Category: Tenneson Woolf Poetry

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Directions For A Day

I suppose it’s quite true that I’m a person that seeks direction for a day. Often when I journal in the morning, I’m kinda looking for clarity. For me, I quite like something principled. You know, connecting into broader purpose. But I also look for principle that then can be expressed (some might say applied) to the day to day.

Mary Oliver is one whose poetry often provides direction. She wrote a short poem in the spirit of the above, “Instructions for Living a Life.”

1. Pay attention.
2. Be astonished.
3. Tell about it.

A bow.

And so, I offer the words below that came through my morning journal. May they inspire expression.

Directions For A Day

Go about the day
with gentle appreciation.

Give energy to the small things,
tasks that help bring order.

Give love to the big things,
purpose that percolates beneath clutter.

Be with life’s breath and song,
that celebrates kindly, each as contribution.

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Life Will Life Us

Life will Life us.
This I feel is learned wisdom.
It’s joy too.

Life will, and does, Life us.
It presents us with circumstance.
It invites us with companions.
It challenges us with irritations, slight to large.

Learned, helpful wisdom, yes.
And thus, we learn to be with it all.

And joy, yes.
Sometimes the joy of seeing
Yellow Headed Blackbird among reeds at Oquirrh Lake.
Joy of becoming available to it all.

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On Sorrow

This one has been sitting in my inbox for a while. It’s the 13th Century Persian, Hafiz (translated by Daniel Ladinsky). Thx to my friend Katharine for her post — I got the Hafiz poem there.

I’m drawn to the invitation inherent in this poem — to have a relationship with sorrow. Shame might be part of that relationship. But there is room for so much more. An inner and personal journey might be part of that relationship. But there is room for so much more when we recognize the universal nature of sorrow. We grow through our life’s experience. If we are lucky, with some good people to listen and reflect. If we are lucky, through a sorrow that teaches what we couldn’t otherwise know.

On sorrow…

It is not possible to complete yourself
without sorrow.

Sorrow is a vital ingredient that shapes
the heart and enriches it.

So endure sadness the best you can
when its season comes.

That rain that can fall from your eye
brings life to a field,

an on other days when you laugh,
a sun takes birth in a sky you will
someday know.

See how all the elements are inside of
you.

See how your soul is a sire of light.

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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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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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