Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wishcasting Wednesday--The Soft Animal of Your Body

Today for Wishcasting Wednesday, Jamie follows up a post she did over the weekend and draws on a favorite poem of mine, Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese." Today, Jamie asks us, "What does the soft animal of your body wish for?" And my body responds with such a flood of emotion I don't think I can get it all down.


  • I want beautiful scarves in soft, touchable fabrics and delicious colors.
  • I want clothes that feel soft and sensual against my skin
  • I want wonderful bath gels and body scrubs and things that make my skin feel like silk
  • I want good coffee, a fluffy white robe, and fresh Egyptian cotton sheets on my bed on a Sunday morning
  • I want clothes that feel beautiful and look like the me I see inside myself, colorful and quirky and stylish all at once
  • I want great shoes that feel good and look fantastic instead of just being sturdy and good for my feet
  • I want beautiful pieces of art, miniature cottages, fairy figurines just because I love them and they are pretty
  • I want to keep listening to this soft animal inside me and build her a world she is happy and comfortable in
I am sure there are more things for this list, but I am so grateful for being brought to consciously thinking about this.  I realize that I have allowed serviceable and less expensive take the place of desirable, and I want to bring the two into alignment so I can get a balance.  That's what this soft animal wants.


Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

~ Mary Oliver ~

13 comments:

Lynn said...

Beautiful wish list. I especially understand the wish for rich coffee and Egyptian cotton sheets. As you wish for yourself, I also wish for you.

Marilyn said...

Kim, my wishes today included clothes, too...and until i saw your photo, i'd completely forgotten that i'd stumbled onto some scarves just around the corner nearly identical to those in your post...i need to go buy one! :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moomoo/5063461760

as you wish for yourself, i wish for you also!

Ellie Di said...

Your list makes me want to overhaul my house so it's totally luxurious and soft! As you wish for yourself, I wish for you, also. :3

Anonymous said...

Beautiful list! As you wish for yourself, so I wish for you also.

Julie Jordan Scott said...

Keep listening, sweet Kim!

As Kim wishes for herself, so I wish for her also!!

Read My Soft Animal Wish.

Lynna G said...

Oh wow. I wan this wish list. I like everything on your list.

As you wish for yourself so I wish for you also

Jane said...

Hi Kim ... I love your post. The one about the shoes is the best! Oh for a hot pair of heels ... I pick them up in the stores and smile.
As Kim wishes for herself, so I wish for her also.
~Jane

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes, yes! As you wish for yourself, so I wholeheartedly wish for you also.

Tery Lynne said...

As Kim wishes for herself, I wish for her also!

Sarah Lulu said...

Kim I'm with you and beautiful scarves!

As you wish for yourself I so lovingly wish this for you also. xx

Cazamataz said...

A super list of scrumptious things mmm cotton sheets and a fluffy bath robe .......as you wish for yourself i wish for you also
x

BunnyKissd said...

As you wish for yourself, I do wish for you as well. I never thought of the bathroom when I was making my list, but it's there... the craving for deep luxurious bubble baths in sparkling white porcelain bathrooms with big windows full of sun... Your list has many good things that my soft animal craves too!

Tami Moore said...

I love this. For so many reasons, we ignore that soft little creature inside ourselves. Reading your list made me think of mine. I'm a little ashamed of the curl of surprised pleasure I felt when I asked myself what my list would look like.

Thanks for making me pause and think. <3

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