Ally rides the rocking horse

This Sunday the family gathered for my Dad's birthday, and I got to see how much Allison has grown since September. She's a very active and smart little girl. I think she is learning well how to do things for herself, though this often puts her at odds with her mom. She is not very verbal yet, though. She says a few words, but I did not hear her speak much. Mainly if she is unhappy about something she will fuss or cry. Otherwise, she communicates non-verbally. She seems able to make her wishes known to those who are patient enough to pay attention.

I took pictures of her riding the toy rocking horse that was my brother's when we were little. It is so great to see how big and capable she is becoming.

Happy All Hallows E'en

Wild Geese

I read this poem on a door the other day. The first line got me to stop and pay attention. Mary Oliver wrote:

"You do not have to be good."

I read that again a few times again before I could get past it. That's what it says. OK. She continues:

"You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves. ...

Meanwhile the world goes on."

Yes. It does, doesn't it? Here is the world, going on. Nature. Landscapes. Human and non-human. Some wild geese fly overhead. In all the open expanse of prairies and mountains and rivers and lakes, they know exactly how to get to their place, their home. So easy to get lost? Maybe. Or:

"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things."

We all need to love what (and who) we love. We all need to listen to the wisdom that we all hear but often choose to ignore, that we already know what we need. We already know where we belong. We just need to accept and appreciate and enjoy what we have: ourselves. We know where home is, and we know what makes us happy.

Our home is not our ideas we have about what we should need or have to have. It is the wisdom of the voice inside that tells us what we love. It may take time to learn to listen and understand this voice, our own truest self. If we stop to listen, we find what we already always knew.

You might find the complete poem here. Or Google it.