- Keep Breathing
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- On Perseverance
On Perseverance
and showing up
Hello friends,
I’m working on a series of essays—thanks Patreon folks!—that I’m calling Sigils for a Waiting World.
This month’s is all about perseverance. How do we keep going when things feel hard? When we’re exhausted or overwhelmed? We find one small thing. We do what’s in front of us, if that’s all we can do. We raise our heads and find ways to help when we can do that, too. And we invoke perseverance. I’ve made us a sigil to help with that:
“Do what you can, when you can, where you can,” has been my catchphrase for the past several years. And that’s what perseverance is about for me.
Perseverance also requires patience. I’m am not a patient person. So how do I persevere? I practice. And when that gets hard? I find a different way to practice. I find support for practice.
And so, inch by inch, I travel the path.
Invoking perseverance also reminds me that I don’t have to tackle the massive problem, or the huge project. Invoking perseverance reminds me that being small is okay. As a matter of fact, sometimes it’s more effective. A small boat can quickly change course, where an ocean liner stalls and founders.
The sigil for perseverance is drawn from our friend the snail. Snails move slowly along, their slime depositing nitrogen that fertilizes the soil. They protect plants from small insects, just by fortifying themselves. They recycle nutrients. They move spores from place to place. They provide sustenance for other creatures.
A snail, simply by moving slowly, and doing what it does best, provides a boon to the ecosystem.
It doesn’t even need to try very hard. It just needs to show up.
If you want to read the rest, and read more about the sigil, you can head over to my blog for Sigils for a Waiting World Part Two.
But meanwhile, what helps you keep going these days? And what helps you slow down?
best wishes - Thorn
Thank you so much to everyone who has spread the word about my Kickstarter campaign! Klaus and Marsha thank you, too! And thanks to everyone who has backed it so far. There are more stretch rewards now, and more tier options because of all the support. I’m so grateful, I can barely express it. Hugs to you.
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