"… the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do —
determined to save
the only life you could save."
The Journey, by Mary Oliver (read the entire poem here)
For Amanda
Cedars grew in Lebanon;
I once saw them in another life.
The one where we all knew for certain,
Because we lived in black and white.
But I want to know what trees grow
Here and Now.
Which roots tangle
with our own transplanted ones?
We open the
Key to the Genera of Nebraska Trees
and we find:
Hardy Catalpa
Tree of Heaven
and Honey Locust.
There are still many that we cannot name.
And there are some that we don’t
even have words to describe.
Someone lights a fire;
It’s too hot, and we all step back.
You feel your way up to it again —
as close as you can stand.
Your hands are open now,
The smoke is changing with the wind.
After supper—
after daytime trades places
with a full-ish moon-night,
After the laughter,
and the wine,
and the dirty jokes—
You’ll run out here again,
wearing a blanket,
bare feet on the earth,
To see a moon so bright
that it stings your
wide-open eyes.
We will follow your
Curious Woman Wonder,
out into the yard.
And we’ll look up at the stars,
that we somehow still can see
through all that silver light.
Follow the Wisdom of Your Inner Child
Check out my most recent article at Omaha.net!
Here in the Strata
Words on a Walk
Sizing up,
to speculate:
scattered lichen,
crumbled shale,
tire scraps,
oily stones.
"I wandered among them, through thistle and thorn, with no task more exceptional than to rescue a fleeting thought as a tuft of wool, from the comb of the wind."
Patti Smith, Woolgathering
Inspired by Morehead, Kentucky
"Welcome Home, You" Photo Essay
I’m taking a concept development class right now and loving it! For last week’s assignment I did a little photo essay called Welcome Home, You.
I heart instagram+writing poems.
Choosing to Name Your Year
Lois Weber, owner of The Remembering Place is my guest blogger today. Lois, known to her friends as Loyie (Lowe-ee), does Coaching for Calm. Isn’t that wonderful? I have personally benefitted from Loyie’s Tapas Acupressure Technique and Reiki sessions. And I have been blessed by her peaceful, genuine and accepting presence. In this article, Loyie writes about the Naming the Year retreat for women that she and I are offering together at Peerless.
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Choosing to Name Your 2012 Year
By Lois Weber of The Remembering Place
At the beginning of the New Year, decades ago now, my sister sent the family all the same postcard with a phrase on it to announce the name of her new year. We were intrigued. We knew of New Year’s resolutions but nothing about naming the year. It was a tradition that was introduced to her for creating focus and intention. Over the years we eagerly awaited the unusual postcard with perhaps a more unusual year name on it. There was The Year of Lightening Up, The Year of Small Changes (only she used a French phrase) and The Year of Burrowing and Bolting. My husband and I were impressed with this meaningful ritual. We saw how the names had layers of application. We had had our share of stating New Year’s resolutions to one another only to have forgotten or broken them within a few short weeks. Naming had power and even a gentle nudge of creativity to go with it. At some point we chose to adopt her naming tradition!
Mitchell Dose invited several people to help him create the “Objects for Ants” piece for his Zones exhibit at Peerless. This little rock wall is my contribution. It’s only about 2 inches high. Boot camp for ants?
I’ve been so impressed with Mitchell’s process and simply his way. He works hard, but not frantically. He invites others to contribute and collaborate while still maintaining his vision. He receives help but doesn’t demand it. And his “leave no trace” philosophy earned him The Best Houseguest Ever award. Somehow he made it all look easy. Maybe that is the sign of an old soul.
Cora Rasp and I collaborated on these assemblages for the recent Breathing Room exhibition at Peerless Gallery. More photos of the group exhibiton here.
Show runs October 7-27, 2011.
Artists: Caleb Coppock, Daphne Eck, Bethany Kalk, Cale Oglesby and Cora Rasp
Welcoming the Feminine Dimensions of Leadership
This resource has been life changing for me. I thought you might enjoy it, too.
Reason #857 I am self employed: Having the Field Club trail to myself at 2pm on a gorgeous fall day.
Creating Order Out of Everyday Chaos
Mary Day’s review of “Breathing Room” in The Reader.
My First Book Project
I wrote a book! Actually, I ghostwrote a book with the author, Ty Schenzel, who is Hope Center’s founding director.
Partnering with Ty to write his book fulfilled my long-held dream to write a book. It has been my favorite job so far and I became great friends with Ty in the process.
But perhaps the best part of it all was that Ty became a writer and I became a writing coach during the three months we worked together. It was so invigorating to guide Ty into uncovering the story that was already within him—and then to bring structure to the story that emerged.
A Thousand Screaming Mules is available in print and on Kindle via Amazon. Check it out!
