Renee Writes

Be imperfectly still.
Don’t lift a finger.
See how the world continues to turn
Without a single push from you?

The sun crosses the sky
Without you reminding or coaxing it.
The snow in the mountain meadow
Melts and flows to the pull of gravity
Down into cold creeks,
Joins its sister streams,
Becomes vast rivers til
It is embraced by the powerful sea.

All this happens without you doing a thing.
You don’t have to put it on your to-do list,
Or remember to start the cycle
Or restock the shelves
Or scrub out the dirty bits.

Be still and understand that the natural world
Is a different kind of gift-giver.
There is no need to earn these gifts or
Think of the proper gesture of gratitude.
The world will keep turning and
Beauty will keep unfolding.

I know why it’s hard.
You were raised to earn your joys.
Work first, play later.
Taking the reward first is cheating,
and we don’t cheat.

But still – the dazzling snowflakes cartwheel past,
And the birds fly down close to show off their iridescent wings,
And the flowers nod their heads with delight at the touch of the breeze.
And they do not care whether you think you deserve them.
They will not wait for you to look.
They are on their own schedule and that schedule is now.

So you can keep your eyes shut tight because you think you haven’t earned it.
Or you can let go of what you think is expected of you
And just fucking accept the gift.
Open your eyes, darling.
Open your eyes.