Do you have a favorite poem that inspires you? Here is one of mine:
“Come to the Edge”
From French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918):
“Come to the edge.”
“We can’t. We’re afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can’t. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.”
And they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.
What poem or quote inspires you? Share it in the discussion below.
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I like: Don't look back....you are not going that way.
Of all the topics for "worry"... the vagina??? When does the "vagina inspector" come around. I am 67 years and he has never been to visit. The boob inspector either. GET OVER IT unless one is willing to engage in plastic surgery this is a n
Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata is a touchstone for me:
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Thanks for responding, Turista. Since I was a teenager, I’ve loved this poem. It’s a classic. –Prill
I’d never read the Apollinaire poem before, so thanks for sharing. It reminds me of a true story one of my dearest friends told me years ago. She was on a boat out in the ocean with friends one evening when they encountered a pod of dolphins. Everyone jumped into the water right away except for my friend. It had gotten dark and she was afraid of jumping into the black water. But she could hear the dolphins…it was as if they were calling to her, telling her the water was fine, come join the fun. Eventually my friend jumped.
What she discovered was that the water was warm, not cold as she’d thought it would be. And there was light everywhere–the ocean seemed lit in a way she couldn’t see from the boat. She swam and played with the dolphins and had a wonderful time. I’ve always loved that story.
Wow! I love that story, too. Olympia Dukakis, who won an Academy Award for Moonstruck, is the one who turned me onto the Apollinaire poem. She recited it at a lecture I attended recently.
I have always loved this poem. It has been my guiding star for more years than I care to remember.
I love this quote from Martha Graham:
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”
Yes, yes, yes. I love that quote, too, Heather. Good to hear from you.
WOW! (that was a huge WOW too) On my gosh! That brought tears to my eyes. When I first started to read it I thought.. this will be good for my husband to read… I think I now who it was for.. ME! Bless you my Dear.
I was curled up on the couch flipping through the channels when I happened upon Bill Moyers interviewing Nikki Giovanni. In had never heard of this woman before, but was sitting up on the couch will renewed enthusiasm!!! Bill Moyers was talking with Nikki about her new book of poems entitled Bicycles.
She relates how the wheels of the bicycle are related to life and the bar of the bike, being the stablizer for balance. Hence, her poems, relating to life in general, with all the ‘balancing’ that we do in our daily lives.
It was, however, another poem that she had written entitled “Choices”. I urge you to google Nikki Giovanni and find the poem “Choices”. It has resonated within me for the better!! Just thought I would pass this along.
I saw this Bill Moyers segment as well. Great poem. So many times we think we don’t have a choice when we really do. What I love about Giovanni’s poem is that she teases out the complexity of the issue. Thank you so much for taking the time to post and provide a link.
I know logically I have a choice but there is such fear
Had to share this quote as well, from Ralph Waldo Emerson. So appropriate for vibrant women of a certain age. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
I WILL NOT DIE AN UNLIVED LIFE.
I WILL NOT DIE IN FEAR
OF FALLING OR CATCHING FIRE.
I CHOOSE TO INHABIT MY DAYS,
TO ALLOW MY LIVING TO OPEN ME,
TO MAKE ME LESS AFRAID,
MORE ACCESSIBLE,
TOO LOOSEN MY HEART
UNTIL IT BECOMES A WING,
A TORCH, A PROMISE.
I CHOOSE TO RISK MY SIGNIFICANCE;
TO LIVE.
SO THAT WHICH CAME TO ME AS SEED
GOES TO THE NEXT AS BLOSSOM
AND THAT WHICH CAME TO ME AS BLOSSOM,
GOES ON AS FRUIT.
~Dawna Markova
I like this one that I found recently:
“Man’s main task in life is to to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is.” ~ Erich Fromm”
I love all these quotes and poems everyone is sharing!
BTW, Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving includes many wonderful nuggets of wisdom as well.
I’ve always loved this one:
Wild Geese
by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
I love just about anything by Oriah Mountain Dreamer and find the more I read her, the more I find in her words. This one just recently came across my desk :
“What if the question is not why am I so infrequently the person I really want to be but why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am?”
Wow, that is a question I had never thought of! I have never heard of her but I intend to find out more.
I ran across this some time ago and it stopped me in my tracks so to speak. I found it to be full of some of the wisest words I have ever heard for a long time, and things I had know to be true. But it was all in one place. I just love this poem! I also love the quote by Dr Wayne Dyer: If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. I have passed both of these on many times.
Marilu Hanson
What Will Matter
Michael Josephson
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.
FOOTSTEPS IN THE SAND – this poem reminds me that I am not alone and sometimes I’m just better off letting Christ carry me, instead of trying to fight something I am not strong enough to fight.
I absolutely love this one by Mahatma Gandhi; “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Yes! That’s something I’m trying very hard to live by right now.
I like this from Rosalyn Carter: “Once you accept the fact that you’re not perfect, then you develop some confidence.”
And this from Marilyn Monroe: “If I’d observed all the rules, I’d never have got anywhere.”
