Through the sheets of clouds

There are only a few days left in the year 2022. What a year it has been. The memory of last Christmas is still fresh in my mind. In our teardrop trailer, we traveled 18 hours to spend Christmas with our daughters and their husbands. We had a wonderful time until suddenly everyone except us got Covid. Thank goodness they all recovered. In April my mum passed peacefully after her ten year struggle living with Alzheimers and my husband's parents passed twenty five hours apart from each other two months later unexpectedly. Mary Oliver writes, "It was a wild night with the road full of branches and stones, voices left behind." I admire her poetic sense.

Looking back, reflecting on the past year brings me to remember that back then we had no idea what we would encounter, and if I knew now, I wouldn't have had the courage to face the year ahead. Currently reading Joseph Cambell's 'The Hero With a Thousand Faces', one of his famous quotes is that we must let go of our plans so that we can accept the life that awaits. Among his sayings that stand out to me is that being who you are is the privilege of a lifetime. This insight ties in wonderfully with Oliver's words that as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn Through the sheets of clouds, And there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own.

   The Journey

By Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew

What you had to do, and began, Though the voices around you Kept shouting

Their bad advice‚

Though the whole house

Began to tremble

And you felt the old tug

At your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

Each voice cried.

But you didn’t stop.

You knew what you had to do, Though the wind pried

With its stiff fingers

At the very foundations‚ Though their melancholy

Was terrible.

It was already late

Enough, and a wild night,

And the road full of fallen Branches and stones.

But little by little,

As you left their voices behind, The stars began to burn Through the sheets of clouds, And there was a new voice, Which you slowly

Recognized as your own,

That kept you company

As you strode deeper and deeper Into the world,

Determined to do

The only thing you could do‚ Determined to save

The only life you could save.

     ‘The Journey,’ from Dream Work by Mary Oliver. © 1986