Thousands of Beginnings

How many beginnings have there been in your life? How many beginnings have there been in my life?

The first breath is a beginning.

The first suckling of nourishment is a beginning.

The first rolling over is a beginning, as is the first crawl and then the first step.

Since those very beginning beginnings, there have been thousands, maybe millions of beginnings of all sizes and depths.

There are beginnings and endings.

There are beginnings that come and go, trying again and again, never with enough strength to keep them growing.

There are beginnings that have matured with such grace that we must remind ourselves there was once the beginning and to honor where it took us.

Coming to this Well of Being that is of beginnings, I am in complete awe of how it nourishes my soul. I sit on the edge and keep dipping and dipping and dipping again, the memories, reminders, and inspirations coursing through me.

This morning, after reading John O’Donohue’s “For a New Beginning,” I noticed that the words on the Yogi tea tag still draped over my mug – “We can always start again.” Synchronicity that made me smile.

I made a significant move a year ago, anticipating easing into a beautiful life and workflow, the past several years before filled with boundaries brought by Covid and numerous life changes.

Instead, the main words I have assigned to the last 9 months or so are unexpected, upended, and mysterious. That is not the full description by any means, but it is the one that feels bolded.

The beauty is that the unexpected, upended, and mysterious have led me to my own new beginnings. I see now that the journey had to be taken to let go of, to free so much in order to be able to begin again. These months are ultimately a gift.

I will sit at this well a while longer to explore this fresh way of being in beginning/s. I am deeply curious to see what it offers up to carry with me, nourish me, sustain me, inspire me and to be a catalyst for living fully in beginnings, savoring them, and trusting what they have in store.

For now, the words of a favorite and gifted writer who was gone from this world far too soon. I have read them silently, out loud and written them numerous times to embed them in my heart.  Maybe there is a line or two just for you, too.

For a New Beginning

by John O’Donohue

In out of the way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the grey promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the wavers of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped on to new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plentitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear,

You can trust the promise of this opening,

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.