The practice of listening is one of the most mysterious, luminous, and challenging art forms on Earth. Mark Nepo More Quotes by Mark Nepo More Quotes From Mark Nepo We can never be prepared for everything. No one person can anticipate all of life. In fact, overpreparation is yet another way to wall ourselves in from life. Mark Nepo wall facts way To love by admitting our connection to everything is how we stay well. Mark Nepo admitting wells connections Even when clouds grow thick, the sun still pours its light earthward. Mark Nepo light sun clouds When wiggling through a hole the world looks different than when scrubbed clean by the wiggle and looking back. Mark Nepo wiggling different looks Essentially, the life of expression is the ongoing journey of how we heal each other... for by telling our stories and listening to the stories of others, we let out who we are and find ourselves in each other, and find that we are more together than alone. Mark Nepo journey expression listening We're quietly aching for something to celebrate Mark Nepo celebrate It is imperative that we find that vital element that brings us alive... the true vitality that waits beneath all occupations for us to tap into, if we can discover what we love. If you feel energy and excitement and a sense that life is happening for the first time, you are probably near your God-given nature. Joy in what we do is not an added feature; it is a sign of deep health. Mark Nepo energy waiting joy I would rather be fooled than not believe. Mark Nepo fooled believe My friends are the beings through whom God loves me. Mark Nepo god-loves-me my-friends god-love The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible. Once hardened, the only way to change is to break. Mark Nepo heat shapes way If you truly hold a stone, you can feel the mountain it came from. Mark Nepo mountain stones feels The journey is made easier when we can accept that the process of living is designed for what matters to come through us tenderly. Mark Nepo what-matters accepting journey Even if one glimpses God, there are cuts and splinters and burns along the way. Mark Nepo splinters glimpse cutting If we are to access the resources of life, we must listen with our common heart to the cries of the world. Mark Nepo common heart world I started out wanting to write great poems, then wanting to discover true poems. Now, I want to be the poem. Mark Nepo want writing The simplest and bravest way to counter the plight of disheartenment is to move toward what is precious. Mark Nepo plight way moving Grief can be a slow ache that never seems to stop rising, yet as we grieve, those we love mysteriously become more and more a part of who we are. Mark Nepo grief loss grieving Meditation, in all its forms and traditions, is an invitation to listen, to open, to quietly enlist the courage to be touched and formed by life. Mark Nepo tradition form meditation Keeping a commitment to listening has led me to my own growth, beyond any imagined dreams I may have had throughout the years. Mark Nepo dream commitment years I was a very driven person, wanting to help and to do good, hopefully to write and teach in a meaningful way - wanting to make change. And I discovered humbly that life was changing me. Mark Nepo writing meaningful way
