What if we have courage all wrong? Yes, the word “courage” means to know and follow our heart. But what if that path leads through fearsome territories we would just as soon not enter? Here’s a short piece that tells the ragged, rough, and often paradoxical truth about courage. At The Heart Of Courage Courage…
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Wonder if the future is a (new) dream we’re all about to have? In this brief video, a powerful quote I find stunningly clarifying, plus a short poem about what’s next after the pandemic. After The Pandemic (A Radical Poem About Starting Fresh Again…) No one wants to go back, to that old store-bought happiness,…
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Having a good-natured laugh at ourselves, and the predicament called life can be very healing. Humor is deeply nurturing. In my years of studying the martial art of Aikido, I learned that the weakest muscle is the one that is continuously flexed. During this time of the pandemic, we can easily experience a kind of…
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Did you hear the one about the lost, weary, and bedraggled traveller and the strange paradoxical directions he received? Here’s the brief story. Plus a poem by the amazing poet, Seamus Heaney that starts in tragedy and ends in sublimity. The perfect poetic path to hope in a pandemic.
Here are some of the most powerful words I’ve yet to hear about the current pandemic… and the vision beyond. (Quote included below the video.) Here is the poetic quote by Arundhati Roy: Whatever it is, coronavirus has made the mighty kneel and brought the world to a halt like nothing else could. Our minds…
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“…and may you in your innocence / sail through this to that.” –Lucille Clifton The above lines from our featured poem give us a blessing for these times. My question is, given this ongoing pandemic, where are we headed as a people, a nation, and a world? In a recent poll done in the UK, only…
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“Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you / Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here…” –David Wagoner That is how our featured poem begins in this “Poems In A Pandemic” video #2. It is radical to imagine that it’s we, not nature, that is lost. If this pandemic is teaching us anything, it’s…
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This handpicked poem is the first in a series offered in these difficult times of pain, as well as courage and heroism. The poem “Keeping Quiet” is by Pablo Neruda, translation by Alastair Reid. I knew it was the right kick-off poem when several dear friends sent it to me in the same week. Enjoy…