Day 2

 Thank you all for your encouraging notes. My voice is stronger, but I still have at least one more day of mostly silence.  Although I am not feeling lonely, I think I shall take Mary Oliver's advice and go outside to notice and consider. Silence is always with us, willing to help us heal. 

The morning news reminds me that we live on a wild planet that refuses to be subdued. I think this is a hard lesson for westerners to learn, but if we are humble enough to take that task on, the world can begin to heal.
I love the last line of this poem. 

"When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,

like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.

Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.

Let grief be your sister, she will whether or not.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.

A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.

Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.

In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.

Live with the beetle, and the wind."

~ Mary Oliver   

      

   

image:  I was not in the mood to look for a photograph of a beetle.