Creative Life Midwife

Inspiring Artistic Rebirth

How Connection Shifts & Grows & Makes Everything Better

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My lousy mood had no chance when I created a Connection and Gratitude Breakfast Sandwich. Add in a cup of yummy coffee and the rest… took care of itself.

One of the sure-fire ways for me to get off course is for me to be in a bad mood.

If I am in a sour mood, I find it difficult to get work. I find it difficult to focus. I find it difficult to create a shift which I know would make everything get better almost instantly.

Maybe you are one of the people in the world who is full of sunshine all the time. I tend to be an optimistic, happy person but recently, it has been more and more difficult to lift myself up and out of a not so great mood.

This morning I found myself in a grumbly, frowny face state of mind. Little annoyances piled into a leaning tower of inner bickering. A chorus of bad vibes were pointing and laughing, taking note of short-comings from as long ago as seventh grade.

This was how I felt before my livestream #5for5BrainDump today – when I was to talk about connection. Being in a foul mood when I am scheduled to talk about one of my favorite subjects was like disappointing a most loved friend. I dreaded the livestream yet I knew I had a date with – less than perfection. 

I was connecting to less than perfection whether I wanted to or not. Full steam ahead.

I started like I usually do – with breath exercises and focus and suddenly, as I breathed the light of connection into my heart space, everything felt better.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. I felt better – and the livestream went on.

Was it my best ever live-stream? Not at all.

Did it provide value? Yes! It did! Here is the prompt we used and you may use now, too:

We are connecting both this week and next week for #5for5BrainDump sessions. If you would enjoy participating, join the Word-Love Writing Community Facebook Group where the conversation and live-stream sessions will be accessed in a safe, private writing community.

Portrait of creative life coach and creative life midwife Julie JordanScott

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Access the visionary prompst from the mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Planting Hope, Peace & Love in August and Beyond

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This is what heaven feels like, I thought. This is what peace feels like. Part of my job right now is embracing and creating peace wherever I find it or don’t find it. My idea is this: if I am aware of peace – and if I may expand that feelig of peace – it grows to embrace the rest of the world whether they are in the “Everything sucks” club or if they are in the “Pollyanna I am going to avoid everything” club or someplace in between.

This realization came when I spent a few minutes recently hugging a tree.

“He who plants a tree, plants a hope”

Lucy Larcom
Mill Girl. Poet. She who saw into the future.

This morning I took my morning walk in a park I don’t visit often. It is a lovely park with tall trees – this isn’t always the case in newer neighborhoods.I found myself in this new-to-me-but-not-entire-new-to-me park, fully enjoying the space – completely engaged in the light and shadows and the fresh air from well watered lawns and frequently emptied trash cans.

I decided I would reward myself for being diligent with my walk by hugging a tree. The trees here were still comparatively young so I could hug a tree all the way, wrap my arms completely around it. I watched and looked and decided on a tree that was close to the swings.

“I’ll be back” I told the tree.

I admired the tree as I walked away and looped around the park, fully feeling my feet as they moved on the sidewalks weaving around the park. I have new shoes that are very supportive of my feet so walking is even more pleasurable than it was just a week ago.

I continued walking and added an element of prayer and intention – for the children who play here and their families. I prayed for everyone who has ever visited the park. If any had died, I prayed for the families who were missing them. I prayed for the people in the hospital with Covid19, I prayed for the nurses who gave me such exceptional care when I was hospitalized in October. I came back to the tree.

I faced it, fully, and embraced it with my eyes closed and my spirit so high and happy.

We have the capacity to decide to embrace hope, love and peace. Even when we are in times like when I am writing this: in the midst of a global pandemic, social unrest climbing, continued divisive conflicts within my country. I am still able to stay in a space of hope, love and peace.

Writing Prompt for you to consider ways to stay in this optimistic rather than pessimistic space. Write for at least five minutes. If you are unable to think of what to say, simply write the words “hope, love, peace” repeatedly. Add words that are in a similar “feeling family” such as happiness, gratitude, connecting.

Even when times may be challenging, I am able to stay in a space of hope, love and peace when I choose to…..

Hello, August. Welcome peace, love, calm… happiness, joy… and upset, frustration, dissatisfaction – and may we choose to stay peaceful, loving and calm no matter what finds us.

Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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What Writing Poetry Every Morning at Sunrise Taught Me

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Before the end of 2019, I created a goal uniquely mine with one goal: to “have something to do every day that would help me feel better.” I remembered the past, when I would write haiku and post them on facebook before the start of the workday, one friend of mine enjoyed reading them and I enjoyed writing them. The number 377 ties me to writing one haiku – a Japanese form of poetry noted for being short and to the point.

I knew if I made it a difficult goal, I might run the risk of not completing it. I gave myself space to fail AND I knew if I paid attention and made sure I had a guideline to write before a certain time of day, I would have a greater likelihood of success.

In early July I had the idea to do a “sub” goal or a micro-goal. I created a specific intention within the initial one. This time, I was going to write a haiku poem every day at sunrise for a month.

I didn’t expect the potent impact this simple practice had on my life, especially since I had already been writing daily haiku for more than six months, everyday. This new tweak to the goal definitely put the entire project onto a higher playing field.

  1. Micro-goals rock: Small, short-term and do-able goals build confidence and make the process of accomplishment even more fun.
  2. Having accountability via public proclamation is both slightly intimidating and brings about an extra zap of love, hope and optimism. I used my facebook page initially. Now I share on other social media platforms and text to specific friends. During the last week of the month, I also share daily gratitude lists and invite others to share their gratitude lists, too.

Haiku 192 – July 2, 2020

Sunrise at the Panorama Bluffs in Bakersfield, California.

trees hold a secret

golden laces weave their leaves

lone bunny watches

  1. Watching the first light of day is one of the most optimistic acts I can imagine during this particular point of our history. It is something I can trust.
  2. Falling in love with sunrise is akin to falling in love with life, falling in love with the place I live, and falling in love with the people who show up and engage with my posts.

July 14, 2020 Haiku 204/377

A mallard duck family swims in the canal off Brundage Lane in Bakersfield at Sunrise

Urban pastoral

Mallard mama quacks fiercely

distant palm stands tall

  1. Grace is a dear friend who embraces me, everytime
  2. Doing unconventional things will attract attention and odd conversations.
  3. Standing on a creative ledge is inspiring even if we are simply doing it for fun

Haiku 208/377 July 18, 2020

Loco Weed (moonblossoms) blooming at Sunrise beside the Calloway bridge in Southwest Bakersfield

poison loco weed

feels the magnetic charm’s call

time for you to sleep

  1. When there is no boss to create goals or tasks for you, you may become the best task master you ever imagined.
  2. My senses are improved because of daily attention and fine tuning.

Haiku 213/377 – July 23, 2020

A pumpjack (oil well) in North Bakersfield at sunrise.

silent old pump jack

sees another day begin

Skoal can on gravel

  1. When we are prone to documenting how terrible things are don’t get up and witness the sunrise every day.
  2. Witnessing sunrise is a potent non-chemical anti-depressant. Because I am well aware of the current news cycle in order to be an informed citizen, this sunrise haiku practice has kept me grounded and present as an optimistic realist.

Haiku 220/377 July 30, 2020 

Sunrise at an organic citrus farm off Edison Highway and Pepper Avenue outside of East Bakersfield.

Organic citrus

north of Edison Highway

proud palm trees stand guard

There are two days left for this micro-goal, even though July is almost over. After this, I will be writing seven days of Coffee Haiku, inspired by a friend I made on Instagram. After that, I may return to sunrise because it feels so good to be outside when it is still cool during a hot Bakersfield summer.

Which of these photos and haiku poems resonates with you most?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Art-Making: Is Creativity “Just for the Joy” enough?

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I have a body of work that is rather unique. I have been working on it since 2013 in a quasi-secret manner.

From time to time I think of doing something with it because I find it deeply interesting on a variety of levels: it has elements of visual storytelling, it is a commentary on the current state of our country and world and in a way, it shines a light on the strength of the human spirit.

Some of you know what I am about to say.

My name is Julie and I love taking photos of shopping carts, abandoned in places other than grocery store parking lots.

Today I was on my morning walk on a path near my home in an urban series of parkways surrounding the Kern River. This particular section of it is mostly unknown to others. I have for years thought of it as an “underbelly place”. 

Nonetheless, I can walk there and oftentimes feel as immersed in nature as if I was far from home. I certainly wasn’t expecting to come upon this glorious shopping cart in the midst of vines, moonblossoms and sunflower patches.

I sent the four shots I took to one of my “real artist” friends. Naturally he exclaimed his admiration.

