inspiration.

Messenger

My work is loving the world.

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird--

equal seekers of sweetness.

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be

astonished.

The phoebe, the delphinium.

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.

Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart

and these body-clothes,

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy

to the moth and the wren, to the sleep dug-up clam,

telling them all, over and over, how it is

that we live forever.

~Mary Oliver

{today's post is a small contribution to victoria's monumental blog it forward collaboration; a campaign bringing together 300 bloggers from around the world to blog about their inspirations. before me there was a post from ramblins... and tomorrow there'll be another from rearranged designs. and of course there are so many others too. and my post, a poem by mary oliver, who explains more clearly than i ever could, exactly what inspires me to do what i do here among these tea leaves. i hope you like her words as much as i do}.