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All things consist of carrying to term and then giving birth. To allow the completion of every impression, every germ of a feeling deep within, in darkness, beyond words, in the realm of instinct unattainable by logic, to await humbly and patiently the hour of the descent of a new clarity: that alone is to live one’s art, in the realm of understanding as in that of creativity.
Rainer Maria Rilke, in Letters to a Young Poet (letter 3)
(with thanks to Heidi Fischbach)
Maine Coast Mandala by Charlene Thomforde
Archival Prints can be ordered for $30 by visiting here.
The Blossoming
Let me tell you what happened:
I got stuck
in the blossoming.
You see, I wanted only and always to be light:
breeze-bobbing and delightful.
I wanted to offer up my heart;
throw open the soft chamber of the petals, always laughing;
to balance on my soft stem like a question,
reaching
ever up.
Then came one of those
everyday winters.
When it was time to bow down –
to brown and curl –
I would not go.
What was down there
but the faceless nets of the fungus?
The jaws of the grubs?
The plundering ants?
And who, I wondered, ever stops
to admire a brown and rent leaf
as it melts into the ground?
I tell you –
now, I do.
I will tell you also:
there is no colder winter than one spent
yearning for flowers.
I lost more than one season
in argument against the patient,
waiting rootedness –
the hiding below ground,
talking with death and bacteria.
And dreaming.
And biding. And later I would miss even bright days in scorning the leaves,
who live not to sing
but only to gather
and gather.
But what do you know
of flowers that never fade?
I imagine they are not as innocent
or soft
as they seem.
I had heard it said but did not yet believe
that the soil is the flowers
and the roots are the flowers
and the ice is the flowers
and the fungus is the flowers
and the stems, and the leaves, and the sun, and even
the death.
Now
I wonder if the world
is one,
long
blossoming.
-Claire Dacey (Soul Flares reader)
Dear Fellow Travelers,
Mary Oliver wrote a poem called Gratitude in which she answers eight questions. Answering them changes things for me.
What did I notice?
The eggs I bought "Gathered by Amanda" in the next town over tasted better than the ones from 500 miles away. As I ate them slowly and with great relish I shook my head. "I came dangerously close to buying the cheaper ones instead!"
What did I hear?
A whip-poor-will sang by my window as I wrote about how often I run away from being needed.. Did that bird feel how much I needed its song -- not heard since I was a child? No. I don't think so. It just sings.
What did I admire?
The courage of each workshop participant as they spoke their truth amidst "strangers." And each stranger as they listened with open hearts.
What astonished me?
The view from my back at the base of a grandmother oak. The curve of its trunk. The reach of its branches. The countless shades of green that filtered down.
What would you like to see again?
Rounding the reedy corner of the stream, opening onto a misty pond. Morning sun reveals a baby moose and her mother havng breakfast.
What was most tender?
My 14-year old son, sheets firmly tucked under his chin, his child-smooth face peaking out, cheeks still wanting his mom's kisses.
What was most wonderful?
After a hard few months of forgetting, I remembered myself in the woods behind our house.
In the fire of my best friend's teepee.
In the patient suggestion that I sit and wait to feel what is beyond my panic,
where I will feel myself as light.
And in the silence that I finally asked for
where I found the simple realization that I am not finished yet.
What did you think was happening?
I was falling in love with life again.
Blessing and love to you,
Annie O'Shaughnessy
PS Please try your hand at answering these questions for June's Readers Write assignment.
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More...
I am happy to be writing again! Visit my Wild Soul Journal to respond to thoughts on the importance of envisioning, my relationship to femininity, and other topics.
I have also started a section of my website to offer quotations and insights from the books I and other Soul Flares members are reading. The Architecture of All Abundance is my current read worth checking out.
To read and respond to one of the many interesting letters from readers I have received visit our Soul Flares Community Journal.
What's New?
Week Off: I have decided to take a week off to brainstorm, envision and relax before I enter this next chapter of Soul Flares evolution. Since I am the only one here, Soul Flares will be shut down until June 2nd.
Finding a new home: In July we need to find a new home. If any of you live in the Addison or Chittenden county Vermont area and know of any 2 - 3 bedroom rentals, please contact me. We are hoping to find an inexpensive place so that I can continue to devote myself full time to Soul Flares. annie@soulflares.org
May's Reader's Write: Many Soul Flares readers responded to May's topic "How Living Our Truth Effects Others." Visit here to read them.
June's Readers Write Topic: In honor of Mary Oliver's Poem "Gratitude," readers will answer all or some of the eight questions posed above. Visit here for more information.
Featured Reader Website
Soul Flares reader Heidi Fischbach puts her heart and soul into her website Baba Yaga's Place Where Body, Mind, and Soul Meet. All of you quotation collectors out there will love her Garden of Quotes.
In 2008, Soul Flares will have a way for you to start your own website. Stay tuned!
Support Soul Flares
I am passionate about building an organization that lasts long after I am here that offers support, resources, and inspiration to people who want to live meaningful, creative lives. With your help Soul Flares will grow as a community, as a way for kindred souls to connect and find support in each other--men and women, young and old, of all religions and nationalities.
Visit here to make a tax-deductible donation to support Soul Flares. Or visit here to view our wish list.
Wild Soul Workshops
A few weeks ago I led my 10th Wild Soul Workshop. I think I have had difficulty writing about these experiences because they mean so much to me. But, I have put together a page with a few words about them and some photos of the folks who have attended. More to come!
Visit here to read more and view the photos.
To read some participant feedback visit here.
Reconnecting with Our Wild Souls
Upcoming Retreats:
July 27 - 30 Bolinas, California
This retreat center in California is full of amazing healing energy. Perched above the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by beautiful trees and birds, this place feels like heaven to me.
Visit here for more information or to sign up. Ratite to me at annie@soulflares.org if you need financial assistance.
October 5 - 8 Burlington, Vermont
Vermont is my beloved home, and this retreat center reflects why. 100 beautiful and wild acres on the coast of Lake Champlain where Eagles nest in a rocky cove right below the center.
Visit here for more information or to sign up.
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and where Rod continues to offer
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Soul Flares is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded by writer and workshop facilitator Annie O'Shaughnessy, dedicated to providing beauty, inspiration, support, and community for people trying to live a soulful, creative life in harmony with nature and all beings. Through art, workshops, bi-weekly e-newsletter, and an online community, Soul Flares will provide light for seekers on the path.
This product was added to our catalog on Monday 28 May, 2007.
