Our surprise at the beauty and fragility of life is part of one chorus of awe. ~ Mark Nepo
Yesterday was convocation day here at Royal Roads. Hundreds of learners savoured the delicious refrains of graduation and completion of their long sought degrees. A smile slipped through my body in seeing the graduates in oh so proper cap and gown gliding like skipping stones through the rivers of hallways with proud families and friends watching the sparks of their lightened wakes. What they have done in their studies has laid a path of grit and mortar, bricks and hopes for an intrepid future. With tomorrow's dawn will be the next challenge, the next dream, the next moment of awe whose breath will whisper a prayer to become all that they truly are.
In each whisper is a chance for all of us to listen all the more carefully to what calls to us and asks us to step more firmly into our intrepid lives. With each step we come upon the risk to be fully authentic. And taking that risk, we are faced with the unquenchable need to stand by our core in order to live life fully. If we get this far, we are returned, quite humbly, to the simple fate of being here. Through each step, each fall, each reclaiming of our direction, our devotion to deep listening remains the simple and sacred work of being here. As Mark Nepo, poet, philosopher and writer says, "…there are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths.”
Join Mark Nepo and storyteller, Margo McLoughlin, September 21-23, 2012 at Royal Roads for their course, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: The Work of Reverence, based on Nepo's latest book by the same name.
Where do you find awe? What cleaves you open for the next chapter of your life, this singular day, this precious moment? To re-imagine Nepo's words, let the water of your heart fill a deeper glass that only you can call your authentic self.
Tess Wixted
Continuing Studies Associate
Visit us at cstudies.royalroads.ca.
