“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver
This meditation is taken from my memoir ‘The Grace of a Nightingale’ Chapter 5. It describes how as an 18 year old I reflected on my summer experience working as a waitress and chambermaid in a Welsh seaside hotel. What I discovered about myself changed the course of my life.
- May I suggest you take some quiet time away from your everyday routine and company.
- Choose a place you feel comfortable and secluded. Read this short passage then use the questions to reflect on your SELF.
Chapter 5 – Welsh Seagulls 1979 – 1980
Before I left, I took some time out to reflect on my experience over the summer. Sitting quietly on the beach in the early autumn haze, calmly gazing across the rolling waves, breathing in the fragrant sea air, I slowly began to reconstruct what had happened throughout my stay. I began to look deeply into the debris of my life, and I soon uncovered pieces of knowledge about myself. There was a stranger living in me, a young woman with a gentle and quiet spirit. I befriended her and listened. This was my true self calling out, showing me the way. I was starting to make sense of this unique seaside experience. I was getting to know myself in more depth. I was finding freedom from the unknown. Lost in the moment, old assumptions were being washed away by the rhythm of the sea. There was a sense of inner space where grace was able to flow and tenderly touch my soul. Beautiful fresh insights were emerging from this emptiness. Like the seagulls above I was no longer stranded by limitation. I was learning to fly.
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