“But which has the best composition, in your opinion?” I asked him. “You’re always telling me to feature the photo has the best composition.”

One of my rules for this body of work is to not move anything I come upon, but that I may circle around and move however I see fit. In this case, I quietly looked around for the owner of this particular cart. When I see them in places like this, it is usually in a “doorway” to a make shift shelter. 

There was nothing like that here.

I didn’t want to anger the owner. 

I took four photos in total and the one above is my favorite.

Once again, I fully enjoyed and immersed myself in an underbelly place, a space many people would be afraid to visit much less use as a subject of art.

I first discovered this space when I was unschooling Samuel in the first grade. I had discovered his behavior problems were actually caused by autism. At that time, I didn’t know a child with autism could also teach himself to read and be very intelligent.

School became a torture chamber of an experience and I believed because autism has a strong social element, he needed to be in a conventional school setting for his life long success and set the district to work to on a plan for his education that was suitable for his unique needs – maybe this video was the genesis of my interest in “underbelly” places. Interesting, because this was a “blind” self-portrait. I couldn’t see myself as I took the video unlike the videos of today.

I doubt anyone else beside me will ever care about my shopping cart/underbelly obsession.

I’m currently re-reading “Letters to a Young Poet” a collection of responses from Rainer Rilke in a correspondence where a young man pondered a similar question:

“Will anyone besides me ever care about my poetry?” he wondered. Rainer Rilke wrote a series of letters to a young poet in the military academy he once attended. That earnest young poet, Frank Xaver Kappus, sent poems for Rilke to peruse. Most notably, he sought approval and commentary.

In his first letter back to Mr. Kappus, Rainer Rilke suggests he stop asking for opinions from other people. He wrote,

“Nobody can advise and help you, nobody. There’s only one way to proceed. Go inside yourself. Explore the reason that compels you to write; test whether it stretches your roots into the deepest part of your heart, admit to yourself whether you would have to die if the opportunity to write were withheld from you. Above all, ask yourself at your most silent hour, must I write? Dig inside yourself for a deep answer. And if the answer is yes, if it is possible for you to respond to this serious question with a strong and simple I must, then build your life on the basis of this necessity.”

I decided long ago it doesn’t matter if anyone cares or doesn’t care about these photos. What matters is I care. What matters is I enjoy the process. What matters is I grow as a writer and observer of life as well as growing as a photographer.

If my necessity of life is to enjoy my life as a creative – and allow the space for my heart to dance with glee when I come upon a seen like a shopping cart on a walking path like this – that is enough. Any other recognition is a bonus.

Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Julie JordanScott typing a love poem on the edge of a foothill of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Portland Treasures: Beverly Cleary & Powell Books

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Julie JordanScott standing with the sculpture of Ramona Quimby, beloved character created by Beverly Cleary who lived near Grant Park in Portland when she was a child.

Five years ago I spent an afternoon out with Ramona Quimby and a bunch of other (human and sculpture garden) friends in Grant Park in Portland. I managed to gather people from online friendships and Bakersfield Ex-Pats to this park to enjoy a bit of Literary Granny history.

Sometimes I am amazed people are willing to follow my whims and other times I say “Naturally they do!” 

Why wouldn’t they? I tend to seek out quirky places other people hadn’t thought to explore yet, especially the artists and adventurers I am most attracted to. Little known secret: I had a conversation with Beverly Cleary more than thirty-five years ago at a convention for English teachers when I was working for a textbook publisher.

She was sitting at a table and no one else was there. She appeared to be fabulously ordinary which I found incredible inspiring. I wish I knew she had said this, “I was a great reader of fairy tales. I tried to read the entire fairy tale section of the library.” 

If I had known she had said this I could tell her I was the same way when I was a little girl. I loved hearing my mother’s voice when she read aloud. I would close my eyes and wish for once she would read “The Snow Queen” which I loved but was longer than the time my busy mother had for reading aloud. “The Princess and the Pea” was two pages long and I almost memorized it.

Julie JordanScott with a book sculpture outside Portland's Powell Books, a local and national treasure.

Beverly Cleary is a national and Portland treasure, like Powell’s books and a culture that made me feel at home as soon as I arrived. It continues to call to me today. Hearing of the unrest there made me want to road trip there again and lend my body and my voice to the protection of freedom of speech, but pandemic times and my health being what it is – I offer my memory and my love and admiration.

May we continue to honor and praise each other’s voices with an energy like Ramona Quimby’s.

