What surprised you in 2019?
Yes, I have asked this question before. And each time this question takes us beneath the surface of our daily lives.
It’s a question posed by Mark Nepo, author, poet, and philosopher. Here is a response to this question he describes in his book, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen. p,3
Two Breaths That Changed His Life
When asked what surprised Marco during this last year, his voice began to quiver.
He’d witnessed two breaths that had changed his life.
As his daughter inhaled the world, it seemed to awaken her soul on Earth.
As his mother exhaled her years, it seemed to free her soul of the world.
These two breaths jarred Marco to live more openly and honestly.
He took these two breaths into his own daily breathing and quickly saw their common presence in everyone’s breathing.Is it possible that, with each inhalation, we take in the world and awaken our soul?
And with each exhalation, do we free ourselves of the world, which inevitably entangles us?
Is this how we fill up and empty a hundred times a day, always seeking the gift of the two breaths?
Perhaps this is the work of being.
What I Witnessed this Year
I witnessed our granddaughter’s first inhalation of the world,
and yes it was the awakening of her soul on Earth.With each day, I believe more that our breath is the work of our being,
… with each breath we take in the world and awaken our soul on Earth,
… with each exhalation we free ourselves of what entangles us in our world.
What is your answer to this question for 2019, What Surprised you ?