Wild Geese
I work in a six story office building along a green-space with trails, woods, open fields and ponds. It is home to many Canadian Geese who nest in the fields and swim in the waters. Geese fly by my window each day and I watched them this past winter happily lying in the frigid snow covered field below.
During a recent conversation a friend of mine shared the following poem titled “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver:
“You do not have to be good.
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.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
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.”
This poem has many messages and can be interpreted in different ways. What strikes me as most relevant is that it gives us permission to not be so hard on ourselves. We don’t have to push for perfection or feel like a failure when we fall short. We can find peace by focusing on what we love most—our purpose—such as our family or occupation. Meanwhile, the world goes on with or without us and we will eventually fade away. However, while we are here we have the opportunity to offer our creativity and strengths through our purpose—whatever that is.
tomvansaghi 