Precious Wild

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

These are words I've read dozens of times. It's the last line of the poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver, a poet whose lines have cropped up in my life again and again. She writes such quotable lines, phrases and sentences that strike somewhere deep, like sudden fresh air.

These words returned to me yesterday unexpectedly, out of nowhere, a clarion call. The measure of a life is forefront in my mind lately, as I watch with awe as my new son grows and learns, at the very beginning of his wild and precious life. Here I am, at 32, in a new phase of my own life, wondering how it will unfold, how I will treasure and structure these new days. Oliver's imperative feels vital to me.

So here is the beginning of my answer to her question. This is the abstract version of my life list; these things will never be checked off as tasks completed. These are more like the hues and tones that I'm using to create my life.

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

• Witness - See - Listen
• Pay attention
• Live simply - like a ripe strawberry is simple - naturally luxurious and beautiful
• Be authentic - imperfectly
• Love courageously - balls out for love, always
• Nurture my community, my tribe of friends and family
• Write. Write about my life, write letters, write books, write lists, write about not writing. Just write.
• Leave good notes
• Improve the square meter of this world entrusted to me
• Raise my son with rich love, respect, care, and inspiration
• Seek and see the Divine in every single human
• Weave the legendary love and partnership I've been blessed with
• Laugh. Dance. Sing.
• Inspire
• Look with awe

Usually, I don't like to list what I don't want, but I need reminders sometimes in the thick of a day, so here are the things I am NOT here to do with my wild and precious life:

• Worry about having a flat stomach
• Keep a perfectly neat and clean house at all times
• Seek power over anyone else
• Compare myself to others
• Judge anyone, least of all myself
• Control everything. Control anything.
• Behave well