Tag: Poetry
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Replenishment, Starting Close In
This article was originally published on the Mindful Leader blog in August 2022 “I have nothing left.” It’s a sentiment that’s been in our shared consciousness for a long time, and recently I’ve started to hear folks actually name it. Maybe you have too. World events have taken their toll, and many of us find…
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Opening Windows
Othering lives within me. The parts of me that I love and the parts that I don’t. What gets neglected in me The corners of my soul that I don’t visit for fear of the unknown Or because I have forgotten. There are rooms in my soul that are filled with dust, Webs, and darkness.…
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The Tiger, The Strawberry, and the Role of Beauty
There is a well-known Zen story about a rather non-conventional response to impending doom. A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger after him. Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him…
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The Deeper Invitation in the Story of the Empty Boat
Like the Taoist Farmer story, the story of the Empty Boat is often used by coaches to help their clients gain perspective. Here’s a short version: A fisherman is on the water at dusk with poor visibility. He sees a boat coming right towards him and starts getting frantic and yelling for the fisherman steering…
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A Call to Heal Together
“Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.” —Václav Havel, Czech leader Our country is hurting, and it has been for a long time. It is just now with the demonstrations that have given voice to the desperation…
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We Have to Find a Way to Love Our Brokenness
We have to find a way to love our brokenness No, not loving ourselves in spite of our failings But loving the brokenness itself We have to love all the ways we’re late And all the ways we missed the point We have to love that we were scared And that we were ashamed to say it We have to love that…
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Touching worlds
I am most delighted, Your gracious presence In my garden just now, Filling this space with me, Drawing my beating heart to yours, Connecting our often fragile worlds, In this hallowed moment. As you touch my world, Effervescent with bird-song And bird-flutter, The world of connection, Between you and me, The world as it should…
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Tell all the Truth but tell it slant—Poetry by Emily Dickinson
#1129 Emily Dickinson Tell all the Truth but tell it slant— Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth’s superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind—
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In all seriousness
This morning I sat down. Immediately greeted by the Mystery we burst into laughter. It was a deep belly laugh. The kind that linger – that have an indelible affect. As soon as there was pause we erupted, again. We were struck by how silly I am. Oh the gut bursting hilarity of thinking richness…
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Song of the Open Road (excerpt)
Poetry by Walt Whitman From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines, Going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me. I inhale great…
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Beneath the Sky
Beneath the blanket of warm gray sky moisture falls The parched land forced to rest it can only produce so much for so long Shoots and fruits have withered the herds passed all that remains are ghosts of life passed it can only produce so much for so long it pines for lush green, flourishing…
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Living in the Question
A potent question is a portal to infinite creativity. Socrates introduced us to a type of pedagogy in his method of questioning. Rilke implored his young poet to live in the question. Artistry lies in lingering with the curiosity that transforms our narrative. For years I lived in the question: What work is worth doing,…