Advice I Can Follow

When I want to be comforted with words, the most reliable source for me is Mary Oliver. I suspect this is a common feeling among my peers. She has spoken many things to me over the years and even past few days, but these words I have taken as personal guidance. I love to get advice that I can easily follow. She says:

"A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world and the responsibilities of your life.
Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.
In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.
Live with the beetle, and the wind."

And now I will carry these thoughts with me as I go to the van to coax the children into the house, put Jasper down for his nap, prepare some lunch for myself, hang out with Lucy, then start on some chores - dishes, laundry, pondering what I might make for dinner, etc. The usual. It is more than enough.