living from the soul

Yesterday, I was reading poetry to my 95-year-old visually-impaired mother-out-of-law. I read that wonderful bit from 'In Blackwater Woods' by Mary Oliver:

To live in this world

you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it

against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.

This reminded me of Clarissa Pinkola Estes' words about living from soul: 'Three things differentiate living from the soul versus living from the ego only: the ability to sense and learn new ways, the tenacity to ride a rough road, and the patience to learn deep love over time.'

Then I rediscovered many inspiring quotes by CPE (whose work has influenced so many of us; it's certainly shaped my own thinking and life).

Here are some:

'Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.'

'To be ourselves causes us to be exiled by many others, and yet to comply with what others want causes us to be exiled from ourselves.'

'The doors to the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.'

'The craft of questions, the craft of stories, the craft of the hands – all these are the making of something, and that something is soul. Anytime we feed soul, it guarantees increase.'

'If you have yet to be called an incorrigible, defiant woman, don't worry, there is still time.'

http://www.clarissapinkolaestes.com/