the sky — and our joyful place in the family of things

I am a lifelong enthusiast. People continually remark how positive I am, despite circumstances. That’s me. So what am I enthusiastic about? Gathering (with friends/family), cooking for friends/family, the sky, animal welfare, flowing bodies of water, the sky, natural light, the beauty of nature, the sky, … and so on. Oh, did I mention the sky?

So what brought this on you ask? Author Shawna Lemay wrote a delightful post the other day titled On Being an Enthusiast, ending with her asking, “Please tell me . . .  what you are enthused by.”

Of course, I’m enthused or love many other things as well but, those were the very first things that came to mind at the time. And they are the types of things I act upon. We invite friends over for lunch or dinner; I cook for them; I admire the sky at multiple times of day and in all seasons — it inspires and invigorates me; I write letters when I see animal injustices; I report people who neglect or abuse animals; I am intoxicated by the sound of water moving and can stand and listen for ages; I’m always stopping to notice how the light falls on objects in the house or outside; and so on. These things, and more, shape who I am.

The more I thought about Shawna’s post and my own responses, that whole idea of how we look at the world or how it’s shaped us, I felt compelled to share that idea here with you. There is also a very well known poem by Mary Oliver that sprang to mind because it speaks to drawing a person out from despair towards an outlook of positivity. And she wrote it long before positivity entered the zeitgeist on social media.

WILD GEESE by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. 

There’s power in those last two lines. Simple words, spoken simply and quietly, yet what they implore is so powerful. We all have a place in this vast family of things. There is much to be happy about and grateful for. There is so much within us if we allow ourselves to love what we love. We have a place.

We’re all on a life countdown. Life is short. Borrowing from Shawna, “Please tell me what you love, what you are enthused by.”  I’m standing by.

My favourite video, likely of all time. Louie Schwartzberg’s Nature, Beauty, Gratitude. This video and these words encapsulate all that enthuses me. Enjoy.