We are all blessed to live more than one life within our one life. All of us challenged to grow out of one self and into another. I am not the same person I was ten years ago, nor was that self the same as the one I inhabited twenty years ago. We blossom and outgrow selves the way butterflies emerge from cocoons. Except that being human, we have the chance to emerge from many cocoons. This poem tries to look back at the many selves I\u2019ve lived in.<\/em><\/p>\nMEETING MY SELVES<\/p>\n
I came upon a younger me. He was pressing<\/p>\n
against everything. Seeing what would hold<\/p>\n
and what would give way. What gave way he<\/p>\n
thought weaker. What resisted he thought<\/p>\n
oppressive. I was embarrassed at how little<\/p>\n
I knew. Then I stumbled on an artist obsess-<\/p>\n
sed with the fire of creation. He thought it a<\/p>\n
sacred obligation. He threw everything into the<\/p>\n
flames. Those close thought him an arsonist. I<\/p>\n
felt guilty for those I burned against their will.<\/p>\n
Midway I found a fish-like man whose chest was<\/p>\n
pried open like a ragged shell. This was me tossed<\/p>\n
ashore by cancer. I felt grateful for the cracking of<\/p>\n
my stubbornness with time enough to be. Along<\/p>\n
the way I dreamt of the old holy man. I can\u2019t say<\/p>\n
he was me but I have met him many times. He<\/p>\n
stays in the world though he faces the interior.<\/p>\n
Whatever the difficulty, he stops to bless what-<\/p>\n
ever is near. When I was near death, he stopped<\/p>\n
to bless me. I have searched for him ever since.<\/p>\n
When I close my fear, I feel his hands entering<\/p>\n
my hands. When I close my worry, I feel his<\/p>\n
eyes parting the curtain of my eyes.<\/p>\n
<\/em><\/p>\nA Question to Walk With: Describe at least one former self and how you have grown from that into the self you are right now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read Mark\u2019s weekly reflections on The Huffington Post. We are all blessed to live more than one life within our one life. All of us challenged to grow out of one self and into another. I am not the same person I was ten years ago, nor was that self the same as the one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2538,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marks-weekly-reflections","category-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Meeting My Selves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read Mark's weekly reflections on The Huffington Post. We are all blessed to live more than one life within our one life. All of us challenged to grow out\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2013\/01\/21\/meeting-my-selves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meeting My Selves\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read Mark's weekly reflections on The Huffington Post. We are all blessed to live more than one life within our one life. All of us challenged to grow out\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2013\/01\/21\/meeting-my-selves\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Field Notes on Living\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkNepo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T17:20:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Nepo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@marknepo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Nepo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2013\/01\/21\/meeting-my-selves\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2013\/01\/21\/meeting-my-selves\/\",\"name\":\"Meeting My Selves\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-21T17:20:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T17:20:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5\"},\"description\":\"Read Mark's weekly reflections on The Huffington Post. 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