Another great paradox is how the soul, the most intimate of all our connections to the Mystery, is so intrinsic and personal, and yet, at its very inception point, it remains eternally impersonal. This is akin to how intimate the light in a barn is for the sheep and horses and farmer who feeds them every morning. Their experience of the light that filters through the crack in the roof is very personal. But the vast, formless, undying light outside the barn remains impersonal. It is how we receive our very small portions of all that is Universal that makes life so personal.
Likewise, the approach of death seems terribly personal but death isn’t coming for us, though it feels that way. Rather, the light of my soul is returning through the crack in my barn to rejoin the impersonal sky of undying light. This doesn’t mean that our life and death are inconsequential. Just that the very personal patterns of beauty found in a life are like those found on a shell cast ashore that has been shaped by the impersonal roar and whisper of the waves.
A Question to Walk With: Describe how you experience the very personal and yet impersonal nature of being alive.
This is from my book in progress, Following the Thread.
Happy New Year! Mark will be guiding some special journeys in 2024 and we’re glad to share all the links here as a reminder:
Falling Down and Getting Up, a Mastery Week at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja, Mexico, Feb 5-10, 2024
https://www.meawisdom.com/workshop/falling-down-and-getting-up-discovering-your-own-resilience-and-strength
The Gift of Deepening and the Radiance in All Things, a weeklong retreat on a river cruise in France hosted by Global Journeys, May 18-24, 2024.
https://globalj.org/the-gift-od-deepening-overview/
You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, a Mastery Week at the Modern Elder Academy in Santa Fe, Mexico, Sept 16-21, 2024.
https://www.meawisdom.com/workshop/the-power-of-friendship-with-mark-nepo
Saying Yes to Life: The One Life We’re Given, a weeklong retreat in Costa Rica, hosted by Global Journeys, Dec 8-14, 2024.
https://globalj.org/mark-nepo-costa-rica-overview/
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