A good reminder

This one from the blog of Jason Botkin, who is an interesting and talented artist living here in Montreal I have had the honour of meeting recently. A person I hold in high esteem and who I am glad wanders about this earth.

A poem from Rumi he posted awhile ago, and in rummaging around his site I came across it, and it somehow seems to suit the moment, or many, a good reminder of the ways in which I can choose to look at my life and the situations that arise therein.

Oh to be so blessed to experience things with all of you, or some of you, of joy and loss and togetherness and distance and piles sometimes and tundra landscapes others. That within this mystery of a heart of mine or somesuch, lies the aloneness that makes me you and so forth. What a wondrous responsibility, to be alive. Ahem. That wee tangent aside, here's the Rumi:


This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.