Poetry and Prose by #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Co-Author of #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and Jan/Feb 2022 Spillwords Press Author of the Month
As I reflect back upon this week, it occurs to me that, yes, it too was a busy week, as, at work, we prepared to publish and send out our fourth completely remote digital schedule of classes. Wow.
In some ways, it’s hard to believe that we’ve now been creating and delivering completely remote classes and training for 10 months. Phew.
And, in other ways, not so hard to believe. Because, some days it feels like we’ve been living inside of this pandemic a lot longer. Keep breathing everyone. Really.
Writing? Sure. Here we go.
Writing
More writing this week, which was a blast. Here’s what that looked like in case you haven’t seen them all yet.
Another wow. Lots of writing this week. Fun! And, next week?
Hm. I’m a little more unsure about my writing next week than usual. I know, I know, I actually write that quite often, or something like that, maybe in a different way. Why?
Because I am truly unsure how it will go. Much of that has to do with how much time I’ll have to write. It’s different every week. And?
Well, here’s the plan anyway.
More poetry? Oh, yes, of course! I am having such a great time writing poetry. I am working on several pieces right now! Much fun.
I will also be working on the Leadership Series this week, on installment, well, 2.5, which is the other half of the second installment on developing the self. More fun!
I’m sure I’ll also have a reflection series post this week, though last week that did not occur. We will see. And, you know, for me, that’s part of the fun.
Seeing what comes. What insights happen throughout the week, and how they, sometimes, turn into poetry or another post. The creative process is quite beautiful. Wouldn’t you agree?
In last week’s entry, I wrote a little about the 2-week freeze the Governor put Oregon under, which expires, I think, this coming Wednesday.
Yet, not really. Why?
Well, it turns out the county I live in, and the county I work in have been classified as extreme risk. Meaning?
Continued restrictions. Difficult. And, yet totally understandable.
Last week, my oldest son told me that University sent everyone home over the Thanksgiving break, and told them not to return until winter term, which starts in early January.
Like I’ve written, it is hard right now, for everyone, everywhere. Hang in there.
The Monday message I scheduled to go out to the team this week was created specifically because of how hard it is living inside of the pandemic right now. Has been hard, and is still hard. That is our current reality.
And, inside of that reality, it is important for each of us, all of you, yes, and me, to remember to take care of our head and our heart. Really important.
I’ve written a lot about how I take care of my head and heart, so will simply write here that however you do that matters less, than doing it. Taking care of yourself. Being with yourself. Caring for yourself. Important.
When we care for ourselves, we can care for everyone else that much more. It works that way.
Please remember to take care during this terribly stressful time.
And, lastly, I wanted to share a couple of quotes that are also part of the Monday message scheduled for tomorrow. Why?
Well, because I think they are inspirational, just like each of you. Here we go.
“One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right if the head is totally wrong. Only through the bringing together of head and heart-intelligence and goodness-shall man rise to a fulfillment of his true nature.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
“People with high levels of personal mastery…cannot afford to choose between reason and intuition, or head and heart, any more than they would choose to walk on one leg or see with one eye.” -Peter Senge
“Knowledge is a great gift, and the thirst to seek it even greater. Use what you know…Head and heart…You are not made to give greater weight to one than the other.” -Nora Roberts
A week or two ago, I wrote a poem about wonder, and since then, I’ve been reflecting upon creating wonder. Yep. Wonder is all around us all the time, yet we don’t always see it. Hm. Why would that be, I wonder? Pun intended.
Alright, so let’s take a quick look at wonder, shall we? Good. Let’s go.
Though we can all probably agree on what wonder is, let’s define it real quick. Here we go.
There we go. That’s pretty straightforward. Yes? Yep.
Now, if we take all that we know, and then think about all that is knowable, I mean, really knowable, which is quite vast, we should often get a sense of surprise and admiration. Yep. Why?
Because there is so much around us to learn about, from people, yes, of course, and from just wondering about that which we see. Really.
The sky at night with the prolific array of stars and galaxies.
The issue? Well, quite simply, we have become habituated to doing, instead of being. A paradox? Yep, of course. Why?
Because the natural questions here is, what is the difference between doing and being? Yep. And?
Well, they look exactly the same. Yet, they are different. Hence the paradox.
When we are doing, and doing only, we are focused on the action at hand, and believe that we alone are responsible for that action and the related result.
When we are being, we are still doing, yet we are doing so, no pun intended that time, from a different state.
A state that impels us to an understanding that we are actors in a play, or drama, called life. And, that there is something going on here that is much larger than ourselves, which includes and connects each and everyone us us.
Well, that does take practice. As I’ve written about in many other posts, meditation has been transformational for me in many areas, presence being one of them.
However, you don’t necessarily need to take up a meditation practice to practice being present.
You can simply take a walk by yourself, and notice. Notice all that is around you. Watch as the leaves fall from the tree, as the clouds move across the sky, as people move from here to there, and notice the beauty and wonder in all of it.
It is quite majestical, and wonderous. Just like you are.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 