Feeling down and disheartened? Read John O’Donohue!
At times we can all feel down and disheartened – life seems a bit of an uphill struggle. Over the past few years I have got huge comfort and enjoyment from reading the work of John O’Donohue. Just five minutes spent reading one of his poems (or even better listening to John reading his own work) can help you to feel a sense of “we’re in this together”.
John was an Irish poet, author, priest, and philosopher who passed away at the age of just 52 in 2008. Born and raised in County Clare and Connemara, he was a native Irish speaker. As an author he is best known for popularising Celtic Spirituality especially in his book “Anam Cara” (which translated means “soul friend”). Although his life was often spent in meditation and solitude, he was also a gregarious, fun-loving man, a mesmerising storyteller whether he was in the bar, the lecture theatre or the church.
Here’s a sample of his work:
A Blessing for One Who is Exhausted
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight,
The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laboursome events of will.
Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.
The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.
At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.
You have travelled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of colour
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
John O’Donohue, from “Blessings”
His own website is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0bg7lNeKY4 Listening to him speak is even better than reading his work!
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