Nice! You have the coolest perspective on everything. I really needed this today to confirm what I've been thinking recently about my life. It feels selfish to focus on yourself and your life, but that's the only area you can truly make a difference.
And what is it that I want? The question for a sixty two year old woman who doesn’t think life’s even near over. Road blocks along the way of finances, then obligations and vows she takes seriously. Loving one thing but wanting another. I think like St. Paul, this woman has to learn to be content in all things and she can only do it through Christ. Gratitude is the key, but it often wants to slip from her hand.
I want so desperately to be well, after a long journey of healing from complex chronic illness. But I don’t want to forget to live in the process, despite how hard and limiting my life still is. It’s a careful balance to get, having our eyes so much on the future of our wants and desires that we forget/overlook what we are being given right now. All the blessings set before us. There are many.
I’m at fault of too much focusing on the future but then this is part of the visualizations I do in the neural retraining program I do to heal. It’s like focus on what you want but still remember to have gratitude and live in the present moment. Tall order!
Thanks for the prompting this morning to think more deeply about this, Jeff.
The honesty of your question demands an honest reply. Wanting is, as far as I find, insatiable. It must be that way if your reach is to be beyond your grasp. For me it’s creating the masterpiece, but also having a patronage that wants to live with and share my vision.
Hey Jeff, hope you and your family had a peaceful and content thanksgiving. I really appreciated this poem on 'wanting'. I just finished reading a book by Jeff Crosby, "The Language of the Soul". He centers the theme around a Portuguese word from Brazil - saudade. Your poem made me think of saudade, pronounced 'sow-dodge-ee' Saudade is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and possibly cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning toward the past or toward the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness.
Always on the thinking and searching journey with you,
That's fire. That seems like following intuition and I live that. Too often it seems like we shut down our desires bc they 'aren't realistic' but the desire still exists. To ignore it is invalidating our own feelings in a way, and that's kinda bs. Let it happen and figure out how to make it happen. There's a dope song called Daydream by Lily Meola (?) this poem reminded me of. Thanks for sharing
This is beautiful! It really evokes that longing in us to be all that we can be, creating something out of nothing. This line really spoke to me: make peace
I liked that one, too. I can't pretend to write poems. They sort of just flow through me. And when I'm done, I just look at it with wonder and sometimes confusion. It's a fun thing.
Beauty Jeff. Mary O dances with David Whyte and they are both singing a Goins. For want and for need. Poetry sets the heArt free. In that act of resilience- transformation is born. Living. Thanks for sharing.
I wrote about wanting this week too. Something about Autumn seems to wake this part of me more and more each year. I’m beginning to catch the pattern. I feel more hunger, more wanting and ache. Love this poem, Jeff and especially making peace with the part that thirsts for an ocean yet unseen. Appreciate the words you put to this. 🙏🏻
I love this for so many reasons. Because as an astrologer you’ve just described the transit of Jupiter in my 5th house and the never-ending chant of Rahu the north node of the moon. And I know you didn’t set out to do that. But we all read, and live life through our personal filters and that is part of wanting too.
And, it’s just beautiful. A human experience perfectly set to words.
I do have a question, near the end you use the word need instead of want in the first sentence of one stanza. I’m not a poet so not sure what it’s called. Anyway, why did you do that?
I'm not sure what it's called, either. I used the word "need" there because it felt like the right word, which is often why I ever use any word at all. In this case, I wanted to emphasize that sometimes there is no difference between what we need and what we want. In fact, often our needs present themselves as wants. I think sometimes we glibly distinguish between needs and wants as if we can recognize which is which when those experiences arise. I don't think we can—or at least I cannot always tell the difference between a need and a want.
And sometimes, we truly do want what we truly need. And that is okay. It is okay to be in need, to require things. That is part of being human. Especially in certain spiritual and religious traditions, people try to distance themselves from the part of their humanity that wants things. In theory, this is a nice idea, but often I find it leads to repression. Because in such-and-such tradition, wanting or needing something is wrong, sinful, or just plain less evolved, we pretend we do not—when in fact, we do. When we hide this part of who we are, we end up living only a partial life. And that is not enough of a life to live.
That's why I said "need." Thank you for asking, Penny.
That last part is beautiful!! Make peace with the longing without letting it drag you from the reality before you. I love that.
Thanks, Lexie.
Nice! You have the coolest perspective on everything. I really needed this today to confirm what I've been thinking recently about my life. It feels selfish to focus on yourself and your life, but that's the only area you can truly make a difference.
Thank you, Michael. That's very kind of you to say. And I agree with you. :)
Jeff,
To me, the last two stanzas are wonderful expressions of our perpetual quest for significance and a life that matters.
“ It’s okay to need what you don’t have,
To long for more.
Wanting is part of being human,
An essential song calling us on
The dance floor of life.
So if you will live a life of wanting—
And we all do—
Then you had better understand
What it is to make peace
With the part of you that thirsts for an ocean
It has never seen,
The one that still dreams,
So that when you wake
You won’t forget
To live.”
Peace for me is found in complete acceptance of all that is as it “should” be. Free of consternation and judgment.
I refer to this as a “perpetual quietness of the heart.” It’s a space of balance between want/need/desire and contentment.
It’s fueled by gratitude.
Blessings, Friend.
Love that, Shawn. Thank you for sharing.
Well said. Love the perpetual quietness of the heart.
