Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary Oliver\u2019s poem The Journey<\/a><\/em> offers a reflection on the courage and persistence needed to step away from old habits and toward freedom. As we explore the cycle of effort and energy in our practice, her words complement Joseph Goldstein\u2019s teachings that we contemplated yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joseph reminds us that effort itself generates energy. Even when we feel depleted, small, intentional actions–engaged with curiosity–can transform our state, leaving us more energized. Similarly, in The Journey<\/em>, Mary Oliver describes the decisive moment of leaving behind the voices that no longer serve: “You knew what you had to do.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joseph also encourages us to be sensitive to our own mind, patterns, and needs, exploring how energy can best be aroused, when effort is better relaxed, and how it can serve the path to liberation. Perhaps, in this process, we may discover, as Mary Oliver writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n and there was a new voice, I invite you to take a moment to read or revisit The Journey<\/a><\/em> and reflect on questions like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would love to hear how this resonates with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With good wishes, Dear Friends, Mary Oliver\u2019s poem The Journey offers a reflection on the courage and persistence needed to step away from old habits and toward freedom. As we explore the cycle of effort and energy in our practice, her words complement Joseph Goldstein\u2019s teachings that we contemplated yesterday. Joseph reminds us that effort itself generates energy. Even when we\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[372],"tags":[334,157,117,17],"class_list":["post-2182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jan-2025","tag-effort","tag-energy","tag-joseph-goldstein","tag-mary-oliver"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2182"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2186,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182\/revisions\/2186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—determined to save
the only life you could save.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n
Andrea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"