Category: General Learning

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So Ripe With Joy

Remembering this moment. Saturday. Iron Lake, Idaho. The quiet of morning. Stacking / balancing a few stones (thx Chris Corrigan for introducing me to such many years ago). Ripe with joy.

Remembering this poem to, For When People Ask, by Colorado Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. Thx Jesikah for posting earlier.

I want a word that means
okay and not okay,
more than that: a word that means
devastated and stunned with joy.
I want the word that says
I feel it all all at once.
The heart is not like a songbird
singing only one note at a time,
more like a Tuvan throat singer
able to sing both a drone
and simultaneously
two or three harmonics high above it—
a sound, the Tuvans say,
that gives the impression
of wind swirling among rocks.
The heart understands swirl,
how the churning of opposite feelings
weaves through us like an insistent breeze
leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves,
blesses us with paradox
so we might walk more openly
into this world so rife with devastation,
this world so ripe with joy.

And here we are.

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Life Recognizes Life

My friend Lawrence and I are in some doozie conversations these days. Every couple of weeks. Scheming. Dwelling. Getting excited. Tenderizing. And, and.

Toward more friendship. Toward maybe, just maybe, a learning journey in 2026 that would invite others to join in the fun. And toward this phrase above — Life recognizes Life. What if that were the journey — to hone that? To surrender to that. To move. To be moved. To adopt a more life-giving story of humans being human.

Rather large, yes. Yet simplified to the every day.

I, and we, are being reminded of a few things.

  • that life recognizes life; clarity seeks clarity; depth sings for depth
  • a “nutrient bath” is available; through humans settling on the most basic of intents together, opened
  • containers matter; the container can be clear; what’s in it can me great variety
  • Circle is key for humans; gives us access to stories, questions, wonders, wanders, the invisible
  • exploring in organized ways matters (field trips); it matters in self-organized ways too (thx Open Space)
  • “get to the heart of it and then move the heart of it” — well, there’s an animating invitation
  • “get to brevity that doesn’t sacrifice depth”

And, and.

Thx Lawrence. It’s good to be in this kind of stewing together. This kind of life recognizing life.

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Quantum Listening

I’m quite liking this little book, Quantum Listening, by Pauline Oliveros (thx Jonathan for the recommendation).

Here’s two snippets:

“Deep listening puts experience before everything else. It emphasizes both detail and scope of…’the sounds of daily life, of nature, or one’s own thoughts.'”

“As you listen, the particles of sound decide to be heard. Listening affects what is sounding. It is a symbiotic relationship. As you listen, the environment is enlivened. This is the listening effect.”

How wonderful, right.

Our attention to a person and to life, makes the sound and the story come alive.

Or as I said in B&B yesterday, we can listen a story out of each other. And thus we did.

Enjoy a peruse.

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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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