Don't Be so Arrogant

Julia Fehrenbacher is a poet, author, life coach, a teacher, and a sometimes-painter. She is most at home by the ocean and in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, with pen and paintbrush in hand. She is also a wife to a great guy, a mom to two beautiful, hard-to-figure-out teenage girls. Her family would not be complete without her very smart and sensitive dog, Lucky, and her wild, weird (and some times gentle & sweet) cat, Watson (who just happens to be Lucky's bff).

This is a very special poem, to be inhaled, cherished, and lived. As instructed; don't be so arrogant to ignore its message.

...think about the next thing. Walk
with the quiet trees, can you believe
how brave they are—how kind? Model your life
after theirs. Blow kisses
at yourself in the mirror
especially when
you think you've messed up. Forgive
yourself for not meeting your unreasonable
expectations. You are human, not
God—don't be so arrogant.
Praise fresh air
clean water, good dogs. Spin
something from joy. Open
a window, even if
it's cold outside. Sit. Close
your eyes. Breathe. Allow
the river
of it all to pulse
through eyelashes
fingertips, bare toes. Breathe in
breathe out. Breathe until
you feel
your bigness, until the sun
rises in your veins. Breathe
until you stop needing
anything
to be different.

With warm regards,
Marilyn

This message from Marilyn Turkovich, Executive Director of the Charter for Compassion, appears in our 02/07/2021 weekly newsletter. To sign up for our newsletter, scroll all the way down to the end of this page to get to the bottom menu, in the newsletter section enter your email address and click on subscribe.