Daily Nourishment for December 30, 2024: Establish More Rituals to Broaden Your Belongings
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 10-15 minutes
Here are instructions for a 5-Minute Ritual I use often and share with clients. SDW Daily Nourishment readers might appreciate it too. Enjoy!
Pause.
Light a candle. Take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale.
Prompt.
Read one poem. Any poem. Read it aloud or silently.
Need a poem?
Here’s “In the bleak midwinter” by Christina Rossetti
Here’s “the mississippi river empties into the gulf” by Lucille Clifton
and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,
none of them emptying anything,
all of them carrying yesterday
forever on their white tipped backs,
all of them dragging forward tomorrow.
it is the great circulation
of the earth’s body, like the blood
of the gods, this river in which the past
is always flowing. every water
is the same water coming round.
everyday someone is standing on the edge
of this river, staring into time,
whispering mistakenly:
only here. only now.
Practice.
Try to do this ritual every day or most days at the same time of day. Try different poems or choose one to use again and again that suits this particular natural season, liturgical season, or season of life.
Feel free to tweak this ritual however you like. It’s your ritual. This is just a suggestion to get you started.
*
Workshops, Gatherings, & Resources
—Become an SDW Insider: (Free) Weekly emails, behind-the-scenes updates, reminders for free SDW Co-Writing sessions, early access to gatherings and retreat registrations, occasional offers and gifts, bonus resources, and more. Email Charlotte at charlotte@charlottedonlon.com to be added to the SDW Insiders.
—Want to feel less alone during the holidays or any time? Read 40 Ways to Feel Less Alone During the Holidays or Any Time.
—New Resource: Parenting with Art® Lectio Divina Cards Information about ordering these cards can be found in my Books + Spiritual Direction + Retreats & Gatherings email newsletter . To stay in the loop on all of my work, writing, book recs, and more, subscribe to that weekly newsletter at charlottedonlon.com/subscribe.
Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
*Please help us protect our intellectual property, our creative process, and the integrity of our work. Spiritual Direction for Writers® Daily Nourishment is covered under the Spiritual Direction for Writers® trademark. You are welcome to share this link with others, but any other use (written or spoken) is prohibited without written permission from Charlotte Donlon.