The question is like a lantern.

Every now and then I come across a piece of writing, a poem or a quote that stops me in my tracks, inviting me to pause, take a breath and reflect for a moment or two.

Several years ago, I was studying the inner landscape of meditation. My teacher would encourage us to write down on a post-it note a new thought, word or phrase that caught our attention during the teachings and pop it on the fridge for a week.

That way every time we would go to the fridge, it would catch our attention. We didn’t have to make sense of it or figure anything out, it was just a gentle way to open our awareness, a place for the words to land.

She also suggested that we keep these post-it notes in a drawer and if the word or teaching didn’t really resonate, we could simply put it away and pull it out again at a later date. It was surprising how the same words could hold a completely different perspective for us and how our relationship and interpretation would shift according to our life circumstances.

John O’Donohue’s writing below may be longer than a word or phrase but the principle is the same. It has been calling me back, again and again recently so I thought I’d offer to share it with you here.

When John O’ Donohue reads out loud, he paces himself well. Let his words find space to breathe.

Every human person is inevitably involved with two worlds: the world they carry within them and the world that is out there.

All thinking, all writing, all action, all creation and all destruction is about that bridge between the two worlds.

All thought is about putting a face on experience…

One of the most exciting and energetic forms of thought is the question.

I always think that the question is like a lantern.

It illuminates new landscapes and new areas as it moves.

Therefore, the question always assumes that there are many different dimensions to a thought that you are either blind to or that are not available to you.

So a question is really one of the forms in which wonder expresses itself.

One of the reasons that we wonder is because we are limited, and that limitation is one of the great gateways to wonder.

~John O’Donohue, Walking on the Pastures of Wonder

Is there a word or phrase here that has caught your attention and you’ll place on a post-it note for a week? Just to try it on so-to-speak and see what happens.

I’d love to know, if you feel called to share, send me a note.

I am welcoming new beginnings, delighted to host an early spring retreat.

As our world begins to open up, we need movement, stillness, creativity, inspiration, and our self-care practices just as much, if not more than before.

What would you most like to bring into your life to inspire and sustain you? What will your intention, words and phrases be?

I look forward to sharing these practices and much more with you in person.

Registration is open, click the button below to learn more and join me.

Yoga and Self-Care Retreat
BLAUSEE Hotel & Spa, Switzerland
10 – 13 March 2022

Karen x