This past summer, I had the unique opportunity to sit with a woman I have known for years and step into a new level of sharing. She was honoring her desire and sharing her passion for poetry. She was part of The Good Listening Project. It was only an hour, yet it felt like a review of my life. It's so healing when someone listens and then creates—it's truly alchemical!
Below is the finished result of that exchange. I didn't change a word, even though I felt vulnerable. That was part of the lesson for me—to be seen and stand in that light. I'm so grateful for this beautiful reflection.
Origin Story
“You know the funny thing about being brave? I don’t think it’s planned,” she laughs, as she opens up about her plans in the wake of a recent lay-off. She is taking this moment to listen to the truth in her heart and define herself, first and foremost, as a creator who supports people living a courageous life. “Of course, I’ll get a job, I’ll show up, I’ll be committed, I’ll support myself. But it will not be my primary source of worth. I will not look outside myself for honour and respect. It won’t be that, not this time.” It’s a time of grounded hope, but also intense sadness and ever present grief, as her older sister is rapidly disappearing within early onset Alzheimer’s. They are two women in their fifties, born into a vibrant tapestry of Mexican-Irish culture. She will likely be her sister’s final anchor, sometimes lost but always found again, because the earliest bonds in memory remain the longest. “Every time I see her we have laughter, we have a good time. Sometimes she’ll say, ‘I know I have a sister.’ And I respond, ‘Sissy, that’s me, I’m here.’ And she says ‘Oh, isn’t that lucky for me!’
The Courageous Life
Brave is standing up because you can’t lie down. Brave is bugle and drum, bagpipes, battle cry echoes deep in the bone. Brave is what a seed feels when it pushes a sprout from dark, moist nursery into the eye of the sun. Brave is the bubbly laugh that escapes all control. Brave is smooth marble pressing back against the soles of your feet. Brave is a royal purple robe. A bat sending ball into space. Waking each morning knowing why you are here. And why you are not. Brave is each step into this loop, unable to predict where it will take you, but knowing where it ends.
Author, Julie Anne Jenson, Listener Poet
The Good Listening Project
Every day is a new opportunity to know myself and honor the inner truth of my soul and body. I've read this several times, and every time, it reaches deep into my heart and helps me shed that build-up of doubt or fear that is so easy to accumulate.
All love all ways,
Dani
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