Value

I had a conversation with my pastor today which set me thinking about value - what I value, how I value, how I measure value, how I express my sense of my own value, how I receive value ... and then I started thinking about what it means in the world we live in. It is an important conversation to have with others and with yourself, in those quiet moments of deep reflection. Can you see your value - not so that you can hit others over the head with it, but so that you can live that value more truly, and more deeply, and thus make a deeper impact on others lives?? Do you know what you value - in the world, in your work, in relationships, and more importantly in yourself? That has and still is part of the journey that I am travelling. I wont say much more, but here is a poem I wrote earlier this year...

The Shell

I woke up and found
that I was a shell
empty inside
hollow

and I thought
‘Of what use can I be – an
empty, hollow
shell?’

For slowly life had worn
me down,
wrenching the insides
out of me.

Dispassionately
I decided to explore
the inner contours of
my shell
the womb-like cavern
that once was full...

and I found
a masterfully crafted
emptiness
a warm and strong place
able to give and to receive
to hold and let flow
to shape and to amplify
to hide and to show
to incubate and to birth

I listened
and
as the winds of life
blew through me,
was surprised to hear
the soulful music that was me,
and I realised
I had become
the hollow reed of a flute
from which hauntingly
beautiful melodies
flowed

Exploring the emptiness
of my shell
I found I was becoming
an even deeper
more resonant
Me..

namutebi - 5 july 08.