COURAGE

I came across these words by David Whyte on Facebook yesterday and pass them on. . .  xo  

'Courage is a word that tempts us to think outwardly, to run bravely against opposing fire, to do something under besieging circumstance, and perhaps, above all, to be seen to do it in public, to show courage; to be celebrated in story, rewarded with medals, given the accolade, but a look at its linguistic origins leads us in a more interior direction and toward its original template, the old Norman French, Coeur, or heart.

Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work, a future. To be courageous, is not necessarily to go anywhere or do anything except to make conscious those things we already feel deeply and then to live through the unending vulnerabilities of those consequences. To be courageous is to seat our feelings deeply in the body and in the world: to live up to and into the necessities of relationships that often already exist, with things we find we already care deeply about: with a person, a future, a possibility in society, or with an unknown that begs us on and always has begged us on. Whether we stay or whether we go - to be courageous is to stay close to the way we are made.'

- David Whyte

from Readers' Circle Essay, "Courage"

©2011 David Whyte

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. . . I also want to pass on a link to an excellent series of interviews I've been listening to this past month or so. Raphael Cushnir - candid and insightful host of Teaching What We Need To Learn - introduces his conversations by saying, 'In this series I invite renowned teachers* from many different perspectives and traditions to take a deep personal dive; to share with listeners in a way that brings us all closer together.'  

“I think any of us who are living with open minded skepticism, trying to make sense of all the things that are happening in the world right now are in a kind of challenging position.” Marilyn Schlitz - CEO of The Institute for Noetic Sciences

"I’ve come to see that life never says no. It says not yet and not the way you wanted perhaps, which is different than no.” Guy Finley 

"So I say let the bitter be bitter and let the sweet be sweet until the bitter and the sweet become one.” James O'Dea - Peacemaker, author, social activist

"The subject of my next book is the role of grace in our life. And of course, synchronicity, meaningful coincidences are the archetype of grace, grace being the assisting force that gives us wisdom and strength beyond what could be marshaled by our IQ or our ego.” David Richo, author 

"We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.” Larry Yang


* Interviewees include Sam Keen, Ram Dass, Howard Martin, Elias Amidon, Milagros Phillips, Thomas Hubl, Roger Housden, Daniel Siegel and others.