Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!from “The Chambered Nautilus”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
This stanza’s been sitting with me this evening.
“Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul…”
It’s one of those lines that lands quietly but leaves an ache behind. I’ve been thinking about how often we cling to the smaller, earlier versions of ourselves—not because they still fit, but because they’re familiar. And safe. But Holmes reminds us that growth isn’t just about adding on…it’s about letting go. Letting the old shell fall away. Trusting the next space—even if I can’t quite see its shape yet. Even if it’s built beside the “unresting sea.”
We weren’t made to remain the same.
