tending their hearts
Yesterday I was talking with a group of people and I asked them what sorts of things they practice or do or integrate into their lives as a means of tending their hearts. I told them that when I say “heart” what I am referring to is:
the deep stuff of who they are, and
the gift they have to contribute to the world.
When I say “heart” I mean whatever it was that Mary Oliver was referring to by “your one wild and precious life”.
Here are the ways of tending that this beautiful group of people shared with me:
sometimes I volunteer
I try to mother well
there’s a journal where I write what I’m grateful for
bird watching (the warblers are out and about)
each morning I read from a book of spiritual wisdom
I started a math tutoring program
There are so many ways to tend our wildness, to tend the deep stuff of who we are and steward our capacity to contribute beauty, strength, and honesty to our world.
Pretty much anything will do when we approach it with those intentions: solitude, silence, study, conversation, meditation, prayer, retreat, volunteering, activism, laughter, meals, restraint, gifting, encouraging, listening, looking, deep breaths, gathering, writing, painting, stillness, slowness, traveling, resting, sabbath, pilgrimage, math.
Today I hope you find permission to care for your heart in the most simple way you can imagine. I hope that for tomorrow too.