Underneath the necessary surface of our life - all the ways we accommodate, fit in, bend ourselves to take care of one another - there is another deeper current. Sometimes we might go years without attending to this flow, maybe encountering it again only right at the end of our lives. We keep on finding through our conversations and our work how much it matters in a life to attend to the flow, to discover what it is saying, to find out the unique kind of truth that we can make with our own lives, and to bring it to the surface so it can flow into the world and be of benefit. How might we do this? What does it take to do this? That's the topic of David Whyte's stirring poem that forms the source for this week, and the conversation which follows.



This week's Turning Towards Life is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.



Episode Overview

00:00 Introduction and Context

03:10 Exploring David Whyte's Poem

06:25 Personal Reflections on Truth

10:41 The Importance of Realness

15:16 Discernment in Relationships

20:38 The Journey of Self-Discovery

25:13 Creating Spaces for Truth

27:57 Conclusion and Invitation



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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace.  Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google, Amazon Music and Spotify.



Here's our source for this week:



All the True Vows



 All the true vows

 are secret vows

 the ones we speak out loud

 are the ones we break.

 There is only one life

 you can call your own

 and a thousand others

 you can call by any name you want.

 Hold to the truth you make

 every day with your own body,

 don’t turn your face away.

 Hold to your own truth

 at the center of the image

 you were born with.

 Those who do not understand

 their destiny will never understand

 the friends they have made

 nor the work they have chosen

 nor the one life that waits

 beyond all the others.

 By the lake in the wood

 in the shadows

 you can

 whisper that truth

 to the quiet reflection

 you see in the water.

 Whatever you hear from

 the water, remember,

 it wants you to carry

 the sound of its truth on your lips.

 Remember,

 in this place

 no one can hear you

 and out of the silence

 you can make a promise

 it will kill you to break,

 that way you’ll find

 what is real and what is not.

 I know what I am saying.

 Time almost forsook me

 and I looked again.

 Seeing my reflection

 I broke a promise

 and spoke

 for the first time

 after all these years

 in my own voice,

 before it was too late

 to turn my face again.



David Whyte, from The House of Belonging



Photo by Justin Wise