nourish beginnings

We tell beginnings: for the flesh and the answer,
or the look, the lake in the eye that knows,
for the despair that flows down in widest rivers,
cloud of home; and also the green tree of grace,
all in the leaf, in the love that gives us ourselves.

The word nourishment passes through the women,
soldiers and orchards rooted in constellations,
white towers, eyes of children:
saying in time of war What shall we feed?
I cannot say the end.

Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings.
Not all things are blest, but the
seeds of all things are blest.
The blessing is in the seed.
_Muriel Rukeyser

I read this poem the other day and it was medicine. Do you ever feel that way? How a book or a passage or a post can really speak to you and your situation in a way that soothes?

I have definitely been in a beginnings stage of my life the past 6 months. I've had to start over after "failing" in a very visible way that caused some significant pain and trauma to myself and others. I've had to start over when it seemed like everyone else was reaping a harvest. And, just like grief, it has pulled me in to prioritize my life differently - joy over success, freedom over harvest, kindness. Often, these seasons of abrupt starts + re-starts open us up to have even more understanding, a broader capacity for others. These phoenix moments slough away any traces of over-valuing what others think. They can make you more resilient in the face of "life not going your way" and they can breed an incredible depth of honesty about what you can, can't and no longer will do. They can teach you to stand up for yourself from your guts in a way that may look more like humility. And they build an underground tunnel towards gratitude for your ship, the oars, the steershuman, and the waves.

So if you find yourself in a "phoenix moment" right now, it's okay to dig down, to let it all wash over you. It's okay to stand up for yourself and what you need, to say "I'm worthy" even if others say that you are not or the guilt says that you are not. Because worthiness is not something anyone else can give to you.

Worthiness is something that you are; because you are alive you deserve to be here and to reach for the laurels and joys of being alive. What can you do today to step more into your worthiness? To nourish any beginnings (or endings) happening in your life right now? And to stand up for your joy and your heart even if others say you deserve to be down. What can you do today to give yourself what you need and feed.