This past month I’ve begun preparing for the community garden, which will officially start in March. As you all know, I participated in a community garden last year, and it was a wonderful experience.
I’ve started to think about the veggies and flowers I want to grow, and have also started to collect cardboard, which will be used to cover the plot until it is seeded. The harvest last season was abundant, and I look forward to more fresh vegetables from the garden this year.
The boys are doing well, Jason is with his mom full-time, and will turn 18 this year; and, Justin is preparing for his internship, and last year at University. Amazing. These two boys, nay, men now, are the light of my life, and seeing them succeed in their individual endeavors fills my heart.
At work, we are preparing for the spring term schedule. We will have about 150 classes on offer, most of them will continue to be remote. We are also filling our Leadership Academies, and will begin to fill our Small Business Management classes in March.Â
Both of these training programs are excellent opportunities for local leaders and small business owners to be in critical conversations creating transformation within their lives and their businesses. So much fun.
As you know, I had a poem accepted at Spillwords Press this month. What you may not know, is that the poem, with all their scars, was trending as one of the top 3 poems the week it was published. This happened because of your unwavering support.Â
Many of you took the time to visit Spillwords and read and like the post. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You all mean the world to me, and your support is a blessing.
Another heartfelt thank you to all of you for visiting both the Masticadores sites and reading, liking, and commenting on my poems. It means a great deal to me.
I also have a few new things planned for the blog this year.Â
This month I published the flowers brome, which is a piece of prose poetry. I will write and publish more prose poetry in the future, and may even have a piece of prose to add as well.
I am also planning on doing some spoken word poetry this year, and have already purchased a microphone for this new endeavor.
Additionally, the month in review will be a new series this year, and will come out at the end of each month.
I will also submit poetry to new magazines and journals this year. I’ve actually already submitted to two, one of which is the Bangalore Review. I’m excited about these new publishing opportunities.
A WDYS Poem
Image credit; Tathanhtaun @ Pexabay
I’ve been doing the WDYS prompt for over a year-and-a-half now. It’s the only prompt I do on a regular basis, and is always fun. The WDYS prompt is created by Sadje, at Keep it Alive.Â
If you’ve never done the prompt, I invite you to visit Keep it Alive and take a look sometime. You might find it fun, as I do.Â
Alright, here is my response to the WDYS #118 prompt.
our heart’s love… glasses set for two, the beauty in you, I see too
a rose tinted fragrance wafts upon the shore
it is discord, and accord both, a common motion of
this hearts healing contortions, as pain racks the heart and mind
two becoming one combined
in a tale of romance and tragedy
we think and feel close…
loving, while wandering a
tightrope
designed for those destined to love the most, sending their hearts out, into the fields they go
As I get insights on any developmental topic, I always find avenues to share them with family, the team, and with all of you. They are shared via my poems, the A Blogger’s Diary series, and will also be shared here in this new series.
These developmental insights come as a product of my own internal development, and spending a large portion of the past 30 years in leadership and education.
This month, I’ve been reflecting upon overwhelm. Partly because I’ve been present to my own overwhelm, which comes and goes, and because I’ve been present to the team’s overwhelm, which also comes and goes.
Overwhelm as a concept and practice is simply a state of being overstimulated by our environments. These moments of overwhelm, sometimes last longer than we’d like. They are moments where our bodies are physiologically, psychologically, and sociologically, under more stress and this stress manifests in various ways for people.
For me, the most important thing to remember about overwhelm is that it comes and goes. It is a state of being, like most, which is transitory, yet, often, as human beings, we desire to hold onto these states, and do so unconsciously.Â
Yet, as we become more aware of our own overwhelm, we can make new choices. We can stop what we are doing, take a break, go for a walk, sit somewhere quiet and just breathe in and out.Â
It is very important to stop when overwhelmed. Stop what we are doing, and do something else. Sounds simple, and is quite simple. When we create the space to breathe, to do something different than we’ve been doing, we create a different response to our environment, and will get back a different reaction.
The next time you are overwhelmed, I invite you to stop what you are doing, and do something different, and see what you get back. You might be surprised.
Alright, that’s all for the January month in review.
I appreciate each and every one of you, send you my love, and wish you a blessed coming week.
This past week has been full of more change, as the delta variant continues to spread in the State, new cases are being reported regularly, and those vaccinated and unvaccinated are becoming infected. Scary, yet the current reality.
What does this mean for the team’s fall term in-person classes? I have no idea. We have a plan, and will execute on this plan, as possible, and if not? We will pivot, as we’ve done so many times in the past 16 months. Like we all have.
Alright, though a precarious time here locally, and across the globe, it does remind me of a reflection of mine from last week. Taking life as it comes, which I’ll write more about in a moment.
First, let’s take a look at some writing reflections from this past week.
I also found out this week that MasticadoresIndia will launch September 1, and will be edited by Terveen Gill. I am super excited for MasticadoresIndia, and for Terveen. Amazing.
Alright, poem reflections, here we go.
The poem, The Brilliance of Life, like many of the poems that come forth today, was a reflection and reminiscence on working through layers and layers of trauma; and just as importantly, the newness, or brilliance, that life takes on as these layers are uncovered, and removed.
Though the process of removing these layers is difficult, there’s always a knowing that I’m (we are) never alone. We are all connected through our shared humanity, and the love and affinity we share for each other and our home, this beautiful planet.Â
The poem, open hearts have healed, speaks to the truth just elaborated on; when we work through our grief, sadness, insert any other emotions here, our heart does break; and sometimes, it breaks again and again, yet there is always a healing and wholeness on the other side. It is so clear to me today, yet, as you all know, was not clear to me for a very long time.
Inside of the concept of brokenness, healing and wholeness are already there. Quite simple, yet profound as we experience this reality.
Portland
Music Millennium, Portland, Oregon
Last weekend, I took a quick trip, two nights, to Portland, for a very simple and pragmatic reason; to shop. Where I live in the Willamette Valley, let’s say, shopping for clothes can be difficult.Â
The shopping went quite well, and I also got to spend some time with Justin. We went to a lovely vegan breakfast place, called Nectar Cafe. Was delicious.
We also visited a super cool record store, Music Millennium. Awesomeness. The store is huge, and, I think, is the second largest in Portland. There are 5 different rooms, and an upstairs. I found three records, one of which is by John Coltrane. Soul stirringly beautiful.
As I mentioned earlier, the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on how life shows up; and how inside the experience of life showing up, we have, as leaders, as human beings on this planet, the opportunity to respond to a situation, or react.
Sometimes reaction is needed and necessary; yet, often, we can pause, breathe into life as it shows up, whatever the situation might be, reflect, and then respond.Â
Creating a pause like this in our lives holds enormous power and potential. When we can be with life as it shows up, and hold the knowing that we can pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond; we create more possibility for ourselves and everyone around us.
As life continues to show up for you, and me, today, tomorrow, this week, this month, over the course of the next couple of months, remember, life just shows up; it just is, and we can create the space to pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond.
It is quite beautiful and inspirational, just like each of you.
