Soft animals

Before you read this post, you should take a look at what inspired it. Jamie Ridler has been writing of the vulnerabilities of our desires and invites us to share those things that we might be most afraid of sharing - what poet Mary Oliver portrays in the lines:

"You have only to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves..."

Jamie suggests we should "clear away our cobwebs of limiting beliefs". This ties in beautifully with what I have been reading in the classic book on writing 'If you want to write' by Brenda Ueland. Brenda talks about being true to oneself. I was so struck by this quote that I was moved to write it down so I could keep reminding myself of it:

"Everyone is original, if he tells the truth, if he speaks from himself. But it muts be from his true self and not from the self he thinks he should be."

Last night I wore my goals on my sleeve and posted a journal entry sharing what I hope to be achieving in the coming months - you can read it here. It wasn't an easy thing to share and I contemplated keeping it private but I'm also a firm believer in sharing your desires with the universe or, at the very least, writing them down. I know that if I don't make effort to achieve these goals now then I'll feel guilty because I told you I would. It's well-needed motivation and a tried and tested way of putting pressure on myself.

In terms of perhaps sharing some of the 'softer' desires, the embarrassing tracks on the ipod type thing. I am not afraid of admitting my geekiness and sharing what is me with the world. Naturally some things should and do remain private but I don't mind letting people see what makes me tick and in fact like to think of myself as a little bit eccentric. I'm not exactly what people would call a shrinking violet. When I was a child I was always worrying about what people would think. Then one day - when I was in my teens I think - I just stopped with the realisation that if friends accepted me for who I was and respected you for your unique opinions, points of view and dodgy musical taste!

However, perhaps I should confess one little secret about me. As we were talking about 'soft animals' it reminded me that I still like to cuddle a soft animal in bed every now and again! One of my favourite things to look at is a child clutching their favourite toy in slumber - I guess I am rather a softie at heart and need my comfort.