Without Explanation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I\" \/>\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\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Without Explanation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/\" \/>\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=\"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/621\/2017\/10\/sunrise.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\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=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/\",\"name\":\"Without Explanation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Without Explanation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/\",\"name\":\"Field Notes on Living\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5\",\"name\":\"Mark Nepo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark Nepo\"},\"description\":\"Mark Nepo is a poet and spiritual teacher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 50 years. With over a million copies sold, Mark's #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening has moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with. A beloved poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called \u201cone of the finest spiritual guides of our time,\u201d \u201ca consummate storyteller,\u201d and \u201can eloquent spiritual teacher.\u201d His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Mark has published twenty-four books and recorded fifteen audio projects. His most recent, The Half-Life of Angels: Three Books of Poems (Freefall Books, April 2023), contains poems written in his fifties and sixties, is the first in a series of volumes to be published in limited editions. In September 2023 his twenty-fifth book, Falling Down and Getting Up is being published by St. Martin's Essentials. Recent work includes Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity, was published in September 2022. (St. Martin's. Essentials), The Book of Soul (St. Martin\u2019s Essentials, 2020), which was honored by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2020, and received a Gold Nautilus Award; Drinking from the River of Light (Sounds True, 2019), earned an Independent Publisher Book Silver Award for Self Help 2020, and a 2019 Nautilus Silver Award for Personal Growth & Self Help; and More Together Than Alone (Atria, 2018) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2018. Mark is a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine. In 2015 Mark was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation; in 2016 he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN\u2019s SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. Mark appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV, and was part of Oprah's The Life You Want Tour in 2014. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. Mark is a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine. In his 30s Mark was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, a struggle which helped to form his philosophy of experiencing life fully while staying in relationship to an unknowable future. Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats. Please visit him at: www.MarkNepo.com, http:\/\/threeintentions.com and http:\/\/wmespeakers.com\/speaker\/mark-nepo.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/marknepo.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkNepo\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/@marknepo\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/author\/mknepo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Without Explanation","description":"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Without Explanation","og_description":"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/","og_site_name":"Field Notes on Living","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkNepo","article_published_time":"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":512,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/621\/2017\/10\/sunrise.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark Nepo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@marknepo","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Nepo","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/","name":"Without Explanation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-24T15:47:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5"},"description":"I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years: to explain, to defend, to leave another piece of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn off has grown back, I","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Without Explanation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/","name":"Field Notes on Living","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/8dd9a050df7e544bc3c7dc9a587321d5","name":"Mark Nepo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f01b382981d0a1914ee5686c03225bdb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark Nepo"},"description":"Mark Nepo is a poet and spiritual teacher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 50 years. With over a million copies sold, Mark's #1 New York Times bestseller The Book of Awakening has moved and inspired readers and seekers all over the world with. A beloved poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has been called \u201cone of the finest spiritual guides of our time,\u201d \u201ca consummate storyteller,\u201d and \u201can eloquent spiritual teacher.\u201d His work is widely accessible and used by many and his books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Mark has published twenty-four books and recorded fifteen audio projects. His most recent, The Half-Life of Angels: Three Books of Poems (Freefall Books, April 2023), contains poems written in his fifties and sixties, is the first in a series of volumes to be published in limited editions. In September 2023 his twenty-fifth book, Falling Down and Getting Up is being published by St. Martin's Essentials. Recent work includes Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity, was published in September 2022. (St. Martin's. Essentials), The Book of Soul (St. Martin\u2019s Essentials, 2020), which was honored by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2020, and received a Gold Nautilus Award; Drinking from the River of Light (Sounds True, 2019), earned an Independent Publisher Book Silver Award for Self Help 2020, and a 2019 Nautilus Silver Award for Personal Growth & Self Help; and More Together Than Alone (Atria, 2018) cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2018. Mark is a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine. In 2015 Mark was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation; in 2016 he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN\u2019s SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. Mark appeared several times with Oprah on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV, and was part of Oprah's The Life You Want Tour in 2014. He has also been interviewed by Robin Roberts on Good Morning America. Mark is a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine. In his 30s Mark was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, a struggle which helped to form his philosophy of experiencing life fully while staying in relationship to an unknowable future. Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. He continues to offer readings, lectures, and retreats. Please visit him at: www.MarkNepo.com, http:\/\/threeintentions.com and http:\/\/wmespeakers.com\/speaker\/mark-nepo.","sameAs":["http:\/\/marknepo.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MarkNepo","https:\/\/twitter.com\/@marknepo"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/author\/mknepo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":3690,"date":"2017-10-24T10:47:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-24T15:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/?p=3690"},"modified":"2017-10-24T10:47:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T15:47:10","slug":"without-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/fieldnotesonliving\/2017\/10\/24\/without-explanation\/","title":{"rendered":"Without Explanation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019ve been poked and prodded for years:<\/p>\n

to explain, to defend, to leave another piece<\/p>\n

of me at your altar. And while what I\u2019ve torn<\/p>\n

off has grown back, I looked at my scars which<\/p>\n

said today, no more. And when I honored them<\/p>\n

by saying I was done, you flared and tried to<\/p>\n

shame me into more. But I have outgrown<\/p>\n

giving myself away. And so, saying nothing,<\/p>\n

I walked into the rest of my life. You<\/p>\n

demanded I come back, explain, apologize.<\/p>\n

But the part of me that waits on others to<\/p>\n

verify my worth had died in my arms. And<\/p>\n

so, I stopped trying to catch every slight<\/p>\n

and judgment that came my way. I turned<\/p>\n

finally to life itself and felt the sun welcome<\/p>\n

me into the unrehearsed spark of the day.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Question to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, describe the part of you that waits on others to verify your worth. How might you affirm your own worth?<\/em><\/p>\n

$\"sunrise\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

*photo credit: Pixabay<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"