Who rules your world?
Controls your thoughts?
Tells you what is right?
Fire them!
response to the Medium prompt “Rule” by JK Mansi
Published on Medium’s Chalkboard site 10/17/19
Who Rules?
October 17, 2019 by
Change
October 13, 2019 by
I walked
this morning
bare feet on grass
numbing with the cold
Fall is here
less light to
wake me, less
to give me energy
The desire
to hibernate
growing stronger
with each shorter day
Seasons
Cycles of life
Can I pay attention
to the call of what is?
I’m noticing I have preconceived ideas of how I should be and of what I should be doing. Ideas of what is socially acceptable, expected, the cultural norm.
Probably my whole life I’ve done what I thought I should, what was right. Now I just want to do what is mine to do. Listening to my inner voice, not always have reasons to back it up. Trusting!
Cincinnati is the host of Blink, a light based art festival covering 30 city blocks. How can I not want to see what will undoubtedly be fantastic art? But I don’t. I’ve revisited my reluctance numerous times until finally I got the message:
Accept what is. You don’t want to go!
Mourning
October 5, 2019 by
I want you to be Joseph
to hold me in your arms
and complete me.
But I know the time has come.
I must look inside to realize,
I am whole.
Joseph’s birthday is Oct. 12th. I am surprised at the sadness that has enveloped me. I deeply miss what we had together. I know that moving forward means integrating those parts of me he brought to life — the sense of adventure, my femininity, never meeting a stranger…
It happens — one day at a time!
Life is a journey of awakening, of shedding what we were trained to be, of being willing to open to the mystery of what is now and of what will be.
I am grateful!
CRAZY
September 20, 2019 by
“…it wasn’t because I didn’t know enough
I just knew too much”…
Does that make me crazy?”*
On overwhelm seems the norm.
Out of control racism, sexism,
“other”isms, climate change…
I ache to know an answer.
My body gets heavy with the
not knowing. I want to pull back.
I ground myself in the dirt,
see what’s growing, listen
to the heartbeat of the earth.
I looked in a waiter’s eyes yesterday.
He seemed startled, he noticed.
Really seeing a person, a start.
*Gnarls Barkley – Crazy
I should know. I’ve taught courses on racism, sexism…how could I still get surprised? “I’m a good person, at least I strive to be.” Yet, like a fish in water that doesn’t see water, I’m in a culture where white is shown as intelligent, good, the norm; shown as the face of Jesus.
Others make the news in the crime section of the paper, serve us in restaurants, work in our yards.
Do we have the courage to look, to see clearly? to get over ourselves? Can we stop putting individuals into buckets of stereotypes? Can we work our own shadow and stop projecting our fear, our anger, our neediness onto others?
All “isms” have a history but we need to stop doing what we are doing today. See inequality as affecting the lives of people, not making them inferior, not making us better.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better. “. Maya Angelou
REVOLUTION
September 17, 2019 by
Questions drive me
What am I?
What am I not?
What do I know is true?
Moving away from
those who proclaim to know
I’m listening to a different voice.
One deep inside
that whispers next steps
demands my unconditional yes
reveals my deepest heartfelt desires
One demanding
I strip bare, stepping away
from my conditioned self to
seek the truth of where
my ideas have come from.
Examining the unexamined,
trusting myself, risk going it alone.
Our world is too much run by fear
too much by the conditioning of others,
the norms they’ve set, serving their own needs.
It’s time to set ourselves free!
Clashing Notes
September 11, 2019 by
A note of dissonance
entered the relationship
Notice the offbeat moves
Note to self: it’s over!
besliter 9/5/2019
Poem was written in response to Medium prompt: Note by Fierce Force
Relationships are a mix of our own projections and experiences and those of others.
I wonder if we can ever see someone clearly, without wishful thinking, assumptions, judgements, beliefs.
And even more importantly, can we have the courageous conversations to check out our perceptions? Or, do we just take action based on them?
In this world of polarized opinions/judgments/beliefs, our handling of dissonance seems even more important. So, what will I do……
Desire
August 12, 2019 by
Desire
I want simplicity
Life gives me chaos
Things dying
being born
I know nothing
It seems Life is determined to get me out of my head and into my heart. It’s not comfortable. And, at the same time it feels just right. To let this moment lead me to the next thing. Not reacting to, but a deep listening within. What wants to come through me in this moment, be embodied, acted on. … bypassing my head into Being.
Life as I knew it is gone. I feel as if I’m in kindergarten. Who would have thought LOL!
Texting
July 14, 2019 by
Good for data transfer
“I’m here at the back table”
“Running 10 min. late”
“What was the address again”
Or for “I’m thinking of you”
“Good Morning”
“You’re in my prayers”
But not for conversation.
There’s no intimacy,
you can multitask.
If you want to talk
I want your full attention
Your heart not just thoughts
I’m greedy about what
I want from my friends, and
I’m rich because they give it.
Love
June 27, 2019 by
What is love?
A feeling of the heart
not between your legs
not “happy head” between your ears
Love just is
a spacious embrace
of the other
You can love everyone
but not want to live with them
not want to hang out with them
not really be able to understand them
Love does not require
understanding, does not
have to make sense
Love baffles the ego
it defies the rules we’ve learned
it goes beyond “tit for tat” and all
sense of who deserves it, who’s enough
Maybe….
Love just is, a Divine gift
embracing us, connecting us
to the Mystery of Life
THE MOTHER IN FATHER’S DAY
June 16, 2019 by
We’re part of a long line, yes generations
of women, who couldn’t mother.
Who weren’t mothered themselves.
Whose wounds stopped them from
offering the sustenance, support,
and cuddling so needed.
But the earth is rumbling
a deep remembering
disturbing our souls.
The feminine, the goddess, the
Divine Mother is beginning to
call, signaling “It’s Time.”
To see perfection in each soul
thirsting for acceptance,
safety, affirmation, kindness…
Bringing us back into our bodies
that are numb, afraid, angry.
Letting Divine Love flow and heal.
Reaching out to the long line of men,
generations who couldn’t father,
who weren’t fathered
who repressed what they felt,
who strove to be strong and in control,
yet angry and fearful under it all.
Without the mother,
the father grows brittle
On Father’s Day
the Divine Mother
offers herself.
Drink of me,
Let me hold you
in my embrace
Male and female
Understand you are
two sides of the same coin
blending into wholeness.
Let the Divine Feminine
guide you….TRUST.