Fragment 7 — The Centre Must Hold

Today, like every day, is a beginning. Take a breath now as though nothing has gone before this moment.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. — W.B. Yeats

Written in the wake of the First World War, Yeats saw a world unravelling — the old order collapsing, a new one breaking through with violence. The falcon flying beyond the falconer became his image of a centre that could no longer hold.

When the public centre is in pieces, the question becomes: do you have your own?
A still point to return to, when the world pulls wide.

🌿
The world may widen, spin, or fray.
Your centre can hold.
Begin again from there.