Description

Raising Us
they say we raise our children

but i say we raise 

each 

other

and that many times

like today

it feels to me 

like 

our children 

are raising us

to 

higher levels 

greater good

deeper love

wiser action
some backstory
yesterday evening

we were eating ice cream on the stoop and

a text comes in 

and she says 

yes

to her first job 

and promptly has to figure out
how much do i charge?
as much as i can get?

as much as they are able?

a fair price according to such and such?
i say,

what’s the going rate?

just charge that

don’t undersell yourself
she says,

no

that doesn’t feel 

right 

there has to be more to this
and so she talks with her mom

and she listens to her gut

and they work with numbers

and they work with feelings

and they work with values

and they work with others

and they work with 

layer

upon

layer

until i hear
i’ve decided!
i’m going to charge less than i could

because i want to

because i know them

because they’re like family

because it feels right to me

because i would do it for free
and i realize that she’s raising me

raising us

and reminding me 

this morning

that i’ve spent my own life

loving living so much that

there hasn’t been a time or a job

where i didn’t feel that 

i would be happy doing it for free
that something happens 

that we cannot see

when we give more than we receive
like an extended exhale

the whole body

relaxes and stops fighting

and starts trusting

and starts receiving more

of just what it needs
yes
there must be balance
but the values 

of this equation 

are much easier to reconcile

when the body and mind 

are giving more than receiving
just ask the man 

trying to let go of a lifetime of

taking, taking, taking 

trying to let go 

of a near-constant, striving, reaching, grasping, holding
trying to stop inhaling 

trying to stop just inhaling

trying to stop only inhaling
trying to learn to let go

trying to muster up the trust to
e  x  h  a  l  e
his way 

in to

that which 

cannot be taken