The Flower of Self-Blessing

Here is part of a poem by Galway Kinnell

“for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on the brow of the flower and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing…”

We, you and I, are full of life, unfolding into flower. A blessing is an act of reverence, usually freely given from one to another, and traditionally within some religious context, but in this poem Kinnell says that the deepest blessing comes from ourselves. It arises, spontaneously, from the silence in us. Or not.
Blessings give life meaning, make life richer. Like the feeling of emerging from cloud cover into an endless expanse of blue. Like a flood of warmth from the top of your head down to your toes. Or like the sensation of belonging, of realizing that you have your own unique place in the family of things. A blessing is an influx of grace.
To listen quietly and deeply to the stirring of your own life is an act of self-blessing. To be kind to yourself. To have faith that your life has its own intelligent design and is doing exactly what it needs to, even if it doesn’t feel that way; that is a blessing.