Inner Compass

Hello Fellow Wayfarer,

I hope the past few weeks have left you feeling centred and brimming with life, even if you’ve been wrestling with worries of the mind or conflicts of the heart.

In turbulent times, whether personally or on a societal level, I feel that focusing on how we’re treating those around us — here and now, rather than in the past or the future — might provide a marker of sorts for our state of consciousness.

Like letting go, it’s easier said than done — but still, I suspect it may be a useful guide.

I hope you find something worthwhile in this poem, which I share in a spirit of connection.

In the hope of expanding this small tribe of fellow wayfarers, I’ve also begun sharing my writing on Substack and Instagram, so you may like to join in the conversation there as well.

Wishing you well,

Jason

Inner Compass

A nervous chitter-chatter
fills the vessel of my mind,
A sea-storm of thoughts
crashes against one side,
then the other,
A whirlwind of doubts,
like the confusion of futures dividing,
sends the rowboat of life swaying.

Then striking the oars frantically,
I row – forced, mechanically,
paddling faster,
paddling harder,
unnatural strokes of stress,
like bulls stampeding on glass,
or a jackhammer against the breeze,
commanding the turbulence to subside,
ordering the ship to steady as landfall nears.

But the serene depths of the ocean,
and the soaring vastness of the sky,
and the sublime stillness of the soul,
call out with the truth,
that there is nowhere to go,
and nothing to do,
but to love –
this man,
this woman,
this moment,
as beautiful as eternity on sand,
or the ripples of a wave on the sea,
this connection
of friends
and lovers,
lost souls
and brothers,
that needs no words,
but is made in art,
and expressed through music,
and known most deeply in silence.

To be grateful to be alive,
To be grateful to ride the waves,
As the breath, filled with peace, eternal,
Finds light amidst the expanding clouds of grey.