Poem - Instructions For Travelling West - Joy Sullivan

Join me in this simple and reflective moment as I share Joy Sullivan’s evocative prose poem Instructions for Traveling West. Take a few minutes to pause, sit in stillness, and allow the words to move beyond your mind and into the depths of your being. Reconnect with your wildness and the truth within.

Transcript

Hey there,

It's John here.

Thank you for being here with me.

I was travelling recently and came across this extraordinarily beautiful prose poem by the poet Joy Sullivan and I thought it would be really lovely to share it with you.

This is called Instructions for Travelling West.

First,

You must realise you're homesick for all the lives you're not living.

Then,

You must commit to the road and the rising loneliness,

To the sincere thrill of coming apart.

Divorce yourself from routine and control.

Instead,

Find a desert and fall in.

Take the trail that promises a view.

Get lost.

Break your toes.

Bruise your knees.

Keep going.

Watch a purple meadow quiver.

Get still.

Pet trail dogs.

Buy the hat.

Run out of gas.

Befriend strangers.

And knight yourself every morning for your newborn courage.

Give grief her own lullaby.

Drink whiskey beside a hundred-year-old cactus.

Tell her everything.

Pray to something unnameable.

Fall for someone impractical.

Reacquaint yourself with desire and all her slender hands.

Bear beauty for as long as you are able.

And if you spot a sunning warbler glowing like a prism,

Remind yourself joy is not a trick.

Reviews

A wondrous poem, read by an incomparable reader. Thank you. Namaste.

This meditation/poem took me into and onto the travels that my mind traverses every day of my life! Thank you for sharing these words of wonder-ful!✨💛

It's heart-opening, it's a pure invitation for life, to live the moment... Thank you for sharing, I needed to hear this ❤️🙏🏼✨

Never heard this one before. Beautiful - Joy is not a trick. Thank you John🙏☀️

Homesick for all the lives you’re not living…that line really landed with me. Beautiful poem and beautifully read thank you 🙏🏻

That was so beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing! ❤️🙏

Lovely and timely. Thank you 🙏

Magnificent. You must realize you’re homesick for all the lives you’re not living. Profound. Thank you for sharing this.

What a delightful share!

Perfect

I needed this. Thank you.

This is fantastic. I was smiling thru this... thank you! I've learned that the energy i feel living moments like these IS LIFE!!!

In German I maybe would write: “Ach, John, Du wieder…”. Now I did it anyway 💞Love.

Oh John, this is lovely and the way you read it bring tears. Very moving - the words and the voice together.

Beauteous poem spoken with deep beauty as always John. Many thanks and blessings 💞

🙏🏻

Thank you for sharing this glorious ode to the inner adventurer. How beautiful! What a potent reminder of the importance of breaking away from safety and routine, even for a short while, in order to remember how to live. 🙏

🩷🙏🏼🕊️

Wow, John, that is one of the most beautiful and wonderful things I’ve heard for quite some time and beautifully spoken as well as usual. Blessings.

Beautiful 🙏💚