What character from your childhood continues to speak to you today?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in 2020 in #Refresh2020 in Bridge to the New Year to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Better: Everyday in Tiny Yet Impactful Ways

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person walking barefoot on the sand, self care improving the world one step at a time.

“I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness; I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too. I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more.”

Anne Frank

A long time ago I wrote an article with the premise being “Self-care is the least selfish act you may choose to take because when you take excellent care of yourself, you will contribute so much better to the lives of others.”

I look at this Anne Frank quote: herself only a teen and caught in the middle of horrific circumstances and somehow, she got it. Somehow she got it and her words were found and have been shared with the world for generations.

With our current pandemic and our cultural climate of dissension in this world of “us and them” we can be blinded by the reality we are in this together.

Americans, who are used to being able to leave our country on a whim, can’t anymore. We complain, when Anne Frank was cramped in an attic with her family, another family and a single man.

How did Anne quiet the sounds of thunder, getting closer and closer and ultimately leading to her death?

She wrote in her diary to feel better and to figure out what her experiences meant for her. She expressed her hope to no one except the pages of her book – her one friend, never imagining the impact her words would have.

Anne Frank quote on wilderness and optimism, despite what she experiences.

What one small self-care step are you willing to take to improve your life?

How might this improvement to your life turn into a positive contribution for the rest of the world?

Julie JordanScott sits among lupine wildflowers. As the Creative Life Midwife, she also loves nature!
Julie JordanScott is the Creative Life Coach who loves challenging herself and those she works with to continually seek new methods of inspiration, to allow oneself to be delighted and surprised and to wake up, nurture, encourage and grow your inner artist, genius, explorer and best self daily.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in mid-2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. 

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Let’s Explore Trust: How to Grow in Trust Every Day

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A sunrise photo with flowers and the title "Growing in Trust, one day at a time."

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

I don’t know how to start talking about trust. How can I talk about something I know so little about, if I am completely honest?

At the root or core of my life experience, no single person has been 100% trustworthy. I have not been able to trust myself. While I trust God in the long run, it seems unreasonable to trust God in some of this day-to-day when so many horrific things take place day after-day-after-day. (please note, this is not written to be a theological discussion and in fact, this is an exercise in vulnerability which I believe God appreciates.)

Perhaps this is why I have been so focused on writing haiku for the last two hundred plus days. I can trust one simple action – and now, since July 2, I have been “writing sunrise haiku” because I trust the sun to rise, each and every day.

I can trust that.

I can look up the time of day it will move above the horizon and every day – whether the clouds cover it or it is clear as a whistle, the light comes.

This I trust.

Light through a tree at sunrise with the Maya Angelou quote, "Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time."

I have trusted myself to scribble seventeen syllables each morning as well: not because my boss told me if I didn’t I would be in trouble. I wrote haiku because I thought it would be fun, not because a doctor told me to do so. I contemplated at least one present moment every day because I knew it was good for my spirit and maybe even for the spirit of others – not because of any oath or promise or contract other than the one I made with myself.

For the last 206 days I have proven to myself in this one instance I am trustworthy.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe reminded me this morning, “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.”

This morning I shared my sunrise photo and haiku on my facebook page in the same way I have been doing for all these days. Within the first moments, people were enjoying it – and receiving peace simply by looking at the photo and reading the words.

I am slowly gaining trust in myself again and my actions are in alignment with this trust.

When we are open to explore and be authentic with our responses to questions such as these, we will grow in ways unmeasurable. Yes, we will truly know what it is to live.

Note: This essay began as a free-flow writing exercise and as a result has had minimal editing. Sometimes trusting the raw word-flow is what is most important.

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott, the Creative Life Midwife, is a writer, a poet performer, a Creativity Coach, A Social Media Whiz and a Mother of three. One of her greatest joys include loving people into their greatness they just aren’t quite able to realize yet. 

Julie is also one of the Founders of Bridge to the New Year. Join us now in 2020 in #Refresh2020 to reflect, connect, intend and taking passionate action to create a truly remarkable rest of 2020. Click the graphic below to join the Private Facebook Group to join the conversation!

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The Opposite of Boredom Is…. Welcome to Anti-Boredom Month!

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A woman in a striped shirt balances a pencil between her upper lip and her nose, fighting boredom during anti-boredom month,

Today I discovered something fascinating! July is also known as “Anti-Boredom Month” fascinated me.  For my entire life I have been in opposition to the concept of boredom. “An intelligent person is never bored!” one of my middle school teachers told me.

