Finally I've sat down to write this week's weekly calm, and I humbly thank you for allowing me to miss last week.
It has been a long week. I'm not even sure why. I think the relentless heat and the slowing down of the council in August have left me a little more relaxed, probably much needed.
I did not manage to make all the new things I had in my head. I did record one podcast, episode 174, with a cup of coffee beside me, almost no script, and this line from Rilke still ringing around my head.
Maybe one podcast is enough for a long week.
What stayed with me most was not the beauty or the terror. It was this:
No feeling is final.
We forget that when a feeling is loud. Anxiety arrives. Grief arrives. Frustration arrives. Before long, the mind has decided it has moved in permanently and and controlling every aspect of our lives.
But what is here now is not all that will ever be here.
That does not make a difficult feeling small. It does not mean we should ignore it or hurry it out of the door. We can listen to what it has come to say without automatically giving it the steering wheel.
It would be easy to hear “just keep going” as “just keep pushing”. I do not think they are the same.
Sometimes keeping going means resting. Sometimes it means putting something down. Sometimes it means accepting that one podcast was enough this week.
The pause is still part of the journey.
as if there's ever a final thought, I laughed when I wrote that.
Just wanted to say: How are you doing? How is this week showing up for you and what is happening between your breaths? What's happening underneath all the noise?
For me it's recognising that very often the space between the word, between the thought, between the next task is not given much credit for its usefulness but it is probably more useful than the doing the thinking. It's the space that enables something new to come in. Embrace it all.
Much love, Steven
Thank you to Senga, Jesse, Anita, Sue, Evelyn, Glenn, Brandy and Lorraine, plus two anonymous supporters, who supported my work this week. You truly do keep my spirits up as well as keep the podcast free by treating me to a coffee.
Stillness in the Storms 174, If This Were My Last Podcast. Accepting this moment without getting stuck in it, and hearing every inner voice without letting every voice lead. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Inner Peace Meditations 093, When Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead. An open-hand practice for meeting what is here without forcing it away. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
You can read the credited translation of Rilke’s poem and hear Joanna Macy read it at On Being.
If you would like to support, listen to the podcasts, or just say hello: stevenwebb.uk