What’s something you’ve done that your past self would be proud of?

I’ve set boundaries with my family of origin. As many know, this is hard to do and causes ongoing feelings of guilt. My younger self had to do this too. I guess my past self might be proud that I still have the strength for it.

If you’ve ever been moved by the poems of Mary Oliver, I highly recommend the new film on PBS—Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World.

In the film, you learn that young Mary (age 17, I believe) left her family home and went to live in the woods. She met another young person there—Lenny—who was also “on the lam.” They were together in the woods for about a week. When they left the woods, Mary went on to determinedly pursue her life as a poet for which she eventually became greatly respected and admired in her lifetime. Towards the end of her life, she wondered what had become of Lenny. It turned out he had returned to the Ohio town (from which they had both run) and made his life there. He had children and grandchildren. He had died the day before she thought of him.