Mark Nepo's Blog, page 25

The Bridge and the Elephant

In the dream, I was working hard to finish a bridge in order to cross some river whose current was strong. It seemed important to get where I was going, though I couldn't put where I was going into words.

Just as I finished the arc of the bridge, an elephant appeared in the water. It was stepping down the middle of the stream. When it was squarely beneath my unfinished bridge, it stopped to douse itself with water. Then it stared at me.

All at once, the sheen of the water on its back made me question why I was building a bridge in the first place. It made me question if what I was crossing really needed to be entered. It made me wonder: If I were to enter the stream rather than cross it, would I have a different sense of where I was going?

In the days since the dream, the image of the elephant under the unfinished bridge has made me consider obstacles differently. Now when I stumble before things I don't understand, I try to remember the elephant dousing itself in the middle of what I thought I had to cross and ask myself: Is the thing in the way something I need to cross or enter? If it's a difficulty involving love or fear, where will I be led by crossing it? Where will I be led by entering it? At each turn, I find myself needing to know: What must I face and what must I bridge? And when are facing and bridging deeply the same?

To Glow

Like light in the sun

spilling out of the sun,

the spirit within

beams its way

through all our cracks

till our most treasured

walls come down.

 

The coming down

of those walls is the

blessing we crave

and resist.

 

The coming down of

those walls—so the light

of the soul like the light

of the sun can help the

world grow—this is

the call of calls.

Igniting the Power and Vision of Your Whole IQ, with MICHELE McHALL

Saturday, November  12th 9:00-4:00 and Sunday, November 13th 9:00-1:00

This in-person day-and-a-half-long seminar with Michele McHall is a perfect way to start igniting your Whole IQ―the unique gifts of your Spirit, Heart, Mind, and Body intelligences. Michele's work with the Whole IQ and Intentional Transformation ™ is taking off because it's an interactive process that empowers you to align to your true self and world from the inside out.

In this seminar, you will focus on intentionally transform a limiting belief or area of reactivity that you are ready to be free of and Michele will masterfully guide you to know the rich resources that you have inside, to hear your unique calling, to see how you can impact your world and yes, see the magic of your Soul!

 

Early Bird Tuition when you register at www.wholeiq.com by October 31st: $375.00

Tuition after November 1: $450.00

Space in this seminar is limited!

Email Michele if you have any questions.

 

Discover Your Deepest-Held Beliefs

Mark's article appears on Oprah.com today:

Part of Oprah's morning ritual is reading Mark Nepo's Book of Awakening. So we asked him to explain how imperative it is to find the vitality that brings us all alive.

However we express it, staying connected to the sanctity of life is our deepest, most natural belief. Yet being human, we complicate ourselves away from what is life-giving and obvious. There are opinions everywhere, advice from people we love, and pressure from a world that barks at us to keep moving. How then do we discover our deepest-held belief? This is not like following a map but more like staying close to the air that will keep us alive. Part of the blessing and challenge of being human is that we must discover our own true nature. This is not some noble, abstract quest but an inner necessity. For, the way that birds fly in air and fish swim in water, our work while here becomes obvious once we find our natural element.

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/Discover-Your-Deepest-Held-Belief#ixzz1ac7MFzwG

Michele's latest vlog: Transformations

Michele talks about why transformation is such a relevant theme in our world today, and the importance of having experiences and processes in our lives that support us to sync up with our souls. The result is greater and greater freedom from reactivity.

Doorways

How the door left open is a threshold to a new world, which we fear to go through. How the broken birdhouse tips the baby birds into each other till the one leaned on most takes the longest to fly. How the patch of wildflowers tries to drink of the fast-moving river. I confess I've been leaned on till I forgot how to fly. But I've been opened by simple kindnesses till others thought I was a doorway left open. They tried to go through me. In the beginning I felt violated, only because they didn't ask. Now, years later, it seems this is my purpose: to be a doorway to all that can't be closed. Yesterday, I watched dawn open its chest, letting all that light pour into the world. Today, I looked into the eye of a blind horse and saw its dream of endless fields. I know I have such a blindness in which I run. I know we carry dawn within us, though we search for it everywhere. How I've searched a thousand stories, listening for what keeps us going. When in pain or sensing great care, I've felt a beautiful sameness, as if the ache of being here is the breath of center we all come from and return to.

Free webinar with MARK NEPO

Have you been anxious to hear Mark teach but unable to get to his in-person events? Now is your chance to experience Mark's teaching live—at no cost! This webinar is on October 26 at 11am PST/2pm EST. The focus of this webinar will be Mark's newest book, As Far As the Heart Can See.

REGISTER HERE.

Talk and Booksigning with Mark Nepo

Mark will be reading from his new book, As Far As the Heart Can See.

This event is free to the public.

For more information, contact: Kim Weiss: 954-360-0909 ex. 212

Luminescence

On the way home, hundreds of fireflies.

They flicker like your memory of Bennington,

the poetry readings at night in the barn. Crossing

the field of grasses, they were everywhere, their

abdomens glowing. They hibernate like us over

the long winter, some for years. Some burrow

underground. Others find safety in the bark of

trees. We're all little glow worms holding out

for spring. But the night grasses at Bennington,

there you found the light in your belly. It glowed

in your eyes. I've learned that fireflies emit their

light by oxidizing a pigment called luceferin, after

Lucifer, the light-bringer. It's unclear who named

this. Is it a dark warning against the intoxications

of light? It's said that Caravaggio prepared his can-

vases with a powder of fireflies to create an iridescent

surface on which to paint. But before ground down,

fireflies glow to attract a mate. Just as we set ourselves

on fire to find the truest company. As I set my doubts

aflame when meeting you. They say in Southeast Asia,

fireflies flash all at once in very large groups. Bug

people call this spontaneous order. At night along

the river banks in Malaysia, the kelip-kelip make

the jungle glow. And in the Philippines, thousands

can be seen in the town of Donsol, blinking in

unison. I know we're trying to do this as a people,

to light up all at once. I think this is revelation,

when things of the world light each other up. It's

also the burn of suffering and the holding of

each other through grief. I'm grateful for the

one or two times we've fallen in this meadow.

Luminescene

On the way home, hundreds of fireflies.

They flicker like your memory of Bennington,

the poetry readings at night in the barn. Crossing

the field of grasses, they were everywhere, their

abdomens glowing. They hibernate like us over

the long winter, some for years. Some burrow

underground. Others find safety in the bark of

trees. We're all little glow worms holding out

for spring. But the night grasses at Bennington,

there you found the light in your belly. It glowed

in your eyes. I've learned that fireflies emit their

light by oxidizing a pigment called luceferin, after

Lucifer, the light-bringer. It's unclear who named

this. Is it a dark warning against the intoxications

of light? It's said that Caravaggio prepared his can-

vases with a powder of fireflies to create an iridescent

surface on which to paint. But before ground down,

fireflies glow to attract a mate. Just as we set ourselves

on fire to find the truest company. As I set my doubts

aflame when meeting you. They say in Southeast Asia,

fireflies flash all at once in very large groups. Bug

people call this spontaneous order. At night along

the river banks in Malaysia, the kelip-kelip make

the jungle glow. And in the Philippines, thousands

can be seen in the town of Donsol, blinking in

unison. I know we're trying to do this as a people,

to light up all at once. I think this is revelation,

when things of the world light each other up. It's

also the burn of suffering and the holding of

each other through grief. I'm grateful for the

one or two times we've fallen in this meadow.