The Quest to Be a Better Blogger

You see, I want a lot.
Maybe I want it all:
the darkness of each endless fall,
the shimmering light of each ascent.

So many are alive who don’t seem to care.
Casual, easy, they move in the world
as though untouched.

But you take pleasure in the faces
of those who know they thirst.
You cherish those
who grip you for survival.

You are not dead yet, it’s not too late
to open your depths by plunging into them
and drink in the life
that reveals itself quietly there.

~Rainier Maria Rilke (as translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy)

I'm not really a big New Year's Resolution person, but it seems as good a time as any to do something new. So, I have made the tiny resolution to be in this new year a bit closer to the person I'd like to be. To be more intentional about my daily decisions. To work smarter. To be healthier. To be a little more zen about the complicated, uncertain, sort-of-maybe-relationship in which I find myself, and a little less prone to snarky, mean comments in general. To read more poetry and books of substance. To write more, in music and words.

It's kind of a tall order.

Nonetheless, I kind of like the thought of reading more poetry, and my writing sorely needs some practice, so step one of Be A Better Stacey is to start posting more often here again. When I have nothing to write (and sometimes even when I do), I'll just share a poem that I like. Today we begin with Rilke. Speaking of which, this translation is quite a bit different than some of the others floating around. I prefer this translation, but it makes me want to read the original. Anyone know where I could find/order that? Off to Google I go...

P.S. - The internet is grand; I have found it here.