From one perspective…
Certainty can feel like an old friend we used to know but now avoids or eludes us
We look for Certainty in some of the old haunts only to find that either the establishment or we have moved
In the midst of need, who cares which?
Certainty brought comfort to ache, solace to sorrow, tenderness in trying times
But now Certainty seems missing in action
Mystery stands in the liminal with arms open in Certainty’s stead
How strange is Mystery’s embrace, I’ve given it a try
I feel as though I am there, but not
I feel aware, but unsure of what I see
I’ve asked questions of Mystery
At first it was mostly about Certainty, I didn’t know what else to say
I was told Certainty was not as far as it felt and that Mystery knew the way
I felt afraid taking a stranger’s hand
The longer we walked I came up with better questions, like…
Why I felt like me but not and why did I feel so cautious?
Mystery almost never answered except to simply say, “notice that”
So that’s what I do now
I’m certain inclined to think it is good
From another perspective…
I do believe some things will always be certain
Yet I have been surprised to find they are not the things I once thought they would be.
Hello friends, I’m uncertain what I fully feel about this little writing exercise that I’ve shared above but to practice the words and not only write them, here I am…
Are the sentiments relatable to you? As we each experience the tides of time’s changes in our lives, transformations in our self, our families, our children, work, days, culture… I am sending out a small hellooo to us all here together, in Mystery’s embrace. You’re not alone.
Here are some of my reflections collected in image and words this week below. Do any of them speak to you?
Love,
Raynna
My latest book: The Love Writings: a ragamuffin’s letters about love
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6 Comments
Jes
Feeling aaaaaalllllll of this! I’m grateful to know I’m not alone in it
Raynna
Thanks for letting he know, Jes! It’s mutual!
I went reading/searching this morning on the topic of “not alone” in hopes to sweeten my response to your heartening comment and came across Legolas’ (screen) words to Eomer’s threat against Gimli and smiled big… thinking of us:
“He stands not alone. You would die before your stroke fell.”
In all seriousness:
“[O]ne of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places where we know we are not alone.”
-Bell Hooks
“If there’s a feeling you have, other people have it. If there’s something weird about your life, other people have lived it. If there’s something kooky about your body, other people have that, too. We’re not alone. There’s some kind of tremendous relief in that and I think it can only be expressed in belly laughter. This tremendous relief that happens the millisecond we realize, it’s not just me. That’s what good laughter is about. It’s about knowing that you’re not alone.”
-Brené Brown
Larissa
Same here
Raynna
And same here. Thanks, sis.
“We read to know we are not alone.” -C.S. Lewis
“Go forth in confidence and go forth in peace. For there are angels to your left and angels to your right; angels in front of you and angels behind you; angels above you and angels below. You are loved, and you are not alone.”
-Marianne Williamson
“Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.”
-Helen Keller
“Life is not what you alone make it. Life is the input of everyone who touched your life and every experience that entered it. We are all part of one another.”
– Yuri Kochiyama
Amy
So much sweetness and goodness, Raynna. I’m not sure what is my favorite. Taking in HWL’s poem was lovely. Love from CO.♡
Raynna
Thanks for slowing down and spending some time with me, my friend. I thought the gal who shared that did a really nice job. Love back from WA!