When In Doubt, Start Close In

For a season of new beginnings, a poem to guide us.

Having just recently graduated with my bachelor’s degree, I’m in a somewhat odd, but fun and exciting, in-between time of life. I’ve found spring and summer are often that way for most young people, whether we’re starting a new internship or a new full-time job or simply leaving behind another academic year that became our familiar routine. It can be easy to feel pressure to figure out not just what we’re doing next, but the step after the next step and the step after that one. This week, I’m sharing the following poem to encourage each of us to remember no matter how big or far out our ambitions are, what matters most is to start with the ground right in front of us. These words from David Whyte have resonated with me in many seasons of new beginnings, and I hope they do the same for you.

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Start Close In

by David Whyte

Start close in,
don't take the second step
or the third
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don't want to take. 

Start with
the ground
you know, 
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way to begin
the conversation.

Start with your own
question,
give up on other 
people's questions,
don't let them
smother something
simple.

To hear
another's voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes an 
intimate 
private ear 
that can
really listen
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don't follow
someone else's 
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don't mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in, 
don't take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don't want to take.

Journal Prompt of the Week

Which line of this poem resonated most deeply with you? Why is that?

Share with the Community

What’s one thing you can do today to start close in, just with the first step?