A Love Supreme: Acknowledgement

This letter was inspired by Michael Meade's podcast "A World Upside Down," recent events, Julian of Norwich, and this poem by Sun Bu-er I have been reading every day for over a month and seeking how to apply to my life:

Cut brambles long enough,

Sprout after sprout,

And the lotus will bloom

Of its own accord:

Already waiting in the clearing,

The single image of light.

The day you see this,

That day you will become it.

(And to my friend Annmarie -- a bit of jazz spirit showed up as well.  I guess we are beginning to find the answer to that line in my recent poem.)

Dear Great Creator,

The world as we know it has changed.  All that was hidden is coming forth.  All that was ignored is front and center. None of us can afford to look the other way or forget anymore.

A new world is upon us. It is now that love has to reign supreme, and that our energies be used for the right purposes and practices.  Nothing else will do.

We need to be on the side of renewal, restoration, and ongoing creation.

We must see clearly.

We have been cutting brambles long enough -- now the lotus may bloom, as we become the images of light needed in this world.

We are becoming the people we've waited for.  We are writing the book we wish to read.  We are adding our uniquely colored thread to the great tapestry.

All will be well.
All will be well.
In all manner of things will be well.

Helen  2/20/18

The handwritten letter placed in my God Jar.

Musical connection:  John Coltane, "A Love Supreme Part 1: Acknowledgement"

I will wait and listen to find the letters and prayers that go with the next part: Resolution.

The New Moon of Peace

I pride myself on being a peaceful person. I actively work to keep myself that way: meditation, yoga, reading, writing, walking, time in nature, regular massages, a gratitude journal, playing music, time with friends and family, and more. I have learned over time that peace can be shattered fairly quickly, and my goal is always to be aware of this and do what I can to remain calm.

But this week, the entire think broke apart like a treehouse in a hurricane.  I not only lost my peace, I felt surrounded by violence and anxiety and helplessness.

For once, I didn't just brush it away.  I've made myself sit with it.  I had to tolerate things out of my control, which caused immense discomfort and took me into a chaotic place.  All these feelings were confusing and upsetting.

Today I read a David Whyte poem called "Faith."  It was unusual for a Whyte poem, in that he spoke of not having faith.  He ends the poem this way:

Let this then, my small poem
     like a new moon, slender and barely open,
           be the first prayer that opens me to faith.

I have entered into a four day weekend I have looked forward to for weeks.  I have some very peaceful plans: gentle yoga class and a morning at the beach and an afternoon visit to an art exhibit  I saw this as a creative and relaxing time.

But today I knew that my anxiety and lack of peace needed to be addressed first.  When I went to see my acupuncturist, I asked her to help me with this intense stress.  After about a half hour in the chair, I felt the grace of peace come over me.  It isn't a cure-all, but it was a start.

Then I decided to stop at Lakes Park, just to spend some time in nature.  The park was busy by this time with people setting up birthday parties, riding bikes, playing in the water park.  I found a small piece of limestone to sit on by the lake, and just took it in.

This dragonfly arrived when I did, and stayed for the duration:

Then I noticed a Great Blue Heron in the tall grasses, stretching his neck higher and higher to clean the bugs out of his feathered neck:

Right after this picture, I noticed two turtles sunning themselves nearby:

There were also two turtles swimming around in the water, poking their heads up.

A Loggerhead Shrike flew in its erratic up and down pattern above me.  Too fast for a photo.

As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed Little Blue Heron had arrived.  Can you see him?

I wasn't there long -- maybe ten minutes tops.  But I felt like maybe I was on my way back to peace.

I know life comes in spirals, and I suppose in a way this felt like I dropped down.  In reality, I have just met the next difficult part of the spiral.

On the way back, I heard George Harrison singing "Blow Away" on the radio, and though, hmmm, maybe there is a message.

All I got to do is to, to love you
All I got to be is, be happy

I had to remember that when my peace was shattered by an idiot attempting to make a left turn where there are a thousand signs saying NO LEFT TURN. It's a dangerous intersection.  Asshole.

But....BREATHE....

Let it blow away, blow away, blow away....

Turning into my neighborhood, I remembered the David Whyte poem from a few hours earlier.  I know my quest to get back to some semblance of peace will probably take a while.  I have the time and will make the effort. And I realized he did have a message for me.  I decided to write this blog as a first prayer to what I know I need most:

Let this then, my small blog
     like a new moon, slender and barely open,
           be the first prayer that opens me to PEACE.

Six Tiny Words

This semester has brought a great thing to my life. Here it is in six words:

Teaching creative writing

Dream come true.

This week in the class, made up of 30 kids who LOVE to write, we are focusing on tiny texts. On Monday, I had them experiment with haiku, tanka, haibun, and pi-ku.  Today, it was the six word memoir.

I had them write about 5 or 6 of these, then choose the best to put on an index card. We then used the card for a "Conga" activity, where we lined up across from a partner, read our memoirs to each other, then Conga-lined down to meet new partners.  The memoirs are fine. Their enthusiasm for the activity...well, maybe a bit lukewarm.

Middle school students

don't like Conga.

Here are some selections from my students.  The first one refers to the current carnation sale going on for Valentines day, where they can buy a carnation to send to a friend. The rest I think are pretty self-explanatory, some working on multiple levels, some playful, some heartbreaking.

Carnations?

Who are they from...

Me.

I asked.  You answered. With silence.

Small

Chiseled

Crushed

Smashed

Found

Rebuilt

When life is

down, get

up.

My dog

A car

A crash

You said we were friends.

Backstabber.

Loading, Loading, Loading, Loading,

Loading...FINALLY

Shadows

just want

to be Free

 If they

had not

said it.

You know that

moment when...

#Unrelatable

You said you were fine.

Lies.

The rain

The gloom

The despair

I heard a 

cry.

I'm alone.