This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi
Image: Iconic Sunrise #2 by Miwok via Flickr
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
I just love Rumi. And, lately, Rilke is on my writing/reading desk. This is wisdom and takes some getting used to for me; to embrace the violent sweeping of my house. I’m learning patience and the willingness to do the work that goes deep to see the gift and the clearing. Thank you for the beautiful words and the picture is exquisite.
Barbara,
I read Rilke in my twenties and lately, I feel the pull to go back to the wisdom contained in his work. Yes, the work is daunting, but is necessary to view the horizon with a renewed clarity.