Author: Tenneson Woolf

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One Moment, This Moment — Start With Joy

The photo — Kauai. Last year. That kind of flow opens me. That kind of company too (xo Dana).

Poetry this morning, about flow. And trusting the moment. And following joy. And loving others. And, and….

One moment at a time.
You, and I, we don’t need to combine and fix all the other moments together
as if there would be impressive efficiency and completion.
One moment, this moment, is enough, is plenty.

Especially when you, and I, we start with joy.
Joy has this way of blossoming with vigor,
and shaking the crusty dirty away and opening to the vibrant heart of new life.
Joy is reliable, and generally pretty available.

Watch for others that can be in the joy also — that’s key.
The other grownups, the other kids, the old friends, the person on the train that makes brief eye contact.
The dogs chasing balls in the park, the cats meowing for treats.
Joy with others has this way of swelling and affirming toward, well, more joy.

Here’s the crux of it — Life seems to claim you, and me, us dancing.
Or sometimes you, and me, us in the overdue heavy lifting.
Life can’t not flow. 
It insists with such kindness in this moment, and then the next, “I got you. Let’s go.”

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Love Is The Way To Meaning

I guess I’m on this theme, following yesterday’s share.

Today it’s Mitch Albom’s Tuesday’s with Morrie.

“The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

For some this might be a great change. However, more most of us, this encouragement just brings importance nuance. Do what you do; do it with love of others.

I’m glad for the reminder.

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Love Is The Reason You Are Here

Hey.

My buddy Chris shared this recently. It’s a Louise Erdrich passage, from The Painted Drum, her 2005 novel.

Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won’t either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.

Yes, please.

To the words. To the sentiment. To the invitation. To the reminder. To the art, discipline, and joy of connecting principle to practice, centering to doing.

Hey.

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Summons — Every Life Is Precious

Meg and I have known each other for over 30 years. She hired me to be her assistant in the early 1990s — that’s how we met. I answered phones. Took messages. Filed stuff. And the other things that we used to do before email, laptops, and Google.

Meg and I have had many chapters together over those 30 years. Work. Projects. Witnessed relationships both found and let go. We’ve dreamed worlds of well-being together. These days, it’s more likely a visit over a cup of tea. In person, on her deck, watching birds flutter and hover near bird feeders. Sometimes at Dana’s and my home, in our living room, where nearby purrs our cat Marmalade. We share stories. Poetry. We laugh. Ask questions. Sometimes cry. It’s what 30 years of friendship together does.

Meg shared a poem with me recently, by Aurora Levins Morales, a Puerto Rico born Latina Feminist. I love the call from the Grandmothers, the summons, when I think of what swirls and challenges in the world, in my world. I love the invitation to meet at the corner — for every life is precious.

Enjoy

Summons
Aurora Levins Morales

Last night I dreamed
ten thousand grandmothers
from the twelve hundred corners of the earth
walked out into the gap
one breath deep
between the bullet and the flesh
between the bomb and the family.

They told me we cannot wait for governments.
There are no peacemakers boarding planes.
There are no leaders who dare to say
every life is precious, so it will have to be us.

They said we will cup our hands around each heart.
We will sing the earth’s song, the song of water,
a song so beautiful that vengeance will turn to weeping,
the mourners will embrace, and grief replace
every impulse toward harm.

Ten thousand is not enough, they said,
so, we have sent this dream, like a flock of doves
into the sleep of the world. Wake up. Put on your shoes.

You who are reading this, I am bringing the bandages
and a bag of scented guavas from my trees. I think
I remember the tune. Meet me at the corner.

Let’s go.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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