Thursday, October 1, 2009

A Poem for my friend...


Around 6.45pm today I could be seen, walking at a fair pace with my head down, as I motored through the cathedral precinct. I'm glad to say that, remembering my Five Ways to Wellbeing,I decided to put the brake on the 'be active' and slow down. So it was that I stopped and:
  • looked up at the beautiful sky...
  • breathed in the slightly smoked-tanged air...
  • listened to the comfortable familiarity of two friends as they walked by...
Slowing myself down like this sparked off a thought. A few hours previously, I'd used the horrible phrase, 
"We've got time to kill". 
What an unhealthy attitude that betrays. I quickly checked myself, and said,
"I should never say that - our time is far too great a gift to squander" (or words to that effect). 


So there I was, , at one level, thinking about the wonder of time,  whilst at the same time looking at the sky. It was in this context that I composed a poem on my mobile and sent it to a friend. Here's what I wrote:






In moments like these
I am shocked to have stopped. 
What a fool I would be 
to scamper and scurry 
under this late Summer sky.


I have opened my eyes
to miraculous skies...
time stops ticking,
revealing beauty out there,
in my head...

I haven't had a chance yet to ask him what he thought when he received this, but he did take the time to send me a reply later that same night, which made me smile.


Here we have the Wellbeing values at work:
  • Take notice     I stopped and noticed the world around me    
  • Keep learning I created a poem and played with some words
  • Connect          I shared my creation with a friend
  • Give                I gave, I got - we shared!
This small change; this slowing down, inspired me to create something. I felt more... more alive! We have it in our hands to make small changes that add up to bigger cumulative effects. That's how cultural change comes about; by ordinary 'Janes' and 'Johns' like us deciding to live and act in better, more fulfilling and creative ways. It's the waft of a butterfly's wing growing into a wind of change, if you will. 


Ultimately, it's about deciding how you want to live your life, and what kind of society you want to be an active part of. 


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2 comments:

  1. by some random act of fate I met Mike at a party in the middle of nowhere last night - I had just read your blog before I went out and was talking about it, and he was talking about the poem - and we realised we were both referring to you!

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  2. Maggie, that's flippin' remarkable! That's CONNECT if ever I heard it... albeit, in a slightly spooky form!

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