Genia
Another Mary Oliver poem particularly apt for women:
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
–Mary Oliver
This is like deja vu! At a turning point in my life in the late 80′s I had a recurring dream. I was standing on the edge of a cliff so high you could not see the bottom. From behind me a voice said, “Jump.” I became frightened and said, “I can’t. I’ll die.” “No,” the voice said, “Jump, you’ll be safe.” After a few more rejections, I stepped out with my right foot and then with my left. Like the old Road Runner cartoons where Wile E. Coyote hangs in mid air before plummeting to the ground below, I was suspended. No feeling of falling, no fear. The next instant, I was again at the top of the cliff…this time encouraging someone else to jump. And then I awoke. I must have had this dream twice a week for months. As it turns out, it was prophetic. I have jumped from the cliff and do now encourage others to do so. And, you know, it WAS safe!
AMEN!!
Hugs….Mi’Mi’
Thumbing through a magazine in the mid 90′s I came across a full page image of a Greek bust of I believe Aphrodite. Superimposed on the image was this quote by Marcel Proust: “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” It was a message destined to change my life. I realized in soaking in those words that I’d spent my whole life seeking “me” out in the world of possessions and relationships and events. And I’d never found. This profound message is now my personal life motto. We spend so much time trying to change the world to fit our desires. So much wasted energy. All it takes to change the world is to shift our perspective. We see the world we look to see. This simple truth has meant the world to me.
I am a writer and came across spirituality this morning while roaming Vibrant Nation. I write inspirational and motivating books, but poetry has always been a love of mine. Although I am up in years, I’m still on the forefront of words and thought perhaps you might find “The Journey’s End” as comforting as my friend did when I wrote this for her husbands memorial after his passing. Thought you might want to share it with your readers.
Have a wonderful day,
Claudia
claudiaswords@belllsouth.net
The Journeys End!
He sends us here from up above,
To the journey of life with strength and love.
And yet from the very first breath we take,
The Journeys End… Does await!
Oh there will be celebrations,
Birthdays, holidays, great vacations.
Accomplishments that will be great… as,
The Journeys End… Does await!
It doesn’t matter how long we are here,
For each day on earth is especially dear.
Success, laughter and to some a life’s mate…still,
The Journeys End… Does await!
Each day that passes while on earth,
Something new… a child’s birth.
Gathering life gems…always great…as,
The Journeys End…Does await !
Sunrise, sunsets for all to view,
Accepting failure… winning too.
Knowing when to give and take…as,
The Journeys End… Does await!
And so as life passes by,
Always one step closer to the rise.
Some lives long, others early he takes…as,
The Journeys End…Does await!
For all life comes to an end,
As we approach and start the descend.
Never forget from the first breath we take,
The Journeys End…Does await!
For now the soul must purge and renew,
Only God makes the decision for you.
And just as he sent us from above,
The Journey should end in peace with love!
Copy write 2008 by…Claudia
Dick Carrick…May you rest with all who
passed before you…Houghton Lake awaits you.
Your presence forever will bask in the sun… peace forever…Gods Son!
by…Claudia
Copy write 2008
Prill, That is one of my all time favorite poems that I have used for my own life and for empty nesters. I really like Mary Oliver as well and I keep her PRAYING poem on my piano. gtg but will try and post it later. Fun idea to post poetry, Prill. Thanks, Natalie
Thanks, Natalie. I love all the poems and thoughts people have been sharing.
Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place. – Mark Twain
and…
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Mark Twain
My favorite is from Mother Teresa. She truly was a woman of action!
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
My favorite, and a quote I try to live by:
“Do one thing that scares you every day.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
I started doing a bold thing a day (that’s what I call it) back in January of 2001. Totally changed my life.
There is a short verse I get a lot out of. I have no idea who wrote it, but it is beautiful————-
I have woven the memories of our time together into a patchwork quilt
And when life gets cold and lonely and I long for your company
I wrap up in those memories to keep warm.
Well – here’s another one by Mary Oliver (who clearly connects with the Vibrant Nation audience!). The line that grabs and holds my attention is this:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Seems like a spiritual call to action to me. GAME ON!
The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
I had heard the following quote for many years, but I didn’t know where it came from. I liked the message because it was so positive. Then I learned that it was from the Bible. I still like it, and now I can find the source to be able to copy it to share it with others. ~ Whitecloud
Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Here’s mine:
Your One Wild and Precious Life
“Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean – the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down–
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?”
Mary Oliver, “The Summer Day”
hey – that was my favorite one too! the idea of one wild and precious life is a good one.
what a beautiful poem! Thank you so much
Thank you, Prill, for inspiring this wonderful sharing. Here’s mine, full of the journeys that vibrant women like us know well:
ITHAKA
Constantine P. Cavafy
As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon-don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find the things like that on your way
as long as you keep thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon-you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony.
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.
Wow, Constantine! I used to teach this poem along with The Odyssey to my ninth graders. I love it! Thanks for reminding me.
“It is better to feel empowered by something you did for yourself than to feel resentment toward someone for something they did to you!” TR Bratz
A very wise child, that youngest daughter of mine. She said this to me when I was feeling resentment toward her father, my ex-husband for something carelessly calous he remarked to me. This felt like she just handed me a magnifying glass for relationships. This will be the dedication to my book “One Mary Too Many” to help others see the light at the end of the failed relationship tunnel!
What a wise child you have! One of the common traits I’ve seen among the hundreds of so-called late bloomers I’ve interviewed is that they learn from past experiences but don’t become embittered by them.
Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.