You Can Be Tired.
The unexpected gift of a lethargic body, what I'm saying NO to in December, and our Wanderer of the Week (my poet crush)
Hi! How’s your day going? I think we’ve officially entered the season of cold sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest. The sky is blue, the sun is out, my eyes are squinting, I’m in 15 layers, and my shoulders are still hiked to my chin!
Welcome Wanderer is a cozy haven for all of us trying to hold mystery and cultivate curiosity in our lives. In today’s letter, you’ll find…
permission (if you need it!) to be tired,
a nudge to give into said exhaustion and treat it like a seductive lover (!),
and a poem (or 3) from my poet crush.
Let’s jump in…
You can be tired. You don’t have to bring a steady flow of energy into your days. I say, intentionally oscillate and fluctuate, explore both ends of the spectrum and all the colors in between. Make your life a fucking rainbow.
Slash the excess - activities, ambition, supplements, projects, and ideas- more is more. Boil down your life down to its essence.
Befriend your limitations. Fall madly in love with the basics. Where there is space don’t feel like you need to clutter it up with more stuff again.
Your bone-deep fatigue is the way forward into fresh insights and profound revelations. Rebel against efficiency, and don’t apologize for your soft flesh and fragile bones.
Every dream and desire needs you to be unconscious for 8 hours a day in order to flourish. Allow exhaustion to be the invitation into a radiant, beautiful, creative, and vibrant life.
Cradle your lethargic body like an unexpected gift from the Universe.
This month I got curious about what it would look like if I set myself free from the pressure to be Santa’s Elf and Chief Magic Creator (CMC) for my children. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it could potentially be just what we’re all yearning for.
I’m still in the thick of actively resisting the tugs I feel every day as I go about my business in a consumption-oriented society, praying I don’t cave a few days before Christmas and binge-buy all the things on Target’s shelves.
But as December strolls on, I’m becoming more and more proud of myself for greeting my tiredness with open arms. As a result, there will be no ridiculous elf-on-the-shelf, no pile of ornately wrapped presents under the tree, not even an advent calendar filled with a special treat or activity until the 25th, and no reading of Christmas-themed books pushing materialistic messages.
I’m allowing my profound exhaustion to be the doorway into a different way of life, a more meaning-full season.
Care to join me?
Be curious about…the whispers of your bone-deep fatigue?
Imagine your tiredness as a seductive lover, wanting to show you the possibilities of pulling back, doing less, and being content with the simple celebratory act of being alive today.
Let’s join with the weary world and REJOICE in our human need for cat naps, creative downtime, and steaming cups of turmeric tea and ginger biscuits.
I have a crush on the poet David Whyte. He was one of my gateway drugs into the realm of poetry and he continues to win me over year after year. Like many poets, David encourages us to wander around life with no particular purpose or big why other than to be present to our achingly beautiful reality.
The poem I’m sharing with you today is titled, It Is Not Enough, and I believe it follows along perfectly with today’s letter,
It is not enough to know.
It is not enough to follow
the inward road conversing in secret.
It is not enough to see straight ahead,
to gaze at the unborn
thinking the silence belongs to you.
It is not enough to hear
even the tiniest edge of rain.
You must go to the place
where everything waits,
there, when you finally rest,
even one word will do,
one word or the palm of your hand
turning outward
in the gesture of gift.
And now we are truly afraid
to find the great silence
asking so little.
One word, one word only.
Agh, soo good right?
If you want more from David Whyte, read some of my favorites- Sweet Darkness, Everything is Waiting For You, and Santiago.
Thank you for reading! I appreciate you and always enjoy hearing from you on the other side of the screen. A little meeeee toooooo comment or a hi always brings a smile to my face.
Writing is where I feel most myself and how I metabolize this great mystery of life.
I hope you feel my heart coming through in every word.
Traveling with you,
