Start Close In

Season 2 Episode 21

It's a short episode this week - just under 4 minutes.

I present a poem that we often finish on in our workplace Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) training. It's one of my favourites called "Start Close In" by David Whyte.

For me, it really speaks to the processes of ACT and my experience of the challenges of taking the first step towards something that matters.

Why not have a listen?





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Show Notes

Here's the poem.

Start Close In by David Whyte

Start close in,
don’t take the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.

Start with
the ground
you know,
the pale ground
beneath your feet,
your own
way of starting
the conversation.

Start with your own
question,
give up on other
people’s questions,
don’t let them
smother something
simple.

To find
another’s voice,
follow
your own voice,
wait until
that voice
becomes a
private ear
listening
to another.

Start right now
take a small step
you can call your own
don’t follow
someone else’s
heroics, be humble
and focused,
start close in,
don’t mistake
that other
for your own.

Start close in,
don’t take
the second step
or the third,
start with the first
thing
close in,
the step
you don’t want to take.