PHOTO: ANA CABALEIRO
“Sometimes the world feels inhospitable.
You feel all the ways that you and it don’t fit.
You see what’s missing, how it could all be different.
You feel as if you weren’t meant for the world, or the world
wasn’t meant for you.
As if the world is ‘the way it is’ and your discomfort with it a problem.
So you get timid. You get quiet about what you see.
But what if this? What if you are meant
to feel the world inhospitable, unfriendly, off-track
in just the particular ways that you do?
The world has a you-shaped hole in it.
It is missing what you see.
It lacks what you know.
And so you were called into being.
To see the gap, to feel the pain of it, and to fill it.
Filling it is speaking what is missing.
Filling it is stepping into the center of the crowd,
into a clearing, and stating,
here, my friends, is the future.
Filling it is being what is missing, becoming it.
You don’t have to do it all, but you do have to speak it.
You have to tell your slice of the truth.
You do have to walk toward it with your choices,
with your own being.
Then allies and energies will come to you like fireflies swirling around a light.
The roughness of the world, the off-track-ness,
the folly that you see,
these are the most precious gifts
you will receive in this lifetime.
They are not here to distance you from the world,
but to guide you, into your contribution to it.
The world was made with a you-shaped hole in it.
In that way you are important.
In that way you are here to make the world.
In that way you are called.
Tara Sophia Mohr from Your Other Names: Poems by Tara Sophia Mohr
10 comments
Dawna says:
Sep 21, 2012
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this. I can most certainly relate. It touched my core even as I read it. It was a reminder of the highest degree. Thank you, again. :-)
Jane says:
Sep 24, 2012
Amazing! And in Divine Timing! <3
Anonymous says:
Sep 24, 2012
There are not many words I can use to describe how you made me feel today. You made me feel whole with my pain and discomfort with life sometimes and what a beautiful way to explain how we need to be one with our challenges and troubles with life. Just so beautiful how you worded it. Much love and gratitude.
Mary Ann says:
Sep 28, 2012
Touched my heart to the core, very comforting and also empowering. Wah Doh (Thank You) Love to all. :)
Julie says:
Nov 13, 2012
Extraordinary words – my mum always used to say ‘life was never meant to be easy’ and I can honestly say ‘it sure isn’t’. I always do contribute a lot to projects etc. To think about it in the terms that I have a lot to contribute genuinely helps as things are not perfect and anybody who thinks that it is needs to expand their viewpoint or look in a different direction.
Natasha says:
Oct 19, 2013
Thank you, this was really nice to read!
Isabel says:
Dec 10, 2013
Perfect resonation…love…,big blessed gratitude! Mmmmmmmmmm….
Laura says:
Dec 11, 2013
Just what I needed to hear. What a way to feel so wanted and purposeful, thank you!
Kelly says:
Dec 13, 2013
Thank you – I’ve been feeling low recently and this really resonated with me. It brought a tear to my eye but in a good way.
Katie says:
Jun 22, 2016
These words are just so perfect. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.