all images and stories are the property of Catherine Beerda-Basso and are not to be used without given permission...thank you

Thursday 1 March 2012

Learning to Live Alone....





The other day my beautiful friend posted about this topic.
Her post is here.
(it will take you 2 minutes to read it...please do)

It is a great moment
So glad she wrote it down to share.





Those words
"Learning to Live Along"
clung to me

I'm not going through what my friend
and the woman in her story are going through
and yet
I am.





I did not realize it
until I read those four words.

I emailed her this:this season has been a season of learning to live alone for me...not

utilizing the relationships around me that I put much of myself into
learning to depend more on the gifts and strengths within myself...
during my childhood I put a lot of value on my friendships... 
which, at the time, was what got me through, 
but now those needs have changed 
and in order to move forward I have had to
transform these thoughts of needing others around me to feel 
safe, validated, love, accepted
it has been a time of finding that fulfillment within
myself...learning to live alone
I would have never looked at it that way if I had not read your
words...they were a real message for me, so thank you



Learning to Live Alone
Learning to Live in Freedom 
Learning to be Good, with Me
what do those words say to you?

Love and Light


"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

"I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it." 

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments" 



Oriah Mountain Dreamer
*thanks Glynis*




4 comments:

  1. First, I was so moved by your friend's post. WOW. I had tears in my eyes. Amazing story.. and now, I am moved by yours. Really moved. It's a new thing for me being alone even though I'm surrounded by people. I find out who I am by allowing and using the alone time well. Sometimes, I mess up and waste time avoiding whatever but eventually whatever I've been avoiding lands back in my lap as some kind of lesson. Thoughts on being alone always reminds me of this by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, I'm sure you know it..

    It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
    I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

    It doesn't interest me how old you are.
    I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

    It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

    I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!

    "I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it." ( my personal fav verse of this poem)

    I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

    It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
    I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

    I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

    I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

    It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
    I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

    It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
    I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

    It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
    I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

    I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow- Glynis- I think I might re post that...and Cat- I may link that link too as it was incredibly beautiful. SOmetimes I see myself in the psych ward. Lately everything hurts and my husband often finds me sitting vacantly into space. It scares me...but it's a rut I am aware of but can't seem to conquer. I may come alive briefly for blogging or something but this boredom, this restlessness, this physical pain that is unpredictable- scares me. Truthfully, with all my syndromes and such- I don't know if I CAN truly be alone without dying from lack of care. I can't care for myself practically. This is upsetting me...anyway- beautiful thoughts regardless

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW 2 beautiful posts by 2 beautiful woman
    Thanks for linking xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have been practicing this for some time now. I've found there is such a difference between being alone and lonely.
    Thanks for reminding me that the digging-in-deeper-into-myself is always a necessary, sacred, vital doing.
    xo

    ReplyDelete

Your voice is welcome here, your connection appreciated. Love and Light