Open The Door to Change

 

Photo by Catarina Carvalho on Unsplash 

The door

Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.

Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.

Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.

Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.

At least
there’ll be
a draught.

Miroslav Holub
Translated by Ian Milner

Miroslav Holub, Poems Before and After: Collected English Translations, trans. Ian and Jarmila Milner et al. (Bloodaxe Books, 2006)
Reproduced by permission of the publisher

When was the last time you shifted from your comfort zone and opened yourself up to the possibility of change? The poem above suggests that there are new opportunities awaiting us if we only have the courage to take some action and expand out horizons. If you take that step, who knows what you might find? It might be just the beginning ...

Writing prompts:

• Write about approaching the door in the picture. Can you describe it – the size, the colour, what it’s made of, how it feels to the touch? How do you feel as you approach it? Do you have any expectations about what you will find on the other side? What DO you find on the other side? Describe going through the door and what happens next. Where are you? What can you see. Are you alone? Do you see further opportunities? How do you feel?
• Write about the last time you took a big risk. How did it turn out?
• Is there anything stopping you from opening up to possibility of change? If so, write about it and what you could do to remove the barrier.