The water supply for my childhood home was a well, the water from it so delicious, yes, so delicious even with no taste, that when my family arrived home from a long ride or trip we’d say, “We can’t wait to get a drink of Sully water!"
While each day included varied experiences that of course meant an array of emotions, responses, successes, failures and more, going to the sink and filling a glass with delectable cold water from our well was a moment of being sustained, satisfied, and nourished. It felt a little bit like a refreshing breath, a pause of goodness.
When electricity went out on rare occasions, the pump outside the back door allowed us to go to the well to pump the handle up and down until the water came clear and draw from that sustaining supply.
In many countries the well is that place that offers up sustaining life, water being a necessity for health as well as its other important uses. It can also be a gathering space where, I like to imagine, sustaining connection and conversation take place. People of all ages may have a long trek to the nearest well with empty containers and a trip home carrying the weight of that precious substance.
Water is life. Our bodies are wells of water. We need it to live.
A number of years ago, Dip Into the Well was phrase that came into my consciousness and chose to stay. It has taken on a few variations and expanded over time.
As a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, a deeply held view is that each of us is naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. To me, it is that whatever language one chooses to adopt, each of us has a well of resources within us, some accessed beautifully and some of which may be unknown, unrecognized, untapped.
Over time, however, I began to play with what I call metaphorical wells. They are wells of being that existed long before words were given to them. For example, imagination existed before the word “imagination.” Wonder existed before the word “wonder.” Grief existed before the word “grief.” These wells, too, are inside of us and outside of us, always available and never drying up.
I have chosen to rename this newsletter the well of today because it is ultimately, for me, about presence to this day, to be attuned, to see, hear, muse, connect to what is in front of me now. Within this day, the main metaphorical well as I have come to know it, all other wells are available.
I might consciously visit one or I might stumble over one in any given moment. It is my joy and my intention to stop, even if for a moment or two, and anticipate what I might receive if I dip into and draw from the well.
I want to not miss what today has to offer because I am so caught up in the days, even years, before this day or so focused on tomorrow that I walk through these 24 hours not seeing, not hearing, tuning out instead of attuning to a sliver of joy that has the power to amaze.
This is a space for me to share the attunements, the noticing, the little things and sometimes the big things that bring me back to myself, to that wholeness that is sometimes forgotten, the pause and staying present right now to see what I would miss if I didn’t.
For those who join me here, thank you. I invite you to meet me at the well of today, to be in community and conversation in ways that sustain. It is a place to let go for a time of all that doesn’t and dip into what does, an antidote as I like to claim what the wells gift to me.
I'm looking forward to reading more about how you stay present and dip into various different wells! I love the idea of wonderful, untapped ones. That's something I'm exploring, too.
I love the idea of 'wells' - particularly the notion of the well of 'today'.