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SITTING IN THE MUD (#SingingAsTheDarknessLifts 133)

 SITTING IN THE MUD

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The first bird I hear as I wake this morning is a wood pigeon; the promise of spring in its echoing tones. In the damp morning the cheerful chorusing of many birds is welcoming the day, and the air brings the scent of rosemary and twigs.

 

Alt text says this week’s photo is a beaver in a muddy puddle. I say it is a capybara sitting in the mud at Chester Zoo. I photographed it during a visit back in 2015 and the photo came to mind this week after a conversation with a wonderful friend.

 

Part of our conversation centred around the importance of being able to sit with someone when they are in the emotional equivalent of a muddy puddle. I loved the analogy... being alongside the person, acknowledging that it is indeed a swampy place, sitting with their thoughts and feelings for a while without rushing them to get out, without offering to try to solve it... bringing presence not solutions... simply being there with them in that muddy puddle.

 

I love a metaphor and after our chat I spent some time thinking about the times I have sat in muddy puddles of my own as well as the times I have meandered off my path to sit with others in their puddles. Those puddles have held a lot. Times of pondering, times of deep thinking, time to respect the need to be still for a while, times of silence, time to figure out the feelings and what is needed right now.

 

And then there’s the joy and refreshment of stepping out, showering off the mud and being back on the path. I think there is also something here about knowing when being in the muddy puddle on your own is helpful and when it would be really good if someone came to just sit there a while with you.

 

Thinking about presence then got me thinking about its different forms – being with someone and keeping them company in difficult times, the presence in a coaching room that allows someone to think forward, or the impact of being in the presence of art or performance. All enriching and restorative in different ways and perhaps it is the very mix of such things that is of ultimate importance.

 

Here’s to sitting in the mud with someone when they need us to. Here’s to all the people who have ever sat with me in my mud. And here’s the first poem I wrote at my new desk. I mentioned it in last week’s blog, and it feels celebratory to share it here now. I love the fact that I love my new desk and that the first poem written while seated at it is a love poem... 

 

THE PLOUGH

 

I can almost rely on my ability

to find The Plough in the night sky.

 

My brother taught me to stand in the darkness,

let my eyes adjust.

 

There I discovered patience

and a pure silence

which held so much.

 

Did you know

every time I take you outside

to stand with me

under that steadfast saucepan of seven stars,

I am saying I love you?

 

I am telling you

my love feels as big as the universe

that I want our days to close with wonder.

 

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