Clearing
by Martha Postlethwaite
Do not try to serve
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing
in the dense forest of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is yours alone to sing
falls into your open cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself
to the world
so worthy of rescue.
About a year ago, I read this poem and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was desperate to contribute in a meaningful way, to give what I knew was in me, but my life was FULL.
I’m a foster parent. I had just come through a year of solo-parenting three kids with a lot of trauma and big needs. Two of them had moved on and I was being bombarded with calls for new placements. All of those kids were incredible. All of them needed a place. And I did have room.
But I kept hearing this line in my head: “Create a clearing in your life…only then will you know.”
I couldn’t shake it.
I wanted to feel purposeful, I wanted to contribute, so I kept filling my life up with new people, new projects, new hobbies. It wasn’t working. I was overwhelmed and spinning.
Create a clearing.
I said no to new placements. I negotiated to work only four days a week. I put my toddler into daycare.
That little clearing became the space for my training as a Leadership Coach. Then it became the day each week when I could meet with a few clients.
Create a clearing.
Has it been perfect? No. (Insert embarrassed laughter here.) Absolutely not. Groceries, housework, sick kids, work meetings, a good book, napping. Other stuff squeezes into the clearing so, so often! Sometimes, it’s weeks before I realize, and I have to get to work clearing out that space again.
Create a clearing.
This fall, a whole year later, I have a little more space, and a lot more clarity about how I contribute:
I help leaders empower their people, and get results.
I help teams become purposeful, adaptive, and strong.
I help women, in any situation, rise up into their power.
If those things ring true for you, let’s talk.
This time of year, it’s particularly hard to make space for anything. New school year, new work projects, new lessons and teams. But maybe that makes it more important than ever.
What would it take for you to make a clearing in your life? I wonder what might happen if you did?
Коментари