Resources & Inspiration

Resources & Inspiration


At the still point of the turning world.
Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards;
at the still point,
there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.
And do not call it fixity,
where past and future are gathered.
Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline.
Except for the point,
the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long,
for that is to place it in time.

T.S. Elliot

Do you have the patience to wait till the mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving till the right action arises by itself?

Lao Tzu

DON’T CHANGE

They say she’s too inquisitive.
They say he’s too energetic.
They say she’s too sensitive.

They say these things thinking it will help,
But it doesn’t really.
It only causes worry and the pressure to conform.
The truth is, changing would be a tragedy.

Because when they say “too quiet,”
I see introspection.
Don’t change, thoughtful one.
You’re gonna bring quiet wisdom to the chaos.

Because when the say “too inquisitive,”
I see problem solving.
Don’t change, little thinker.
You’re gonna bring answers to the toughest questions.

Because when they say “too energetic,”
I see vitality.
Don’t change, lively one.
You’re going to bring love and laughter to desperate times.

Because when they say “too sensititve,”
I see heart.
Don’t change, deep feeler.
You’re going to bring compassion to hurting souls.

They might say change is needed.
But I ask that they look a little deeper and observe a little longer.
From where I stand, these individuals are just as they should be:
on their unique path, bringing the world exactly what it needs to thrive.

Don’t change, extraordinary one.
You’re gonna light this place up.
Don’t change, extraordinary one.

© Rachel Macy Stafford 2014


RADIO-FREE HEKATE

Stop a moment, she said, and listen.

Not with your ears. They will lead you astray.
Listen with your feet. Nestle them naked down deep into the tangles of the roots and grass burrow your toes under the warm soil, investigate, tune in to the right station, let the ground rise up into your arches, fill up your base surround your heels with movement.

Listen with your skin.

Pull the sound up through every muscle in your legs, the earth is playing you like a harp, you are being strummed, softly, strongly, an insistent tune, a pinnacle point of pitch and vibration at the space where all your strings come together

let this sound, this calling from the earth, fill up the hollows of your sacrum, course its winding way up your backbone, chime up each rib like a xylophone, catch and keep the rhythm of your beating heart.

Tha-Bump. Tha-Bump.
sound growing and moving and expanding exploding into all its potential as it blasts from your fingers and mouth and eyes, through your every cell the incredible, undeniable, untamable sound of living that your ears, alone, would never understand.

Victoria Day 2002