Joy Bank: A Poem
They think I’ve lost
my sense of adventure
as I shy away from ice cold plunges,
one toe touching the lapping waves
Tentatively.
They pity me as I say,
“Go on without me”
as they venture on high seas and tall peaks.
They wonder,
“Was she ever fun?”
And I smile gently, remembering
my own daring adventures,
bottled up in my heart,
feeding me even now.
I can’t tell them
as they look,
seeing my youth fading
about how grateful I am
that they are taking risks
and living
and soaking up
all life has to offer.
I can’t tell them, yet,
how memories,
locked within my heart,
are a Joy Bank
from which I reap dividends
as I do
exactly what it is
I most want to do
Now
(and exactly, as it turns out, what those dividends are really for)
and write,
write and
write.
They can’t understand yet,
that this,
my new, solo mission,
the act of
unveiling and creating,
dipping my pen into
past plunges
is by far,
the most daring
adventure
of
them
all.
This is an excerpt from Laurie’s book Leap With Me: Finding and Following Your Creative Voice.
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Photo credit: gerasimov_foto_174/Shutterstock
Although the link didn’t work in Safari, I am touched by your poem. At 72 I am now realizing it’s
now or never the time to make my photography skills more available to the world. But the wall I
hit when I even think about what and how is so firmly established, I don’t know how to get beyond it!
I am hoping your insights and example will help.
Thank you, Jan, I’m glad this poem touched you, and appreciate you commenting. My experience has been doing just a little everyday, 5-10 minutes of treating ourselves to an activity we love to do can work wonders when it comes to moving through resistance. Keep at your photography! You have a unique way of seeing the world that we all need.