[I am certainly not proclaiming this is the correct literary analysis of Mary Oliver’s poem. But I am certainly relating it to how I think we could be better served by listening to our bodies, our desires, and our past experiences in order to find our place in the world] 

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
Love what it loves. 

How does this stanza sit with you? Is it revolutionary? Have you believed that it was necessary to punish your self and your body to fit in, to be healthy, to be successful, to atone for your “sins”? What if you gave your body permission to love what it loves? What if you allowed your body to indulge in that? Do you trust that your body would guide you in the right direction? If not, how has that worked for you? 

So much in our culture preys on the idea that our bodies and nature are wrong - that they are something to be overcome and conquered. I pray we overcome those teachings and learn to listen to ourselves and nature once again. 

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 
Are moving across the landscapes, 
Over the prairies and the deep trees, 
The mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile the while geese, high in the clean blue air, 
Are heading home again.

Let’s try to put your experience in perspective, maybe help you shift perspective, and see your essential self in relationship to the nature of the world. Can you see where your nature is calling you home? Where is it you want to go? What is it you long to do? 

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
The world offers itself to your imagination, 
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting - 
Over and over announcing your place 
In the family of things.

No matter who you are, you have a calling and a place in the world. It is your nature. Maybe through experiences and culture it has been obscured, but let’s listen and try to hear the call. I’m certain it is the way to find your health, your fitness, and your place in the world. 

Wild Geese
By Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert repenting. 
You only have to let the soft animal of your body 
Love what it loves. 

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. 
Meanwhile the world goes on. 
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 

Are moving across the landscapes, 
Over the prairies and the deep trees, 
The mountains and the rivers. 
Meanwhile the while geese, high in the clean blue air, 
Are heading home again. 

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 
The world offers itself to your imagination, 
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting - 
Over and over announcing your place 
In the family of things.