Poetic Revelations: Living Vulnerably
Life edged with daffodils
"Vulnerability is not a weakness, a passing indisposition, or something we can arrange to do without, vulnerability is not a choice, vulnerability is the underlying, ever present and abiding undercurrent of our natural state.” ~ David Whyte
A weekly publication for Heart-centered Warriors navigating Life…because Human-ing is harder than adulting.
Selected Poems:
A Center, Ha Jin
Spring Cleaning, Sara Catterall
Her, Monisha Mittal (spoken word)
Dear Embodied Hearts and Dancing Souls,
I’ve been noticing my Vulnerability asking for my attention this past week. A poem came forth around it. It wanted to be called Her.
I share the poem above. But I want you to understand the starting point. Which is different from the moment the words tumbled out of my body. (Dance Chapel is ON)
The Mystery, the Split, and Headlights. Coming of age, in college and beyond, I led a split ‘life.’ My insides loved poetry, the Color Purple, the resilience of children (I volunteered in homeless shelters and hospitals). My outsides spent time in business classes where I saw humanity in supply and demand curves. My professors did not. I felt an acute ache of separation in my heart, stemming from a complete lack of ability to share my love of something as simple as a poem within my family. (A poem was not the right bridge between hard-working parents and my youth.) I felt pained, believing poetry could never be a real part of my life.
Yet here I am, in community with those who are similarly nourished by poems. I find poems, I share them and find more people like me. Rather than beyond my reach, poetry has moved towards my center.
Poetry is simply a food source in a shared ecosystem.
I don’t have insight to offer about this mystery. But it makes me wonder: does this energy source ….the one we truly are underneath it all…. have a set of headlights all its own to transverse the darkness and mystery of our travels (and travails)?
The Poem Writes Itself. My vulnerability first began stirring up in a moment of feedback. I felt Her residing low in my body, below my belly. I noticed, with a startle, that Shame was no longer shrouding it. The next week, my vulnerability began feeling more fragile. In an extaordinary moment of friendship, this all turned around. With just 2 sentences, my friend helped me remember: I do not need to confuse what I do (or don’t do) as a judgment on my true Self.
My friend’s words poured over me like holy water. I was filled with an immeasurable feeling of …something more than hope. At first the word I used was “nourished.” It was more vital than that. It was an alive feeling filled with an implicit sense of trust in myself. My vulnerability all of a sudden felt shiny and new. I couldn’t help but think of the Madonna song Like a Virgin on the drive back home.
The poem arose from within all by itself that afternoon. I simply wrote it down. Each of the three days that follow, I seem to bounce from one moment of creative connection to another spontaneously. Our vitality, it seems, contains spontaneity. The last three days of my life feel like a poem. In an accidental moment, I even speak the poem in my first community open mic night.
And everywhere I go, this living poem is edged with spring daffodils.
The Take Away. Our vulnerability is a measure of our ability to be our natural authentic Self. This changes depending on who we’re with, where we are, and what we’re doing.
Do not allow anything to impugn your True self. Its your Essence. Its finding your way with you.
Rather, find out who in your life, or places in your life, or activities that let this part of you feel shiny and new. It’s simply remarkable.
With so much Love for you, your journey and your unfolding.
Stay #heartwoke.
Monisha
NOTES:
Tuesday Dance Chapel is tonight, 3/19/2024
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Meeting ID: 825 748 1773
Passcode: wedance
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I wholeheartedly agree that vulnerability is a baseline truth and that our ability to recognize it and care for it is soul work. This turns out to
be a super power.
Thank you for your words here. I recognize your walk. Finding your tribe is somewhat like a mistery, and then a big surprise the vibes worked after all and here you are! Thank you for your newsletters.