Imagine, what is hard to believe

"It is always hard to believe that the courageous step is so close to us, that it is closer than we ever could imagine, that in fact, we already know what it is, and that the step is simpler, more radical than we had thought: which is why we so often prefer the story to be more elaborate, our identities clouded by fear, the horizon safely in the distance, the essay longer than it needs to be and the answer safely in the realm of impossibility." 
― David Whyte, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words

What do you imagine is a close in step to take?  Write about that.

What are three things you can try that you have never tried? (keep it simple).  Write about that.

Who were you when you were born? Write a poem about that.

What is on your horizon?  Write about that. 

How can you help yourself imagine all that is possible? To open to what we truly want for ourselves and our communities? Like a prayer we may say on our walks or waking: Give me the view of an explorer; help me open to what is possible and be of real benefit to myself and others. 

Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.
Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.

To hear
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes an
intimate
private ear
that can
then
really listen
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

​
From ‘Start Close In’ in ‘River Flow:
New and Selected Poems’
Many Rivers Press © David Whyte

Book Release!! the Clue of the Red Thread:  discovering fearlessness and compassion in uncertain times, released JANUARY 12th, 2021 by  Nine Rivers, an imprint of Shanti Arts. ​

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