While for many the Sabbath is celebrated as the first day, a day of looking forward, I still cherish the notion of its ending the week. When you’ve worked hard, then comes rest and relaxation. In our world, it seems we have to play as hard as we work, but there is much to be said from what can grow from the idle contemplation of a fire… particularly when the fire’s boiling down the sap into syrup. mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sweet Life. Sweet Peace.
My mother was a particularly good role model when it came to mentors. She was a pretty good mentor as well, but she taught me the importance of mentors. She also taught me that mentors came in many different packages and were not necessarily older than you.
She was a painter. She put that on hold when she was raising children, and the second I went off to college, so did she. For 25 years, she took art courses, studio and art in the dark. She sculpted, she drew, she painted. She scandalized her hometown “girls” by taking life drawing courses. She learned from profs. She learned from students. She took advice and gave it back.
That’s a big key with mentorship, I think. Our best mentors not only help us to see our path and keep walking on it, they ask us, even demand, that we inform their journey. “Grow up! Stand strong! Be a player in this game of life!” they exhort us. They urge us not only to lead by example but also by kindness and by teaching.
I have been so lucky. I have sat at the feet of and carried the bags of great mentors. We’ve laughed ourselves silly together. And I feel the continued pressure to “get up offa that thang” and do my work. Part of my work is mine and mine alone. And part of my work is showing the way. I am very grateful… and I hope mindful.
If you don’t have these people in your life, you start looking around. Because you? are worth it. And because your dream of Peace is just a small fragment of the Peace mosaic… but without it, Peace is not complete. Mentors need to mentor, it’s their gift. And if you’re working your gifts, you’re the best sort of student to come along in their life, because they can point to your work with pride and say “I encouraged that wonderful person and his/her wonderful work!”
Have you noticed that we still tend to be surprised by obstacles? Why is that? I’m not pointing any fingers here, mind you…
Whatever your dream is about, it’s going to change the way the world works if you pursue it. That will happen, if for no other reason, because people will sometimes resent your pursuing your dreams. If you can, they can, and all this time they’ve been pointing to the obstacles as reasons for not moving forward.
But our dreams are not for or about other people, even if in the long term they benefit others. We dream about what’s important to us, what raises our passion. We say no to the obstacles because our passions are vital to our well-being. We say no because realizing our dreams is being faithful, even grateful, for the gifts we’re given.
Obstacles are real. Many times we’ll find out that the cause of those obstacles was our own failure to plan. But other times, we’re just going to have to figure out how to go around and keep going. If Peace were easy and straightforward, we’d be living in the midst of it. It’s hard. But we’re gifted. And the world is waiting.
So gather your advisers about and figure out how to move forward. You don’t have advisers? ah, now that’s a problem. We all need a Board of Directors. We need someone to see what we can’t see. No reason to go flat on our faces if there’s a friend around to point out a rock in the road!
Our obstacles will probably be our faithful instructors and our worthy opponents. Let’s learn the lessons and keep working on Graduating the Dream!
It’s sort of a ridiculous assignment, to try and describe a sunset in ten lines. But ten lines are the rule. I made the rule. It’s an interesting task to try and tell a story in ten lines. Sometimes it works better than others. When I finished this poem, I thought wait! I didn’t mention that sometimes the air will seam to turn roseate before it fades to black and white. And there was certainly no time to mention that sometimes the dolphins dance in the waves or that the pelicans sail majestically by in freight train formation…
So what does a poem mean to a dream? I guess that both are always unfinished… or maybe just incomplete. Maybe it’s the good reminder that we are called to say what we see and that what we see isn’t in conflict. When we add one vision to another, we get a more complete, but never perfect vision. I see things differently than you so the overlap will never be precise.
As we begin to develop our dreams, there will be times when we realize there were pieces we didn’t include. Then we’ll have to decide, do we simply need to be aware of that? Do we need to find someone who is working on an allied dream? Or do we have enough to deal with in the dream we’ve created, imperfectly perfect as it is?
So, I guess I’ll just keep asking myself… What kind of peacemaker am I? How will that change this year? And how will I embrace the places where I miss the mark or simply don’t have the capabilities? And equally important, will I keep being open to the startling beauty of a sunset that is not like “mine” and allow it to stretch and modify my notion of beauty… and Peace.
We live in a frenzied world. Some of that chaos is imposed by our fast-track society. Some of it we buy into or even foster in ourselves. We’re over-tired and under-nourished — at least spiritually.
You’ll have noticed from the title in my poems that I believe Peace is not just important, but imperative. I believe it’s what we were born to do and create. You don’t get to Peace, however, without some reflection about who you are and what you want. You need time to notice what’s wrong, so you can pull a string and start winding that particular tangle into order.
I’m working, and eager to help you work, on my own Peace of Mind, Heart and Soul. But I don’t believe you need that Peace in place before you start working on Peace of World. Perhaps we’re to put ourselves onto the Infinity Path and walk the loop between the two, as they lead out of and into one another.
But mostly? It’s time to stop and proceed slowly. Time will hurry up as the year moves on, but at the moment, reflect, consider, weigh… Get to know yourself and your desires. Consider carefully the dream you wish to build and realize this year. Take this time, my friends… The world isn’t going to leave you alone forever. And the stillness? it’s your time to fill up.
