Turning Towards Life - a Thirdspace podcast

389: As Close as My Own Breath

Mar 23, 2025

The conversation explores our struggle between longing for presence and the distractions of modern life. It highlights the importance of community and connection while navigating the complexities of intimacy. Through poetry, especially Marie Howe's 'Prayer,' themes of distraction and connection emerge. Personal anecdotes reveal how engaging with life's moments can be both healing and challenging, advocating for kindness and acceptance amid the chaos of joy and sorrow. The importance of breath as a reminder of our presence is emphasized throughout.

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INSIGHT

Longing and Resistance

We long for deep connection, yet we constantly run from it.
This inner conflict between presence and distraction is a fundamental aspect of being human.

ANECDOTE

The Ice Cream Meditation

Lizzie Winn describes getting distracted even with good intentions, like ending up buying ice cream instead of meditating.
She finds humor and kindness in recognizing this common human experience.

INSIGHT

Embracing Wholeness

The "being" or "breath" we seek encompasses all parts of us, both positive and negative.
This longing for presence is a desire for acceptance and wholeness.

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We long to be present in our lives, and we run from it too. In a culture which emphasises the running - into distraction and avoidance - how might we turn towards the intimacy of presence with our own lives and what we care about the most? Why does this even matter (and it does!)? And how do we do that without dishonouring those parts of us that want to protect us from the inevitable tragedies and losses that come along with beauty and sacredness?

This week’s conversation is hosted, as always, by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

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Turning Towards Life, a week-by-week conversation inviting us deeply into our lives, is a live 30 minute conversation hosted by Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn of Thirdspace. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. You can find videos of every episode, and more about the project on the Turning Towards Life website, and you can also watch and listen on Instagram, YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google, Amazon Music and Spotify.

Episode Overview
00:00 Introduction to Turning Towards Life Live
03:01 The Importance of Community and Connection
06:01 Exploring the Poem 'Prayer' by Marie Howe
08:53 The Struggle Between Presence and Distraction
11:44 The Human Condition: Longing and Running
14:58 Finding Humor in Our Inner Conflicts
17:51 The Sacredness of Everyday Life
21:05 Navigating the Complexity of Life
24:04 The Balance of Beauty and Tragedy in Existence
27:13 The Role of Presence in Our Lives
30:08 Conclusion and Reflections on the Conversation

Here's our source for this week:

Prayer

Every day I want to speak with you. And every day something more important
calls for my attention – the drugstore, the beauty products, the luggage

I need to buy for the trip.
Even now I can hardly sit here

among the falling piles of paper and clothing, the garbage trucks outside
already screeching and banging.

The mystics say you are as close as my own breath.
Why do I flee from you?

My days and nights pour through me like complaints
and become a story I forgot to tell.

Help me. Even as I write these words I am planning
to rise from the chair as soon as I finish this sentence.

Marie Howe

from The Kingdom of Ordinary Time (Norton, 2008)

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash