"Approach everything you care about as if you really, really mean it." - Unknown
I started looking for more words that inspired me and I found this in my files. I tried to chase it up to see where I had found it first and I can't find the original site so I apologize to Dr. Estes for duplicating it in its entirety here. (It's getting very obvious to me and anyone else who reads this blog that I am a huge fan of Dr. Estes. I think I shall put meeting her on my list of goals. I'd really like to thank her in person someday!)
If you are reading this and haven't read my last post, please do add your own inspirational words to the list! I'm enjoying seeing what inspires people.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
I assign you to be a beautiful, good, kind, awakened, soulful person, a true work of art as we say, ser humano, a true human being. In a world filled with so much darkness, such a soul shines like gold; can be seen from a far distance; is dramatically different.
Want to help? Show your deepest most divine self to the world. There is nothing more rare, more strange, more needed. Why would you wait? Not worthy? Oh piffle. Not ready? Okay, so when? Next lifetime? Don't be silly with me about this. Inferiority complex? Okay, let me put it this way to you: you're not good enough to think you're not good enough. And you can
quote me to yourself whenever you have need... Dr. Estes said so.
Have you forgotten that you made promises to your Beloved before you ever came to earth? The time to fulfill these is truly now. You want to cease feeling helpless, and you want to help the aching world? Serve someone and something. Everyone on earth serves someone and something. This means being your truest self now, fulfilling the promises you made to heaven long ago.
Anything you do from the soulful self will help lighten the burdens of the world. Anything. You have no idea what the smallest word, the tiniest generosity can cause to be set in motion. Be outrageous in forgiving. Be dramatic in reconciling. Mistakes? Back up and make them as right as you can, then move on. Be off the charts in kindness. In whatever you are called to, strive to be devoted to it in all aspects large and small. Fall short? Try again. Mastery is made in increments, not in leaps. Be brave, be fierce, be visionary. Mend the parts of the world that are "within your reach." To strive to live this way is the most dramatic gift you can ever give to the world.
Consider yourselves assigned.
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18 comments:
this post resonates with me deeply...i'm a bit overwhelmed by this, so i will be back to read it again. and to maybe leave a few more words behind.
with love,
xo s
OMG. That deserves repeating: OH MY GOD.
I've read Women who run with the wolves so I know how amazing Dr Estes is...but wow, that just took my breath away.
THANK YOU for posting it. Truly.
How inspiring! Just what I needed to hear today!
Whoa! I hope she's given more than a weekend to complete that assignment! WONDERFUL! Thank you. You are great at winkling out such inspiring words. Now I'm going to see what I can DO about them! Thanks.
Okay...I have not read this book yet...just ordered it Amazon though...
This is just awesome Megg...
Thanks so much!
xoxo
I think I shall start concentrating on my assignment! How wonderful! Clever, inspiring, and so very true.
xo
Gillian
Now I REALLY have to pick this book up off my shelf, dust it off, and start reading...this is wonderful!!!
i have wanted to read this book for a while, and been told that it was too academic, so stayed away....
not anymore. i think i need to read this.
when are you coming to "town"? i need to see you!!! :D
holy taledo, woman! these words made tears spring unexpectedly to my eyes:
"Be brave, be fierce, be visionary. Mend the parts of the world that are "within your reach." To strive to live this way is the most dramatic gift you can ever give to the world."
You know that feeling of energy that goes through you when something feels important and right? Yes, that is what those words made me feel!
Thank you for sharing this (in its entirety), Meg. ;) Good stuff.
oh wow...that brought tears to my eyes...very touching and inspiring...i'm printing it out and putting it in my journal...
that took my breath away. and is {exactly} what i needed to read. right now. today. thank you for sharing words which will now change my life too.
I love labels. I especially love labels when they're devised by 'savvy' marketing analysts or pollsters. And the newest target for the corporate marketing dollar? 'Yoga Moms.'
I love this one particularly, not least because I'm totally a Yoga Mama (I prefer the "mama" moniker to "mom," as do most Yoga Mamas; you all may want to make a note of this). In fact, I registered the domain "spa mama.com" years ago and still receive email to some variant of "zen@" said dotcom. And yes, I do a lot of yoga. Yoga Mamas are said to be very particular about eating organic and feeding it to their kids; buying natural products; and we'll pay top dollar for it.
Whoa! Hold on. Maybe I'm not a Yoga Mama after all. Or maybe y'all have it wrong (still taking notes?) In fact, in my market analysis (done among my friends, many of whom I met at prenatal yoga, or at new mama knitting circles, or at the organic foods market, or as kindred spirits on some mama-centric web site), Yoga Mamas aren't willing to pay top dollar for anything organic or natural; in fact, our choices are much more shrewd than that.
My friends are, in fact, always talking about how they're on a budget, or they don't have money for this luxury or that luxury. Most of us don't spend much on our own clothes, for instance, and we're savvy resale shoppers -- often picking up expensive labels, to be sure, but for a fraction of the retail price. While we'll occasionally splurge on treats for ourselves (heck, someone's keeping those manicurists in business, and we love a good glass of Pinot Noir) we're also fanatic 'unit price' comparers and we won't go back to a place that doesn't fit in with a raft of values, from "respectful" to "green" to "treats its employees well." None of us shop at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). All of us shop at Trader Joe's.
While we may love the commercials for organic Kellogg Company (NYSE:K)'s organic Rice Krispies, we aren't spending extra for the brand name. Nope, we figured out long ago that our kids were happy with another organic cereal sold under a generic brand. We sometimes check out the end-cap display of Johnson & Johnson's line of aromatic bubble baths and shampoos, but we're certainly not paying $4 a bottle when we get the all-purpose, ultra-gentle Castile soap for $2.49. We clean with vinegar and water, not ultra-expensive "natural" cleaners.
We have a tenuous relationship with The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS). While we do let our children watch the movies, reluctantly, we're mightily peeved that all our kids' favorite characters' moms have been killed off. We skip past the first two scenes of Finding Nemo.
We like to buy things that are made by other moms. That are recycled, or reclaimed, or paid for with fair trade practices. We like to buy local, visit farmer's markets for our produce, or even own a share in a cooperative farm. We're thinking about the impacts of everything we do; that means we may not even use disposable diapers, and we certainly don't need a hugely plastic $99.99 Fisher Price Interactive Play Pyramid to have stimulating play time with our babies.
We're trying to reduce the use of our car, and many of us have given it up altogether. That means we splurge on Burley trailers and expensive tune-ups for our bikes, and we're always comparing baby carriers for our trips on mass transit. (The Ergo is currently the winner but some of us prefer our own handmade choices.) We've made a pact, no gifts at birthday parties, and we do book exchanges or handmade favors (superhero capes and stuffed swords) or crafts or trips to a climbing gym, instead. We recycle religiously and walk or run whenever possible.
Many of us are working moms, but we all have hobbies; we cook our kids' baby food, or make our kids' Halloween costumes, or knit our babies' first hats. We get angry when you stereotype our children's choices by gender (boys like play kitchens too, and our girls will always be signed up for sports), and when you overly package things. It makes us crazy when you try to deceive us, by calling something "natural" when it's really packed with high-fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring, or by selling us an "economy" size whose unit price is higher than the regular size.
We're loyal, but we're highly critical; we do read the Wall Street Journal and listen to NPR. We want our children to learn our values but we'll never force anything on them. We know what you're trying to do here, with this profile of us and all; so do it with care.
“you're not good enough to think you're not good enough”
That could come in handy.
Love your blog, so inspiring!
Thank you for sharing this. I too am such a fan of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes! Her down to earth wisdom speaks to me. I can't think of a better assignment to fulfill than this one :-)
You have NO idea how much these words ring my bell...
Thank you for passing them to us.
:)
It's nice when you see such a great work! Continue writing
It's nice when you see such a great work! Continue writing
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