14 Comments
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Donna McArthur's avatar

Thank you for this sacred reminder Lisa. Just today I wrote about how we carry our stories that may no longer be serving us and how we can tell it's time to let them go. Reading this challenges me to go deeper, to stay present, so I can be attentive to what I am, or am not, summoning.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Goodness, a lifelong practice I imagine. Grateful for the shared attention around it all <3

Michelle Dowd's avatar

I love the abundant beauty of this post, your book, your life. And this question: "What have I not yet put into words because some part of me is afraid of making it more real, because I’m not sure what lives on the other side of summoning it into being?" That is THE question. Thank you.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

A question swirling in my heart in this very moment. Oof. Thank you for your kindness and connection 💛

Donna McArthur's avatar

I agree Michelle, that is THE question. It's a call to sit in it, with it, allowing it to unfold and to see our fear but remind it that it's not driving the bus. (Not that I actually pull this off too often but...!)

Lisa Olivera's avatar

it's not driving the bus <3

Andrew Moe's avatar

Thank you for this. So profound and so beautiful

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So glad it reached you.

Ruth Allen, PhD (MNCPS)'s avatar

What do I want to summon? Such a great question thank you. Like you, I often think words summon me into being, summon all sorts of things. We learn that through therapy. For myself, I find a lot in my journalling. I summon myself upright most of the time. I spend a lot of time bringing myself back. I would like to get back to words that summon a deeper sense of aliveness and vitality. I recently brought a book project to an end with my publisher because it wasn't fitting, and so I am bruised by how words can also do whatever the opposite of summoning is. Now I need to find a way with words to move forwards. Thank you for your prompts, and generosity. xx

Lisa Olivera's avatar

Goodness, I relate to these words. The continual bringing back of the self. I, too, am longing for words that summon aliveness and vitality. It sounds like bringing the project to an end, while bruising now, might be a path toward that, in its own way? I wonder what will open up in its place. That feels so courageous to me. I'm summoning some truth to lean into courage in my own ways, too. Thank you for all you share xx

Cayla Vidmar's avatar

Needed this today. Thank you 💛

Lisa Olivera's avatar

So glad it reached you 💛

PJ's avatar

So beautiful, thank you. It makes me think that speech is an expression of consciousness, and if we aren't fully present, it becomes just so much talk. I also remember a wise Celtic spirituality teacher saying that if we don't engage with the unseen world, it becomes more distant. Maybe that's another way of thinking about 'summoning' - our world, seen and unseen, is above all relational and connected and it behoves us to stay conscious of that.

Lisa Olivera's avatar

yes yes yes, to all of this! The book I referenced is very much about how close Gaelic language is to the land, the natural world, and place -- and how that has been lost, as well as the gift of remembering. It's blowing my heart wide open. Thank you for this reflection <3