Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Quiet your inner critic

#3 in My Poem Memorization Project

I lived with Wild Geese by Mary Oliver this past week. And for some reason, as I was reading and studying it, my brain told me that I needed to to make a video AND include animation 😱 - things I didn’t know how to do … But now I kind of do!

As I was struggling to make the video and add the narration, I was having quite a few moments of frustration. As I was struggling, the poem spoke to me:

You do not have to be good.

And honestly, being “good” is what has held me back the most in my life. I mean how do you “BE GOOD”? What is the definition of GOOD? Whose idea of GOOD matters?

My inner critic has a lot of practice telling me that I’m NOT GOOD. It says things like - Will others appreciate my work? Will they like it? What if it’s criticized? What if a someone thinks it’s dumb? What if it’s not perfect? What is no one is interested? …and on and on and on.

And so this is my new mantra:

You do not have to be good.

(Please, watch the narrated video ❤️ and then keep scrolling - there’s more!)

My take away from this beautiful poem -

When we stop trying to be “good”, we can be real.

When we stop beating ourselves up, we can grow.

When we soften, we can feel.

When we quiet our minds, we can connect.

When we join the community, we become limitless.

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Leave me a comment below ❤️❤️❤️

How do you feel about this poem?

Which part speaks to you the most?

How do you quiet your inner critic?

Do you have a favorite poem that I should memorize?

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading all the way to the end !!!!!

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