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
Twitter #vss365 prompt words used: shift, history, dose. Follow me on Twitter here.
Hidden Dreams, Published at MasticadoresIndia
I am pleased to announce that my poem, Hidden Dreams, is now available atMasticadoresIndia. Thank you to Terveen Gill, and the team at MasticadoresIndia for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
Hidden Dreams
There are dreams hidden within buildings towering upon hills
I am pleased to announce that my poem, Gumdrops and Glitter, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. Thank you to Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support and for publishing this piece.
Gumdrops and Glitter
the sea rises over my heart while I lean into love
like a fairytale, made up of gumdrops and glitter, which never stops
enticing the senses
even with a skewed perspective…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Submissions are open for the Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow: 30 Poems in 30 Days Collaboration, and will remain open until September 23. The submission details are located here.
I hear that voice echoing from the past, every second, fast, oh, how long will this last?
When a moment feels like an eternity, we hold tight, and try to let go of the fright we feel, yet at times, we hold too close to heart, and it can feel as if we’re falling apart.
Seams coming undone, once tethered together, now bursting with imagination and dread in this very cold weather.
Inside the drama’s milieux, perspective is hard to find, as we run after feelings that are a part of another place and time.
Remember, then, as thought precedes feeling, and you know that you are truly dreaming, watch, listen, and observe the scene, instead of entering into it with every piece of your being.
Perspective can be regained as we learn more about ourselves inside the dance, and begin to master the waves of our second chance.
One, two, three, just like that, is how they are feeling. Come and gone in an instant, when we slow down and let go of our resistance.
Be with all that comes your way, many a wise one will say. Nay, love all that comes your way, because it is part and parcel of the entire play. Choose wisely then, my friend, for on your life it doth depend.
It’s hard to believe, I know, I know, cliche, yet, it is hard to believe that the holidays are upon us. Phew. A busy week, as always, and a stressful one for people that live in this country. Yep. True.
Writing
Right, so, first, in the event you’ve not yet seen what I’ve been up to, here it is.
Well, well, well, look at that. More poems than any other type of writing this week. Hm. Well, I did write last week that I was going to continue writing poems. How fun.
And, this week?
Well, as always, there is a plan, yet I’m never really sure what will happen. More fun that way. Really. Let’s see. Yes, I am thinking about a few different pieces. Here they are.
Poems on
Courage
Movement
Vulnerability
Majesty
A new social construction series entry on interaction ritual – it’s a sociological thing, of course, and will be fun.
Some new thinking I’ve done on interactions. More specifically on coaching type conversation.
And, I’m still pondering that piece on moving towards a more resilient and positivistic approach to sociology. Not sure.
It’s super fun to look back on what I’ve written during the week, reflect upon it, and then consider the following week’s writing. I am very curious to see how much poetry comes this next week. Hm.
Right. Well, that’s all about writing. Now? Yep, here we go.
Though, I’m not going to go on and on here, I do want to acknowledge how much stress, worry, and anxiety people in this country have been feeling about the election over the past week
And, no matter where you align yourself along the political spectrum, the aforementioned statement is true.
I am grateful that the election is complete, and that Biden and Harris will be in office for the next 4 years.
Whereas, I am hopeful they will do some good for a very fractured country, I do believe they are a bridge to a better day. Meaning?
That both political parties have work to do; and, they need to begin today.
That’s about all I have to write about that for now. Music? Yep. Good. Here we go.
Alright, so, like many of you, I’m sure, I listen to music when I write. Well, actually, I listen to music when I do lots of things, writing is simply one of them. And?
Well, a good friend of mine turned me on to a new pianist this past week. And?
WOW!
I mean, phew, moving, inspiring, exceptional. Ready? Here you go.
Now, whether you enjoy piano, or not, I invite you to please take a listen. Yiruma plays some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard. Really. Phew. Lovely.
Alright, that’s about all for this week.
Before I go, I want to add one more thing. Ready? Good. Here we go.
A New Day
Though divided, They simply had forgotten, That division is the seed of begotten Times past, and
That there was need Of a new day, where the kids could play Free from fear of reprisal,
Along a path toward survival With a much needed revival
Let us then not be stifled, but rather Set a course Quite more delightful
And work side by side One and all Toward a future That holds the promise Of what is rightful and insightful
I’ve been reflecting a lot about developing and managing my own resilience this week; and, just how important both are right now. So important. What is resilience you ask? Good question. Here is the definition.
Resilience
(also resiliency) Pronunciation /rəˈzilyəns/ /rəˈzɪljəns/ Translate resilience into Spanish
NOUN 1. The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.‘the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions’
2. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.‘nylon is excellent in wearability and resilience’
Essentially resilience is our ability to face adversity, walk through it, learn, and repeat. Again, and again.
I’ve also been thinking about a video I’m going to do soon on resilience for my Developing Servant Leaders site. The idea looks something like this.
First
What we are facing right now is a huge gap between that which we once knew to be our reality, and the current COVID-19 reality. A large gap. Inside of this gap, we are all being asked to face ourselves and each other in new ways, with new tools, in entirely new contexts. Hard.
August 1, 2020
For those that are less resilient, even harder. Resiliency, like all developmental traits, lives upon a continuum. It is not that someone has resilience or does not. Everyone has some, some have more. Alright, next.
Second
When you connect the four points of the above whiteboard, you can see the space that we are being asked to navigate and step into. A distinction. Stepping into reality is different from hiding, and running from reality.
It means taking the action you know is there to take, even, maybe especially, when it is hard.
August 1, 2020
Now, you can see the above box, yes? Alright, then within that, let’s call it the COVID-19 developmental box, there are lots of other little boxes, which represent each of us and our comfort zones.
Yep. Meaning that as we interact with, and bump into each other, we are continuously floating in the COVID-19 developmental box. Then how, you may ask, do we develop our resiliency?
Third
We step outside of our box and into the reality that is in front of us. What is stepping outside of your box? It is doing. Again, and again.
Learning, practicing, falling down, failing – AND, getting back up again. Every time.
Know that we don’t have to continuously live outside of our box, or comfort zone. We can, what a friend of mine calls it, blip out, and blip back. Here you go.
August 1, 2020
And, guess what? Everytime we go outside of our box, represented above by arrows, and do something that we consider uncomfortable, we grow. Yep, our box or container gets bigger. Here is one more illustration.
August 1, 2020
As you can see from the above illustration, some people will grow, boxes labeled with a G are now larger, some will not. It’s not a demerit, or a problem if there is no growth. It is, however, a missed opportunity to learn more about yourself and being human. Alright, last section.
Fourth
Also know, especially when you are feeling overwhelmed, that all there is to know and to be experienced in this world, is much larger than this present moment. The COVID-19 moment. Last illustration.
August 1, 2020
Let us say that the entire whiteboard is what is knowable. Got it. Okay. Then consider that the super small box you see is what we’ve been calling the COVID-19 developmental box or gap. Yep. Pretty small in the proper scale.
Remember this distinction when you are confronted with uncomfortableness; and, remember it when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Though today COVID-19 feels like everything there ever was to know, on a universal and historical scale, there is far more to know and experience. Seriously remember that.
There are countless opportunities to develop your resilience today. More opportunities than most people would care to have. Really. And, believe me when I tell you that there are days when I feel the same way. Really. It’s hard.
Yet, like all of life, it is a paradox. Because the opportunity to develop and to learn how to manage our resilience is also a wondrous process. Yep. Hard and wonderful. A paradox.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 