What if identity were nothing more than a shell for a hermit crab? When they outgrow the confines of an old shell, they need to find a new, larger one to accommodate expansion. What new or expanded identity is calling you to leave your old shell behind and find a new one?
Read MoreAccording to The Heartmath Institute, the heart puts out signals both to one's own brain and body, but also out to the world through electrical and electromagnetic waves. I often ponder what message my heart may be sending out to the world, whether it is a message of welcome or unwelcome, whether I am saying "yes" or "no" to life. My poem, For This Embrace, asks: How willing or ready are you to offer or receive embrace?
Read MoreAre you ready to spread your wings to the wind? Most of us have more freedom than we realize, our constraints coming more from our own limits than those imposed on us by the world. Edge of Freedom is my poem about dancing on this edge. The Roman philosopher, Seneca, said: Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Freedom is what happens when you ride the wave at the intersection of wing and wind.
Read MoreLove is such an overwhelming and powerful force that it is taken as the ultimate solution for all challenges. And it may be. But the phrase that "love is the answer" is so overused that it has become threadbare. It provides nothing but distraction. I composed this poem About Love when challenged to write about love in an online writing class. What if love was not the answer, but the question to which your life is the answer?
Read MoreOne of the great gifts of the very young, a gift often reclaimed as we age, is the ability to look beyond "looks," to appreciate the spirit of a person and to recognize that the essential life force in each of us has the capacity to blossom no matter what season we might be in or what suffering we may have endured. I have come to love this essential life force, the human flame found in each of us, more than anything. What, or whom, do you love more than anything?
Read MoreWhy do children love to play peek-a-boo and hide and seek? It is the primal dance between the twin desire to hide away, to be the silent witness, and the longing to be found, as if we might be a sought after treasure, or be seen and be beheld in the eyes of delight. It is the key to flirtation and courtship, the whispered secret and well-known fact in the mating call of life. This is my poetic ode to the dance...
Read MoreNew age optimist may paint the world with pan-gloss, but dark nights of the soul are a part of every human journey. They are often the breeding ground for new life and the soil from which the future sprouts. If we can stand on hard times, we may find that they become the bedrock for a grander, greater version of ourselves.
Read MoreI, like millions of others, enjoy the poetry of Rumi. His work often yields an "aha" or the sigh of recognition and I feel a kind of awakening in the moment. What "awakens" you? What quote or poem do you return to, or find solace in, or feel serves you in some way in life?
Read MoreI have the privilege of working with some great groups of people in different parts of the world. When these events come to an end and I am packing my bags, I sometimes wonder what moments and meeting points I also pack away and how it fits in my greater life. How do you bring closure to your travels and to the times and events in your life?
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