Thank you so much to those of you wrote and spoke to me in thanks for sharing Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Journey” a few days back.  She is truly one of the great poets of our time, and of all time, in my humble opinion.  She has so much to say about us, all living beings, and about life and its many moments of transitory significance.

Below is another of my favorites of hers, and I can’t share this one without sharing another that I love, tomorrow.  Thank you for indulging me.  I guess by posting these I am risking losing readers.  I am hoping, however, that you fall in love with Mary Oliver, like I have, and that you allow her to guide you on a journey of falling in love with yourself, and the world around you…
When Death Comes

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

Lovely, isn’t it, and powerful?  Guess what?  So are you!  Is there a risk you can take today that will insure that you will not end up simply visiting this world?

Laura Biering has an infectious zeal for coaching people who want to do enlivening work and live inspired lives. She's fired up about the power of taking risks - great and small - and the rewards that come as a result. She's also passionate about (1) creativity and authenticity and their potential to change the world, (2) frolicking with her adorable four-legged children, and (3) retreating with those she loves at her farm in Southeast Georgia, Brinson's Race. Visit her website at True Voices.
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