think what I'll do is share a poem by Mark Nepo.

I'm sure you probably know Mark's work.

In our work around grief, we feel that the mark of a mature human being, whether that's a ripened adult or an elder, is to hold grief and gratitude at the same time and to be stretched large by these two presences in our life and This poem of Mark's called Adrift is one that speaks to that extension, that expansion of self to hold both.

Pause for Peace, Not a One, featuring a poem by Mark Nepo.

I hope you enjoy this midweek pause for peace.

Each Wednesday, I pair an image with a poem, a little something for your heart and your nervous system.

Not a One by Mark Nepo A funny thing happened on my way to being awake.

I outgrew all my masks.

Not a one fit.

I felt it on my skin and in my soul.

Now, anything is possible.

Yeah, a huge role, honestly.

You know, Mark Nepo writes about unplanned unfoldings.

And I love that phrase because we as human beings, hello, unplanned unfoldings happen all the time.

And some of them are great and wonderful.