Mark Nepo’s The Book of Awakening is a daily devotional that offers digestible tidbits and questions to think or meditate on. Depending on the day, this could come as a quote, an anecdote, or a scrap of advice. 

I’ll admit that when I read this book, I “cheat.” Some days I don’t read at all, while other days, I continue reading through multiple entries until one speaks to me. But this is a book I always return to because it doesn’t take long for a word, phrase, or flash of insight to stand out as relevant to my journey.

“We must take turns:

diving into all there is

and counting the time.”

~Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

With these words, Mark Nepo invokes the metaphor of two pearl divers working together to express the idea that while one partner is striving in the deep, the other supports these efforts by tending to practicalities on the surface. As one member of the partnership makes art or seeks personal development and fulfillment, the other responds to the practical details of daily life.

This year has sent me diving deep— searching myself and my future, trying to align my path and actions with my purpose. I’ll admit that I haven’t been the best planner or the best housekeeper through it all. Like a diver seeking a pearl, I know there is no guarantee of finding a treasure right away. While I lock myself away for thirty minutes each day to write, my husband prepares dinner. 

For the one who is striving towards a new goal or seeking a change, it is easy to lose track of time, of chores, of the nonstop daily activities that must be done. Reading this quote, I am awestruck with gratitude to have a partner who has counted the time for me. 

What a beautiful picture of relationship— one in which both partners have the opportunity to “dive deeper” than they could alone, knowing they can trust the other person to count the time until it is their own turn to strive.