begging

I've been reading poems by Mary Oliver and came across this one that I really liked:


-----------------------------------------------

To Begin With, The Sweet Grass, #4

Someday I am going to ask my friend Paulus,
the dancer, the potter,
to make me a begging bowl
which I believe
my soul needs.

And if I come to you,
to the door of your comfortable house
with unwashed clothes and unclean fingernails,
will you put something in it?

I would like to take this chance.
I would like to give you this chance.
------------------------------------------------

And is it funny that when I read that poem, the thing that came to my mind was my blog? I tried to think of why that is, and I realized that a lot of times people think that we blog, or write, or create art because we think we have something to share. For me, this is not true. I write not because I think I have something to give, but because I need to receive. My blog, poems, journals, whatever, are my begging bowl that I bring to your door, hoping to be given gifts of understanding, acceptance, compassion. I am needing to take this chance of opening up, and wanting to be seen. We all need to be given the chance to see each other. See, really see, and choose to love anyway.

Do you see?

(image from flickr)