“In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plentitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening:
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”
-John O’Donohue
You better believe I underlined, circled, and wrote out the word AMEN next to just about every word in this poem. Appropriately titled, “For A New Beginning”, Johnny here seems to perfectly package what every Fellow is feeling into pretty words and good phrases. I think a common theme amongst every Fellow and human that walks the planet is the desire of comfort and yearning to be known. So we choose to cling to the kingdoms and life plans we have perfectly curated for ourselves, but somewhere along the way we are forced out of the places that have sheltered us. For most of us, we outgrew our four years at perspective universities where we could escape the impending doom of adulthood and cling to fun, adventure, and year-long sleepovers with roommates that became best friends. After four years of learning what it looks like to settle into a place and build up a community, we packed up our cars for Raleigh and had to courageously enter into something new and unknown.
So here is to a year of new beginnings, to trusting that He who promised is faithful, and that we would all learn to delight in the process of stepping onto new ground and into new seasons.
peace and blessings,
Emily Magnus