Journey of the Heart

  The year we moved into our home, an ash seed pod or ‘key’ fluttered down from the tree over the wall and took root in a crack in the concrete floor of our yard... A year later, I noticed the sapling struggling, so I propped it up against a milk pail. It almost reaches the second floor of our house now. The young tree’s silvery bark and soot-black, pointed buds – each of them imprinted with an embryonic copy of the branch they one day dream of becoming – somehow remind me of the limbs and hooves of a fawn. I feel that this makes sense, somehow, since deer and ash grew up together, evolving from the same forests. Known as the Goddess Tree, the cosmic Tree of Life in Norse mythology and the Druidic World Tree, spanning the universe with its roots deep in the earth, the ash tree stands for strength, connection and rootedness in wisdom. Indeed, the creation myths of many ancient world cultures display a belief that the essence of humankind itself originated from the ash tree.

  The last two full moons have been powerful forces in my life... I truly feel that it is pulling me both deeper inside and then pushing me outside of myself and I feel the pull to become someone different, to do something different with my life. I have gone deeper inside than I thought possible, and I surface in waves, finding bits of poems and drawings like souvenirs on the journey. This is a time of becoming, for me, for us, of creating a beloved community and the only thing I can compare it to is giving birth. The Quickening by Shannon K. Lockhart  my heart beats into that in between space where my not-quite-words reach out, beckoning me to shape them into a  communal significance i sense the tingling spark of important my muscles arch and tense even as i try to smooth out the undercurrent of expectation the moment is now the birthing is happening deep inside my heartspace-  i feel new life pushing an almost overwhelming fo

I wrote this poem on International Women's Day as a personal reflection of growth and wisdom in my life... Lately this wisdom has been put to the test by the unexpected and tragic loss of my brother back in January. If ever there was a time to stretch and dig and pool the resources of self-love, self-compassion, spirit, wisdom grace and perspective, which I have worked so hard to embody, this has been it. As I ran that day, I reflected that though this has been a terrible season in life, it has also come with great beauty. And while the nature of this kind of grief is uncharted territory, my previous experiences with grief has prepared me to make this journey. Though I have welcomed support in many forms, in my heart of hearts I know I have to make this passage alone, and that I have to show up for myself in this season in life. I am the wise woman I am seeking. Nature, the familiar trees and trails and woods that I am so inclined to run in, has been my refuge and safe pl

This poem was inspired by a friend’s comment about “fighting” a health battle… I think we need to be mindful of our use of language; is life a fight, a struggle, a “battleground”? Our words inform our hearts as well as the other way around; and we are surrounded by the notion of violence as a solution. It is not. As I composed this “reframing” of health journeys, it became clear to me that it applies to all of us in every stage of our lives.  The Journey by Deborah Beach Giordano It is not a battle, but a journey: another hill, another valley, another curve in the road; family and friends alongside for a time; some will fall away, some will remain, all will have done their part. It is not a battle, but a journey: a grand adventure; learning familiar paths finding new lands, new worlds, a new life; returning to what was known and seeing it with new eyes and greater understanding. It is not a battle, but a journey through quiet

We are all searching for our truth… My personal journey has led me to many different religions and philosophies. What I have come to find is that no matter the particular idea, the soul, the essence that we all are, is the Truth. I believe that one of the main ways we get side tracked in this world is by trying to perfect the outer but doing little for the inner. So as I look at this body that God has given me, I just wonder where was I before it existed and where will I be after it dies? Will I be redeemed? Will I continue to just move forward searching or have I found all that I am looking for? What’s in store for me?  Redeeming Truth  by Daya Dhara Devi Dasi It is just me as I look into my reflection. A soul who has gone in between galaxies,  seeking my redemption.  But when am I truly redeemed?  The moment I say that prayer or  pretend to surrender?  Conditioning, getting dirty, and not understanding why. But here I am as I stare back at a b

This poem is intended as a remembering that rewilding is a process which begins inside...     I wrote this poem after being inspired by movements such as Rewilding Britain and Treesisters. These collectives, and many more like them, are working to re-establish wild spaces in nature, planting trees, re-introducing indigenous species, restoring broken ecological relationships, repairing the Great Self to wholeness. We can all outwardly play our part by supporting movements such as these and by striving towards a more harmonious, integral relationship with the natural world.  This poem is intended as a remembering that rewilding is a process which begins inside... It is an honouring of what it means to be human and alive in this time of great transition. It is a spiritual attendance to the interconnectedness of all life, which transcends separation and fragmented notions of us/them and humanity/nature. Through slowing down, listening, opening, surrendering, connecting and a