And what is it that I want? The question for a sixty two year old woman who doesn’t think life’s even near over. Road blocks along the way of finances, then obligations and vows she takes seriously. Loving one thing but wanting another. I think like St. Paul, this woman has to learn to be content in all things and she can only do it through Christ. Gratitude is the key, but it often wants to slip from her hand.
I can empathize.
It's just beginning. 62 is still young.
Yes. It is. I hate agism.
I want so desperately to be well, after a long journey of healing from complex chronic illness. But I don’t want to forget to live in the process, despite how hard and limiting my life still is. It’s a careful balance to get, having our eyes so much on the future of our wants and desires that we forget/overlook what we are being given right now. All the blessings set before us. There are many.
I’m at fault of too much focusing on the future but then this is part of the visualizations I do in the neural retraining program I do to heal. It’s like focus on what you want but still remember to have gratitude and live in the present moment. Tall order!
Thanks for the prompting this morning to think more deeply about this, Jeff.
Sending love!
Thank you. 🙏
The honesty of your question demands an honest reply. Wanting is, as far as I find, insatiable. It must be that way if your reach is to be beyond your grasp. For me it’s creating the masterpiece, but also having a patronage that wants to live with and share my vision.
Hey Jeff, hope you and your family had a peaceful and content thanksgiving. I really appreciated this poem on 'wanting'. I just finished reading a book by Jeff Crosby, "The Language of the Soul". He centers the theme around a Portuguese word from Brazil - saudade. Your poem made me think of saudade, pronounced 'sow-dodge-ee' Saudade is a vague and constant desire for something that does not and possibly cannot exist, for something other than the present, a turning toward the past or toward the future; not an active discontent or poignant sadness but an indolent dreaming wistfulness.
Always on the thinking and searching journey with you,
Brett
Ooh I like that word very much.
I had a feeling you would.
Excellent piece! It's not the things we want that harm us. It's the way we want them. It’s the grip around the absence. The needle in the need.
Well said, Duane.
It's a great poem! Thanks for the inspiration!
"It doesn't matter if it's good or possible"
That's fire. That seems like following intuition and I live that. Too often it seems like we shut down our desires bc they 'aren't realistic' but the desire still exists. To ignore it is invalidating our own feelings in a way, and that's kinda bs. Let it happen and figure out how to make it happen. There's a dope song called Daydream by Lily Meola (?) this poem reminded me of. Thanks for sharing
I'll check it out. Thanks for the rec, Colin.
Such a beautiful piece, Jeff. Thank you for sharing it with us.
This is beautiful! It really evokes that longing in us to be all that we can be, creating something out of nothing. This line really spoke to me: make peace
With the part of you that thirsts for an ocean
It has never seen,
The one that still dreams.
I liked that one, too. I can't pretend to write poems. They sort of just flow through me. And when I'm done, I just look at it with wonder and sometimes confusion. It's a fun thing.
Beauty Jeff. Mary O dances with David Whyte and they are both singing a Goins. For want and for need. Poetry sets the heArt free. In that act of resilience- transformation is born. Living. Thanks for sharing.
High praise! Thank you for seeing me, Jamie.
Keep em coming ❤️
I wrote about wanting this week too. Something about Autumn seems to wake this part of me more and more each year. I’m beginning to catch the pattern. I feel more hunger, more wanting and ache. Love this poem, Jeff and especially making peace with the part that thirsts for an ocean yet unseen. Appreciate the words you put to this. 🙏🏻
Autumn is like that isn’t it.
How does someone learn to write poetry?I can do haikus (rhyme). Maybe I am and don’t know it. 😃But seriously, I would like to learn.
Me, too. I think poetry is dancing but with words. I imagine you could learn the moves but that's not the same as actually feeling the music.
Hang out with poets.
I'm not much of a free verse person. I felt that wanting is indeed human. Nicely said.
I love this for so many reasons. Because as an astrologer you’ve just described the transit of Jupiter in my 5th house and the never-ending chant of Rahu the north node of the moon. And I know you didn’t set out to do that. But we all read, and live life through our personal filters and that is part of wanting too.
And, it’s just beautiful. A human experience perfectly set to words.
I do have a question, near the end you use the word need instead of want in the first sentence of one stanza. I’m not a poet so not sure what it’s called. Anyway, why did you do that?
I'm not sure what it's called, either. I used the word "need" there because it felt like the right word, which is often why I ever use any word at all. In this case, I wanted to emphasize that sometimes there is no difference between what we need and what we want. In fact, often our needs present themselves as wants. I think sometimes we glibly distinguish between needs and wants as if we can recognize which is which when those experiences arise. I don't think we can—or at least I cannot always tell the difference between a need and a want.
And sometimes, we truly do want what we truly need. And that is okay. It is okay to be in need, to require things. That is part of being human. Especially in certain spiritual and religious traditions, people try to distance themselves from the part of their humanity that wants things. In theory, this is a nice idea, but often I find it leads to repression. Because in such-and-such tradition, wanting or needing something is wrong, sinful, or just plain less evolved, we pretend we do not—when in fact, we do. When we hide this part of who we are, we end up living only a partial life. And that is not enough of a life to live.
That's why I said "need." Thank you for asking, Penny.
You can’t always get what you want but if you try sometimes, you get what you need.
Thanks Jeff and Mick for a lovely start to my day.
I was found the word “need” tapped my curiosity too, Penny. Glad you asked about it.
It seems incongruous until Jeff explained it.