Confluence Formation

Confluence Formation

By Aram MitchellSociety & CultureReligion & SpiritualitySpiritualityPersonal Journals
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Confluence Formation episodes

  • Day 14 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “We do not think ourselves into a new way of living, but we must live ourselves into a new way of thinking.” (Richard Rohr)

    From my heart:

    You can sit there in that rocking chair and run your thoughts through your head all morning until the soles of their feet bleed, but they’ll still have miles to run, and it’ll be circles they’re running in, until you give yourself something to act on.

    You can do the same with your fears, your doubts, your worries—and I’m not saying you never should take those things for a run around the block—but taking an actual step, out here in this world of constraints and hardship—taking an actual step, often precisely in the direction that you’re dreading the most—will free your mind to help you make new worlds.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 13 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “Every step and every strain and hard breath and heart pump is an investment in tomorrow morning’s strength.” (Terry & Renny Russell, On the Loose, I think)

    In my mind, I responded:

    Ok. Then I’ll walk on.

    Though I’m done living for perpetual tomorrows.
    I need to be absolutely clear what it is that I’m up to, because doubts creep and there is no such thing as a clear path.
    Only the path as it is. Often jumbled.
    And knowing why I’m walking helps.
    Are you there, my why?

    From my heart, I heard:

    I am the walk.

    My mind:

    So, tomorrow’s strength isn’t the why that I’m after?

    So, strength is a by-product then?

    My heart:

    Yep. Strength is a by-product.

    And a young man’s game.
    You’re already strong.
    Whenever you’re doing what you’re here to do—no matter your pace, no matter the stretch of your stride—you’re moving with strength.
    Trust that your heart will pump, your blood will flow, to feed the next step you need to take.
    And take it.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    3 min
  • Day 12 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “...men of intelligence who formerly possessed an ordinary amount of refinement.”

    From my heart:

    And what is the ordinary refinement that you are shedding?

    I know you care a lot, my hearty soul, about the hopes and dreams, desires and priorities, the wants and needs of others in your near orbit; of those especially who, through admiration and gratitude for your gifts, stake some claim on your time and your attention.
    But care a little bit less today.
    Give more thought to what is yours to make and offer, and do that a little bit more today.
    No one has a viable claim on your time, unless you elect to give it to them.
    Give your time and your care to whom and what you wish. Trust that.
    This is your next level of growth.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 11 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.” (Mary Oliver, To Begin With, the Sweetgrass)

    From my heart:

    Like the rough Father says, though a little bit gentler.

    Like Jesus said, more or less.
    Like the Mother does, when the babe screams.
    Like I’ve shown you all along.
    Like you yourself recite everyday: “...to freely give themselves to the world.”
    Eventually no sacrifice remains.
    Eventually I’ve consumed all sacrifice in the fire of my truth:
    That when you give, in just such a way, you will receive it back.
    I love the sound of your cries, my beloved.
    I love your protestations, my darling.
    They tell me of your heart and of your appetite—and there is nothing more that I would rather know.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 10 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “Rest thee by many brooks and hearthsides without misgiving.” (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)

    In my mind I responded:

    But I don’t feel okay. I don’t feel at rest, at ease. Everything’s just a little bit uphill.

    From my heart:

    It’s been that way ever since you started walking uphill, hasn’t it?

    What’s up there, do you think?
    What’s up there worthy of the slog?
    Is there any other route to the magic?
    I hear you thinking:
    “If it’s going to be like this, then I don’t want to do it.”
    So: Do it different.
    And I know. I know you’re trying to. I see your efforts, dear heart.
    You’re doing great.
    And don’t forget: You can do better without having been bad.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 9 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “For afterwards a man finds pleasure in his pains, when he has suffered long and wandered long.” (Homer, the Odyssey)

    From my heart:

    I know, my love, you think of others first when you read of the hope that pain may amount to life, even pleasure.

    But you see it for yourself as well, don’t you?
    You see it, and can barely begin—but surely must begin—to see that it is actually so.
    Your pains tinge your life with growth, which gives life its arch and its hues, which is pleasant to behold.
    “Afterwards,” the young man says.
    While: “Now,” is the utterance of the elder.
    You, my child, are somewhere in between.
    You have not been long enough at anything to know its culmination. But you will.
    You will.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 8 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “We aim a black box and scratch on beaten wood pulp.” (Terry & Renny Russell, On the Loose)

    From my heart:

    I put that smile there, my darling.

    And it delights me.
    If I had a black box to aim, I’d aim it there, at that smile, to freeze your happiness in time.
    But I don’t deal in boxes.
    And happiness that is frozen is a prison along with any other static state.
    So scratch on, my darling.
    Scratch your way through the infinite of your thoughts, your emotions, your ambitions.
    Scratch as a practice to orient you to the immediacy of your experience.
    And then step away from the pulp, and into the action.
    The action is where happiness goes to live free.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 7 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “Now we know what is trivia and what is real.” (Terry & Renny Russell, On the Loose)

    From my heart:

    It might take you a while to discern between the two, beloved.

    And it won’t come without mistaking one for the other on more than one occasion.
    And then—even after knowing the difference—mistaking them still from time to time.
    It might take a while to discern between trivia and what is real.
    Especially when it comes to love, to sex, to religion, to family, to faith; to any good means of occupying your time.
    But in time, gradually—you might even say progressively—when you’re willing and heeding—then you will see what is real.
    You’ll see it. You’ll experience it. And you’ll know it.
    Like an old friend. Like a child of your own.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 6 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “There is nothing like the perils of the wilderness to breed this free and easy sort of genial, desperado philosophy.” (Herman Melville)

    From my heart:

    Free.

    And easy.
    Sort of genial.
    Desperado philosophy.
    I heard a man once call his brother cavalier, and he meant it as an insult, but his brother surfed, and raised his children to be free spirited and strong.
    So relax, my child.
    Don’t give away your freedom.
    Use it to give yourself to this world.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min
  • Day 5 | The loving voice of wisdom

    Everyday I ask the loving voice of wisdom, which dwells in our hearts and in this world: “What would you have me know today?” And then I listen. This is what I heard one day, not long ago…

    From elsewhere:

    “Hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.” (Wendell Berry)

    From my heart:

    No matter the trials of today.

    No matter the weariness in the present moment.
    No matter, even, the regrets you maybe carry from yesterday, yester-year, yester-life.
    The songs that are to come chatter faintly. And have been chattering all along, faintly yet persistently. And will not cease their faint, persistent chattering.
    Not until they are sung full-throated by your heart and your actions.
    Not until you are an ancestor singing loud your song through the lives of long distant kin.
    Put faith in those songs, my love.
    And hum along.



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit arammitchell.substack.com
    2 min

About Confluence Formation

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Principles and practices for living life to the full.

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