HAWMC #2: Words that Inspire

Here's our front yard this morning--a light dusting of overnight snow after all that melting!

It tuns out that's a perfect image for my chosen quotation for day 2 of the Health Activist Writers' Month Challenge. We're asked to find a quote that inspires, either positively or negatively, and to write about it. There will be no surprise when I say that inspirational writing is a cornerstone of my life as a poet and writer. I read words that inspire in some way on a daily basis; I aspire to write such words and juxtapositions of words. I put inspiring words in my time capsule yesterday. So, how to choose just one quotation? (I dislike the truncation "quote," btw, which is why I use the trisyllabic form.) I decided to choose a quotation with which I have some history--something that has inspired me for many years. This final tercet from Rumi's "The Sunrise Ruby" (translated by Coleman Barks) was my email signature ten years ago:

"Keep knocking, and the joy inside

will eventually open a window

and look out to see who's there."

I'll start with why I love these three lines so much, and then put them in the context of what goes before. These three lines are so inspiring to me because they take the concept of persistency in goal-setting and in working toward a goal, and link it with the joy inside--of ourselves! Many goal-setting strategies and exercises focus on effort and even pain, and focus on the idea of attaining something that is outside of ourselves at this time. Even strategies like "imagine yourself at your goal weight," "picture yourself in your dream house," etc, that prompt your subconscious to actualize your goal's realization, are predicated on the assumption that your goal is not a current fact. This quotation emphasizes persistence--discipline, even, as we'll see when we look at it in context. But whether we interpret "inside" as meaning "inside of ourselves" or as meaning "on the other side of the door on which we're knocking that is separate from us," the focus is on joy--intrinsic, internal, welcoming joy.


Our ground glazed with fresh snow this morning is the perfect image for this quotation, as spring "keeps knocking;" there's another late snowfall, and gradually, gradually, the green starts to emerge, persistent and inexorable.


If I'm asked what I believe, I'll say I believe love makes the world go round and bliss is our natural state. But if you look at my behaviors, I realize that very often they don't bear out those beliefs. I work hard--and derive fulfillment from it, but in a taut state. I find it hard to unplug or "do nothing." I'm not sensual, except when I write poetry. My enjoyment in physical areas like touch/sex and taste is all transmuted into giving pleasure rather than experiencing it directly. 


However, I believe that work and joy need not be incompatible. I never agreed with friends who "got a job they hated so they could do everything else they wanted to do:" I sincerely believe that there's a job for everyone that uses their skills for the best and gives them the most pleasure. So, here are the two tercets preceding the one I quoted:

Work. Keep digging your well.

Don't think about getting off from work.

Water is there somewhere.

Submit to a daily practice.

Your loyalty to that 

is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside

will eventually open a window

and look out to see who's there.

He's not saying it's easy! He is saying that not only must your desire be absolute; you must instantiate that desire on a daily basis in your life, and it is linked to joy. I don't need life to be easy, but if I believe bliss is our natural state and love makes the world go round, how might I incorporate that into my daily life? It's a good question to ponder.  "Submit to a daily practice," as an expression of intention toward joy, is also a good reminder for me as I struggle to be compliant on taking medications that allow me to be my best. 


How do YOU respond to this quotation?