In 2025, on a trip to Antarctica with my friend Faye, we polar plunged.
I’m calling this Series, “Gladly Beyond” from a line in an e.e. cummings poem
“somewhere I have never traveled, gladly beyond.”
“Gladly Beyond!” There is so much to this world. Let’s Leap!
This week, I did something very bold. Something that, for me, was truly “gladly beyond.”
If it comes to fruition, I’ll share the specifics. But right now, I’m celebrating not the outcome, but the courage it took to attempt something new.
For a while, I’ve been noticing a particular kind of work – work I’m actually quite good at – simply isn’t being done. I checked. I looked. I asked around. No one seemed to have noticed the need for this work or imagined the role.
Rather than stewing about why no one was doing it or complaining that someone should have seen how much this action could ease a situation – both tactics I’ve used in earlier times – I wrote a proposal. I identified the problem, offered solutions, and suggested that I be paid to pursue them. If nothing comes of it, I’ll be sorry, but I will also know I tried to make our environment better and to improve outcomes for all involved. I offered my help. Now it’s up to them.
This is a huge departure for me. I might once have volunteered to tackle this for free — a typical choice. But this time, I didn’t hesitate to imagine what could be different, and to propose myself as the one to do it. I didn’t assume someone else would be better. I wrote it up – and rewrote and rewrote – until I was several yards beyond what I would normally consider my capacity. It’s a real problem. I have a real solution. And those to whom I pitched it now have a real choice.
That is as far as I can take it. It’s in their laps. The monumental thing is that I dared to write it. I dared to submit it. I leapt. And when I later found an article supporting my proposal, I sent that along too.
This was an unbelievably large step into my talents and growth. I went gladly beyond my usual barriers and invented obstacles. At nearly 74, I decided – for the first time – that I had a great solution and that they deserved the opportunity to say yes and to support me in addressing it.
I have dared before. But I have also been timid about using my deepest abilities to change the world. I’ve relied on my skills – the things I learned and polished. This situation touches my core abilities. I said, “Here I am, and I can do a better job than you can imagine.”
There are many reasons I’m only now coming into my own. I wasn’t raised to step out. Nor was I raised to pursue the things I would excel at. Truthfully, some of the things I’m doing now no one else has imagined. Too often, I’ve gone along and done good work. This, however, would be my work.
I’ve been getting ready. I’ve written my daily poems for nearly 16 years. It took me until December of last year to catch my own eye in the mirror and say, “Hey — I’m a poet.” You might have thought I would have caught on when I dared (once again) to publish my book. But no. Somehow, this time, many things coalesced for me and helped me see that while I see the world relationally, my expression is metaphor and verse. And thanks to modern technology, I have a place to share my thoughts.
And now, I may have another venue. Or not. But in the meantime, I took the big leap. I liked it. I’ll do it again. I invite you to consider leaping too. You never know how amazing you are until you test your mettle.
I believe in us. Peace will not happen if we do not leap gladly beyond. There is plenty going on in this world reminding us of that. Your Peacemaking is needed – join me.
See you soon. Meanwhile, I’ll be off leaping into Peace.
Salaam, Shalom, Peace, and Blessed Be.