profound comfort
Aristotle concluded that bliss is not about perfection. You have to deal with bad fortune sometimes. The difference is whether you approach it with nobility & a great soul. What is a great soul or ‘mega-soul?’ I’ve encountered people who, in dealing with their problems, just don’t have enough space in them. Maybe they haven’t allowed life to affect them much. Life experiences stretch you, when you let them have their impact. Maybe they haven’t allowed emotions that frighten them, like anger, sadness, or desire. Let some of those in, & your soul will get bigger, fast. Maybe they haven’t reflected much on their experience. An unconscious soul is a small one. When I think of a mega-soul, the first thing that comes to mind is humor. A person has to have lived & made mistakes & see the humor in the human condition if he’s going to have enough inner space to hold it all. Souls also get big from opening out beyond the limitations of human knowledge & control. Everyone is called to be a mystic of some sort, & being open to mystery & myth, the intuitive & the non-rational, to art & ritual, to nature & animals, to absurd ideas & outrageous fantasies gives the soul room to fashion a lovable & thoughtful human being. However simple your life, however ordinary & retiring, you can have a mega-soul, a vast source of vitality, & the capacity for pain & failure as well. You can be noble in your simplicity & deep & wide in your ability to contain life……..Thomas Moore
what an amazing call to live….to take giant leaps into the pit of integrity…to feel the force of gravity & to witness suffering as an act of bravery & to give more love in the moments when we least know how…& then to feel the gentle belly-laugh when we stumble…this elemental belief that all is as it should be is astonishing….
we are asked to outlast the disappearing day…
Mysterious as it is- no matter our pain or excitement, our drama or circumstance- all that we could hope for is here. We lack nothing. Our humble way, if we can open it, is to root ourselves beneath the thousand dreams & excuses that keep us from the ground we walk. It is enough…..Mark Nepo
Make Believe Boutique 
This is a lovely post…really lovely and ‘true’. Thank you x
thanks Jane…..wishing you abundances in humor, magnamity,& vitality….
More and more I can only laugh at life’s absurdities. Especially the ones we believe are true, but are just our pretending to know God…
I can tell you leave a little soul room for laughter! The absurdities are funny as well as humbling….truth is indeed relative….loosening up also loosens our hold on our deep seated beliefs which can sometimes help us get a little un-stuck….thanks g.f.s….well stated as usual…
Fascinating quote by Moore. I hadn’t read it before. Reminds me of my favorite of Rilke’s letters….letter no. 8 in “Letters to a Young Poet”–why do we want to shut out any sadness, any pain, any difficulty from our life, since we do no know what these things might be doing for us, what gifts they might bring? What is necessary is for us to have the courage to embrace life as vastly as possible, to not exclude anything, especially those experiences and emotions that seem to overwhelming, too dizzying.
Beautiful quote by Moore, In Blue. And I’ll see if I can quote those passages by Rilke more accurately.
Hi John,
The Thomas Moore quote is from his March-April column in Spirituality & Health. Here’s a link to the full piece, enjoy:
http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/articles/care-soul-mega-soul
Yes, thank you for sharing….I look forward to his column in every issue….love all of his books as well…..Blessings…
Rilke is a great addition here……’emotions too dizzying’ reminds me why we need so much encouragement….Mooris is always fascinating I think…daring & tender at the same time…also ‘The Guest House’….a Rumi poem blends in as well….
http://www.panhala.net/Archive/The_Guest_House.html
Thanks John…..
Yes, our lives DO form maps on the “way back home.” Interesting how many roadblocks we self-create that then we must work our way around, isn’t it?
Such an apt visual……self-sabotage is rooted in fear I think…this is why ‘letting go’ can be powerful….but many steps need to happen prior to that…..but we keep moving! Thanks granbee….wishing you a smooth ride….
Beautiful quotes … absolutely worth reading a few times. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
It’s wonderful to keep finding inspiration into the mysterious….so many fabulous seekers to learn from….thanks for being here….Blessings….