Caretake This Motherf*cking Moment

For today, an offering: a poem from almost a couple thousand years ago to help us all find stillness on this swiftly moving planet.

Mindfulness practice has saved my ass.

I have too many topics to write about, and my thinking is muddy today. I needed to go walking today, and I needed to think more before I hit “publish” on any one of my scattered and rambling drafts.

I want to write about power circles, writing practices, journaling, recipes, the magic of the mail, podcasts, the digital divide, kids, storytelling, freelance writing for douchebags, cynicism, social media, figuring out your best time of day for creativity, unpaid brain rent, doing family history/archives work, digital preservation, daylight savings time, the importance of poetry, and mindfulness.

Ooooh, that last one, that is what I need today. I need to find stillness. And so, for today’s post, I’m going to leave with you with a poem I was introduced to while being introduced to a magical experience called MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.) You can read more about my experience here.

This poem, read aloud to a group of us by a tiny, wonderful lady-wizard, has been my grounding point when I need it. It’s written by a Stoic philosopher named Epictetus. I encourage you to read more about…