Yearning to be, we enter a lifelong process. We follow a thread of connection that reveals itself as a necessary art of being. The unexpected utterance that comes from honest living then helps us lift the veils we encounter. And so, the life of expression helps us keep the world together. This is the purpose of our will, to join the one conversation we all are born to. By seeing one thing in another, we release the Divine Nature in all things and find metaphors to live by. In truth, we relate to things more than we author them.
Though life marks us up, we survive by fitting things together until we inhabit the inner experience of truth. In time, we learn to trust the chord in our heart. Then, it becomes clear that the power of art rests in bearing witness to each other and weaving the threads of life together. Drifting in the immensity, we unravel the riddle of a self. This lets us experience love at first true seeing.
The inescapable truth is that the instrument is you. And keeping the harshness of the world at arm’s length, we can dive down and come up, renewed and all ashimmer.
Pulling threads from where we’ve been and where we feel called to go, we are led not to what is great but what is true. By staying close to what is sacred, we rediscover the covenants of being that surface when we let our life speak. This kind of speech educates the heart.
By giving attention instead of getting attention, we break surface with our soul and find that we are stronger than we thought. And no matter where we find ourselves, effort is never wasted. For this opening of soul that leads to an opening of heart that leads to an opening of voice—all of it is an endless search. And though there is no end to this mystery of being alive, we can find everything we need when going with the stream.
A Question to Walk With: How do you understand the difference between seeking to be great and seeking to be true?
This is from my book, Drinking from the River of Light.
Events for the end of 2024
Sept 29 1pm PT/4pm ET: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone with Mark Nepo in Conversation with Brooke Warner, this online ticketed event is hosted by Book Passage. Register here for the zoom link.
Nov 1-3:, You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Net of Friendship weekend retreat at Harmony Hill Retreat Center, Federal Way, WA. Click here for information on registering. NEW LOCATION — The Retreat Center at the Palisades in Federal Way
Upcoming in 2025!!!!
Jan 5, 12, Feb 2, 2025 The Fire of Aliveness Coming Back Into the World
A 3-session webinar guided by Mark 1-2:30pm ET/10-11:30am PT
Find out more at Live.MarkNepo.com
RESCHEDULED! Jan 24 – 26: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, weekend retreat, at Mercy By the Sea, 167 Neck Rd, Madison, CT. For more information or to register, click here. ✅
Feb 10-15, 2025 Mastery Week: You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship, is a weeklong retreat at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja, guided by Mark Nepo and Jeff Hamaoui. Click here to get information and to register.
May 29 – June 4, 2025 You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship is a seven day barge journey on the rivers and canals in Belgium that includes 10 sessions with Mark exploring the gift and spirit of friendship. For full details, click here.
July 18 – 20 You Don’t Have to Do It Alone: The Power of Friendship is a 3-day retreat at Siena Retreat Center in Racine, WI. For information and to register, click here.
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