long process

I’ve been very slowly reading Soul Mates by Thomas Moore. It’s one of those books that serves you well to read slowly as I find each page takes a while to fully absorb. In the latest return, the following quote caught me, especially as I feel myself running up against the jagged edges of myself:

“Soul-work is usually a long process of taking the raw material life gives us, then making something out of it.”

Soul Mates by Thomas Moore

I catch myself sometimes trying to be as efficient as possible. I’ll intermittently stir a pot I’m cooking rice in while I clean a pan I just used to sauté vegetables or brush my teeth while I slowly get dressed for bed. It’s simply in my nature and I only sometimes catch myself in the act, often asking myself to slow down. Few important things in life can be done quickly or efficiently though and this quote reminded me that it is a long process indeed. It reminds me of how so few things in life have an easy answer or fix that when those things do come up, I try to rejoice at them. I’ll save my energy for this long process.

In meeting with someone born through surrogacy for the first time, they previously remarked to me over email about “what we want to do with our strange lives”. Right now, this one particular storyline of surrogacy feels like my rawest material and I haven’t a clue what to make of it.