Day 74 of Year 2 (Actually Day 75)
So many things are cooking in the studio I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed. Because I am still recovering from my trip to drop my son at college, I am resting more than I'd like. Recently a friend told me that even with all my health challenges, I get more done than many people. I'd like to believe it's true, but it's hard to feel it when projects that could be moving forward quickly inch along. Everyday, I press forward with my work. Some days it's easy and a joy, and some days it's by sheer will alone anything gets done. Still the minutes on difficult days add up to hours over all, things move forward, and I am grateful. I know that the flow of work carries me forward. Some parts of my stream are wide and slow and some narrow and fast. Patience and faith in process are what is needed.
Sonnets to Orpheus (Book 2, XXIX)
By Rilke, Trans. Barrows & Macy (Link to book below)
Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent Earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.
From In Praise of Mortality: https://amzn.to/2lhW3eS