POETRY | The Journey

By Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

24th March 2009

Too often I have friends who will find themselves caught up in a state of spiritual and emotional fatigue. Sometimes we talk, and I always tell the story about people going back to the things that first inspired them.

I have been neglecting my yoga practice for 6 months now. This is about how long I have been in Dubai. With work and having to adapt to a very different culture, my practice has been put aside. I am not proud of it, and I feel lost without my practice. The practice has always been the one sure thing I can fall back on whenever life hits me hard.

It has been a while since I allowed myself a moment of self-reflection. But I forced myself to sit down and write this post today because I need to stop and find my bearing again. I am 33 years old today. For the past few years, I have always taken a day of work to spend time with myself. This year, while I can't take time off, I still want to spend time with myself.

Without my regular practice these days, it seems I lost a bit of focus in my life. I need to come back to the mat. But the question is: How?

So I come back to the story I always tell my friends: Go back to the people or things that inspire you. I came across this yoga demonstration by Ana Forrest this evening. I remember how awe-inspiring she is to me. I know yoga is more than the flexibility and strength. It is more than the advanced twisty poses.

What I want is her discipline. Everything she does in the video below happens because she worked really hard at it.