the Withing Life
One Spring (in a long dark), I visited this tree every day until I could taste the first sour sweet cherry.
Yes,
the grief is true
rage real.
And
pleasure still
blossoms, baby cheeks, googly eyes
drawn for laughs
in the dust.
Pleasure because
we know we need
to tell all of the story
(horrible and also delicious) to
heal
fortify
invite flow and friendship.
Pleasure while
in an unknown, a tangle, a dismantling
opens creativity, connection,
and hope.
Pleasure lets us tell the tale of kinder times (now and as blueprint) to our nervous systems.
Shared Pleasure helps us remember shared humanity:
Watching adult you enjoy an ice cream reminds me of you the 4-year-old who didn’t yet have a broken into hard heart.
Joining in with my own hand-dipped two scoops tells us I can forget my judgments for a moment, and maybe sweeten the future with you too.
Pleasure is for sure that yummy dopamine
but nourishes me most when it is the Here Connected to myself and to you and You and to the sound aspen leaves make in the breeze.
And how that helps us Know
pleasure
yes, as much as the pain
is birthright
for All.
Let’s live
our whole story. Let’s act so each
other has access to theirs too.
INVITATIONS:
(or stop at the poem's end. it is often more than enough to just feel.)
Recommended Readings (and major h/t): Adrienne Maree Brown: Pleasure Activism
Audre Lorde’s The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power
free to read here:
https://www.centraleurasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/audre_lorde_cool-beans.pdfCatherine Price: The Power of Fun
A Somatic Practice for Withing the Both/And:1. In your current moment, name a physical ache or ouch and a pleasure or sweetness.
e.g. my tight jaw hurts, and also that breeze feels nice on my skin.2. Now take turns bringing your attention to each. Go back and forth several times, noticing what sensations happen in your body (warmth, freeze, tingle, tightening or release of muscle or breath).*
3. Notice how they feel here in waves and then simultaneously. Notice what you know when you simply are present With this both and.
*If you are getting uncomfortably activated by the “ouch,” switch to just being with the physical sensations of the pleasure. Capacity is real and important to honor.
If you would like help tuning in to what feels like pleasure and nourishment for
your particular nervous system, or more somatic practices to navigate the Both And (joy/ache) of life, I would love to journey with you in a 1:1 somatic coaching session.