Flying across the country, the ground is a patchwork of beautiful white fields. In summer, you can tell how this country nurtures itself. Right now, all you can see is the bones of the fields the evidence that at one time, this land was worked.
But for now, it rests. it rests even as we rest. Filling up, rejuvenating, getting ready for the next season by remaining completely within this one. If there’s anything this landscape would tell us, it’s this: Don’t rush it. Be present to the moment. More will come. For now, this is enough.
While driving down the river yesterday morning, the river was enshrouded in fog. When you have days like we’ve had recently, where the afternoon mercury climbs and nights are frigid, the river puts off a lot of fog. It was a beautiful ride.
It was only as I writing later, that I realized what a great metaphor for January dreaming this particular river view was. Isolated small islands would appear out of the fog and then fade from view. There was never a complete vista, simply small glimpses. As we’re building our dreams, it’s important to begin to identify the important building blocks. Too many of us start to build before we have all the pieces laid out. This foggy river was a reminder that there may be something important hiding in the mist… We might as well let things emerge as they will for a while, so that we can create a good plan rather than having to try to incorporate crucial elements at a later date…
The Ann-Keeler-Evans start to the day, although often quiet, is usually brisk. I like getting things done. makes me happy. check, check, check! But yesterday, that didn’t work. I was up. I was even out. I got one check done. And then another. And then, there was a space in which no connections were being made.
Maybe it’s just because i was procrastinating, getting ready for my trip tomorrow, but I just wasn’t all that interested in zooming around. And for once, Ms I-tell-everyone-to-pay-attention-to-what-their-bodies-are-telling-them actually decided to pay attention. And so I sat and pondered. I consciously made no decisions. I just looked at things, turning them over in my head and my heart, admired their beauty, noted some rough spots, and put them down.
Choosing one dream for the year and dedicating yourself to bringing it into the world is worth taking some over. It’s worth deliberating about. I always find it interesting when I begin to discern a process and it demands I pay attention. And so, I’ll wonder just a little bit longer at the wonderful possibilities I’m exploring. And see how they might all fit together. For me, that’s a tall order. Sitting down helps. I wish that you might give yourself a half hour’s peace one morning before the sun demands a bit more action of you and me.
This summer I was off to Peace Camp: ThinkPeace Workshops for Girls. It was astonishing. and I still haven’t distilled everything into a drink I can share. So many wonderful ideas. So many wonderful Girls! And Women! And such wonderful Work. yah. more later! Heaven on a stick for a Peace Sister. (Yes, there’s pondering about Peace Camp for Women!)
But what’s caught at my heart today is the notion of how your circles both enlarge and focus when you begin to look in a different direction. It’s been about a year that Sacred Village has been a public entity rather than a closely shared dream. Goodness knows, thanks to my beloved Web Guy, I’ve owned Sacred Village for years. (Dreams deferred can be just that! And sometimes dreams take a while to take substance. Don’t give up!)
As part of my attempt to put myself out there, I did what you’re supposed to do. I got a twitter account. I started friending people. I started posting. An early lucky follow was Kelly at ThinkPeace. Almost immediately “We Belonged to a Mut-u-allll Admiration Society.” Love, love, love, that woman her partner Liz and their work! I watched in amazement the work The girls and they were doing. I wrote a poem to support their work in Million Bones Project. Eventually, I held my breath and sent my plea… “Can I come to camp?” Yes! Delight ensued.
So off I went. Wow! And there as the teacher of the week was (drum roll, please) the fabulous and lovely Jeanne Demers author of The Ruby Books.
She works with Girls to help them find their Voices. We all started stories. (Yo, TP Girls anyone finish yours?) She’s a beautiful wonderful soul! (funny too!). At the end of the week, the girls started working at their World Girls, doing their research and building connections to girls a world away.
Now Jeanne has moved to Austin (cause that’s how hip she is!) and she’s gotten a job with the Girls Empowerment Network in Austin (GENaustin). She’s going to be wandering into school after school starting clubGEN. Girls will be speaking out all over Austin. The Girls of Austin couldn’t have a better gift. Girls! Leadership! Peace! Empowering and putting to words the connections between those things. What a wonderful, wonderful thing!
I can’t wait until the next time our paths cross. Because now that they have, you know they will again. Sing Hey! for a wonderful new friend and a woman doing her Work! My dear friends, meet a dear friend: Jeanne Demers (Cool Aunt, Great Woman).
It’s been so hot here and when i went out to the garden to get some herbs, I brushed against the tomato plant… mmmmmmmmm. right back to my youth.
I have read that we remember things better when they lodge in more than one place in our brain. Songs stick, because there are words, rhyme, meter and tune which all help. And scent of the ocean and and and…
If, when we meet people, we would remember that each of us has joys and memories buried deep within, and tried to evoke that, we would find many more things in common. Peace like memory is built on many levels.
p.s. Reading the poem again today was frustrating… I work so fast sometimes that I don’t fully develop an idea or an image… the challenge in pushing out a daily poem… which will change as I edit it for the book…