Aliveness

“Civilization’s enduring commandment became: Do more. Try harder. Be better. Earn what was already yours in the first place–aliveness.” Rainier Wylde

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The quote above reminds me of Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese— “You do not have to be good; you do not have to walk on your knees.” There was a hilarious St. Denis Medical episode (s 1, ep 14) where Dr. Bruce listens to a dementia patient repeating this one line. He goes into this spiral about whether or not he has to be great.

I hope that no matter how your day started or how it is ending, that you do something today that makes you feel alive. Human. Grounded. Something that acknowledges the present as enough for right now.

Massage your feet. Drink some tea. Stretch out your lower back. Take a hot shower. Eat a chocolate. Find delight in a page. Be.

I often find that when I strive to do more than is feasible, I end up feeling like a machine.

We don’t need machines. We have those. We need more humans. We need people who are ALIVE.