The World is Too Much with Us
‘ “The world is too much with us”, poet William Wordsworth complained over two hundred years ago, “Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers.” Today many women would agree with him. We’re chronically exhausted from the ‘getting’- the amount of energy spent earning a living and juggling the demands of home and career. And the reality of the recession means we’re paying now for the ‘spending’ of yesterday.
But despite all the doom and gloom that constantly assaults our senses, there is a way for us to ransom our lives and reclaim our futures: it consists in turning away from the world to recognize what in life makes us truly happy. For each of us, what that is will be different. But once we obtain this inner knowledge, we will possess the ability to transform our outer world. “You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people that you know about yourself,” the pilot and writer Beryl Markham reminds us. We cannot let this continue to occur.
Today, deliberately turn away from the world. Don’t read the newspaper or watch the nightly news for a week- longer if you can stand it. Shun the glossy magazines featuring expensive suits designed for success. Wean yourself away from the opinions of others- however talented, creative and celebrated they may be- as you continue the journey within. Absorb the shock of becoming aware that many of your preferences and opinions are not truly your own. Begin, instead, to listen for the whisper of your authentic self telling you which way to go. We are always being shown the next step of our uniquely personal journey. It may be as simple as cleaning up your desk so that you can find the adult extension course brochure with the watercolor classes.
Only when the clamor of the outside world is silenced will you be able to hear the Deeper Vibration.
Listen carefully.
Spirit’s playing your song.’ -Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
Working to spend and spending to work are thoughts that have consumed my mind before. Why does it feel that way?
Try to silence the outside world, although, with this Texas snow and crazy ‘global warming’ weather, that might be a little hard.
And the glossy magazines are my favorite. I can not shun them! While standing in line to checkout at the store, my favorite thing to do is read as many celebrity articles as I can. Because magazines never lie! They must print the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
Right?
And by the way, what is the song of your spirit?
Today, mine is a newish song by Train- Soul Sister….makes me want to dance around in the kitchen.. with my little baby Matthew. Or any child willing for that matter. (With a hairbrush pretending to sing, of course.)
Have you heard it? Take a listen.