A Word from Natalie Goldberg
“We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves; we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us. . . ”
~ Natalie Goldberg
I’ve been in a reflective mood lately. The weather has turned cold here, the sky is all clouds and soft grays. My wardrobe has switched to sweaters and puffer jackets, and tonight’s forecast is in the low twenties (F). The season for turning inward is upon us.
In a lucky coincidence, I finished Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones this week and found myself still ruminating on these words from one of the early chapters ⤵
“We walk through so many myths of each other and ourselves; we are so thankful when someone sees us for who we are and accepts us. . . ”
It made me think of something I saw on the back of a book jacket recently that made my heart skip a beat ⤵
“You need not question me. I have seen your soul. Every haunted memory, every vile thought, every malevolent desire for revenge. I am cognizant of your downfalls, and yet I see the potential of everything you can become. I see it all. . . ”
Isn’t that the heart of why we strive so many times, to be fully seen and fully known? And isn’t it such a dream, to be fully seen and fully known without having to do anything apart from exist?
It made me wonder — What if we could give the gift of being seen to each other? What if we could lean in and look past the myths of the people in our world, especially the ones in our closest circles, and see who our people truly are? Not who they used to be, not who we’ve perceived them to be or who they’re trying to be when people are looking, but who they really are — dreams, downfalls, desires, and fullest potentials, all of it.
I wonder if we lean in just a little more, would we ask better questions? Would we find a little more courage to say the hard truths? Could we open the door to a world where we all live a little more authentically?
Just a thought :)
Here’s what I’m reading right now ⤵
WHAT’S ON MY NIGHTSTAND
Immediately after finishing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo early this week, I started in on Land by Maggie O’Farrell, but sadly I couldn’t find my footing in the story. So, since I’m a big fan of refusing to read books I don’t like, I put it aside and opened my old, worn copy of Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist to read a few essays. It’s great for a bit of comfort reading while I’m on the hunt for something new.
WHAT’S IN MY EARBUDS
As of this morning, I’m one quarter of the way through Barbara Kingsolver’s newest novel Partita, and it’s still giving me that lost-in-the-story feeling I had with The Poisonwood Bible two decades ago, so I think it’s a keeper. I have to warn you though, it has its sticking points and triggering plot lines. Which now that I think about it, probably explains why I’m leaning towards comfort reads on my nightstand.
WHAT’S IN MY MORNING BASKET
I’m still clinging onto the final pages of Writing Down the Bones, dipping in and out of The Moment of Lift, and currently trying to decide between starting Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell) and When the Heart Waits (Sue Monk Kidd) next. I’ll let you know what happens :)
WHAT’S ON MY WEEKEND TBR LIST
Nothing :( I played hooky from work a couple of days this week to take a trip down to Boston with the hubs for a concert, so I’ll be in catch-up mode this weekend — and wasting time on my new hobby obsession, of course. Definitely not skipping out on that.
What about you? Read any good books lately?
I’d love to know :) Send me a message
✌🏼️💓 📚
Celeste
did AI write this? nope, this lady did ⤴ always