Devotion and the Undefended Heart
PRACTICE
In the devotion essay, I write about the “lesser life” we are talked into accepting and the fuller life already reverberating in our hearts and bones. Nayyirah Waheed’s poem “do not choose the lesser life” speaks directly to that crossroad, calling us back to the life that is truly ours—the one “seducing our lungs” and “dripping down our chin.” Working with this poem as a daily practice is one way to apprentice yourself to your undefended heart and let your devotion be lived as many small, courageous choices.
Do Not Choose the Lesser Life
do not choose the lesser life,
do you hear me.
do you hear me.
choose the life that is. yours.
the life that is seducing your lungs.
that is dripping down your chin.
— Nayyirah Waheed
do you hear me.
do you hear me.
choose the life that is. yours.
the life that is seducing your lungs.
that is dripping down your chin.
— Nayyirah Waheed
How to work with this poem
- Daily reading: Read the poem aloud once a day for a week. Let the pauses between the short lines be spacious; notice where your body reacts—chest, throat, belly.
- Listening question: After you read, place a hand on your heart and ask: “Where, today, am I tempted to choose the lesser life? Where is the life that is mine already ‘seducing my lungs’?”
- Underline one line: Each day, choose one line that lands most strongly and write it somewhere you will see it (journal, sticky note, notes app). Treat it as a quiet call to devotion for that day.
- End-of-week reflection: At the end of the week, journal on: “What did I notice about the ways I talk myself into the lesser life, and what began to drip down my chin when I said yes to the fuller one?”
