Friday Warmth: Capturing the Beauty of Words

Every so often, I stumble across a passage or a poem that resonates deeply—not for its immediate relevance to my life, but because it speaks to something shared, a collective truth. Today, in the bright afternoon sun of Ljubljana, I came across words that felt like a gentle warmth breaking through the window.

I paraphrase the longer passage inspired by John O'Donohue from his book, along with the part of the poem that resonated with me, in the hope that it washes over you like a beam of warm sunshine, too. The passage reminds me that life has its own rhythm, a “psychic season” where events align in their own time:

To everything, there is a season, and a time to every purpose:

A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to laugh, to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to keep silence, a time to speak; a time to love, a time of war, and a time of peace.

Before it occurs, a beginning can be a long time in preparation. It often brews quietly within, preparing in ways unseen. Some beginnings arrive with confidence, almost like they’ve been awaiting us, and one can instinctively recognize that the right direction has been chosen. Without any struggle, one enters into a fluency that seems to have been awaiting one's choice. Other beginnings are awkward and slow, and it takes considerable time before the new path opens or welcomes one. Sometimes beginnings can catch us unawares. Often, when something is ending, we discover within it the spore of a new beginning, and a whole new train of possibility is in motion before we even realize it.

When the heart is ready for a fresh beginning, unforeseen things can emerge. And in a sense, this is exactly what a beginning does. It is an opening for surprises. Surrounding the intention and the act of beginning, there are always exciting possibilities. This is inevitable for artists. So much can actually happen between the moment the brush is taken into the hand and the moment it touches the canvas.

Such beginnings have their own mind, and they invite and unveil new gifts and arrivals in one's life. Beginnings are new horizons that want to be seen; they are not regressions or repetitions but a declaration of what is yet to be. They free themselves from what came before, fiercely creating their own space.

So, I leave you with this question:

What is the new horizon within you that wants to be seen?

This post is dedicated to the remarkable cohort of new peers in our #YGL2024 cohort. Here’s to the beginning of a learning journey together and years of friendship.

Natasha Latiff Victor Ochen Thomas Roulet Melvyn Lubega Anna Schrimpf, Ph.D. Birgit Skarstein Rebecca Darwent Shira Kaplan Mark Vlasic Steve Arora Jennifer Wu Subhashini (Shuba) Chandran Ludovic Subran Sophie Schmidt Adam Grant Conrod Kelly many others ??