I decided to focus on the concept of Anti-Boredom because I have heard more people than ever complaining about being bored, especially with the disruption in what is open and what isn’t open due to Covid19.

I looked up antonyms for boredom and was surprised to find more than one place is “being entertained.”

My daughter, Emma, has a much closer to my perspective antonym for boredom as “excitement.” My thought is the opposite of boredom is “being engaged.”

I would argue strongly with what the experts see as the opposite of boredom: being entertained.

What?

Maybe it is because I never expect to be entertained that I am not one who is prone to boredom.

Maybe the call to be entertained rather than bored is true for passive observers in life, but it certainly isn’t true for those of us who are fully engaged with life.

It doesn’t surprise me to report I have decided to engage with anti-boredom all month via live-streaming, sharing anti-dotes to boredom and suggestions for people who cannot be entertained in their usual ways because of restrictions due to the pandemic and shut downs of various “non boredom” spots.

I would love to hear from you.

What is the opposite of boredom for you?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

How often are you bored?

Julie JordanScott is a Creativity Coach, Writer, Speaker and Artist-of-Life who forgot long ago what boredom means. In her continuing quest to create intentional connection, she hosts Intentional Coffee Conversations on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Starting July 7 until July 28 she is hosting a Pop Up Group to #Refresh2020 where we will explore ways to re-engage with this unusual year. To find out more and register for this unique experience, please click the image below.

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“I wake to listen” – How to Use Poetry to Meditate (Even if you don’t think you’re “good” at either)

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In May, we are blending poetry and meditation to create, make and activate a more mindful, art-rich life. Welcome to that experience.

May is National Meditation Month. Field of Lavender and purple reflect the poetic nature of meditation we are using here in May. Welcome back or welcome for the first time!

Many of you have said, “Meditation and poetry – I am not good at either. And you use writing as meditation? Forget it. I can’t”

Stick around for a couple days so we may wash out those thoughts. 

Here’s how this process goes for me – I invite you to try it this way and feel welcome to make modifications so it may work for you.

Whenever I read Plath, (link to the poem we meditated on today, Morning Song) I hear and feel a hush which may be why this line of her poem attracted me. This poem, “Morning Song” is about mothering a baby. Have you parented a baby?

I remember thinking when I had my son that I couldn’t have a boy. I didn’t know how to mother boys. It took me six weeks to actually agree this relationship as mom-to-boy would work and while it may still be rocky – he is an adolescent now – I know I wouldn’t trade the process for anything.

I invite you to think from your “beginner’s mind” place like I did as a new mom – with an open heart and without leaping inot judgment (like I find myself leaping more times than I would care to admit.) 

Many of you have said, “Meditation and poetry – I am not good at either. And you use writing as meditation? Forget it. I can’t”

Stick around for a couple days so we may wash out those thoughts. 

Here’s how this process goes for me – I invite you to try it this way and feel welcome to make modifications so it may work for you.

a lavender field at sunrise allows us to embrace and accept we may not be good at poetry or meditation now,. we may allow ourselves to come as a complete beginner to both. The sunrise is a metaphor for the new beginnings you may experience when you come from the beginners mindset.

1. First I read the poem to myself several times and choose one line or phrase as a centering line. On my live-streams I ask viewers to choose a line also and direct them to the Poetry Foundation website for the poems I read. All are published there and are easily accessible – which for some people makes it easier to choose a meaningful meditation line.

2. Deep breathe and sit quietly with the poem, sometimes briefly and sometimes – like this time, I meditated before sleep and  as I fell off to sleep. 

3. The next step has differed when I do it, but write for at least 5 minutes, free flow style, stream of consciousness. Sometimes before the live-streams though more often after. Sometimes I write the centering phrase over and over again. What I find it when I trust the process and breathe deeply as I write, other words begin to pop in – you may scoff at this and I invite you to try it.

4. Livestream first on Periscope, often a rougher version – but I enjoy picking up the twitter audience.I will share the livestream from Twitter so you may see it here as well.  I pin the poetry/meditation streams daily with a link to the poem and the graphic (whenever I create it), often afterwards. Livestream second on Instagram  live. Usually a smaller audience but often more engaged in the poem itself. 

5. Sometimes I post here, in my Creative Life Midwife blog – once I even created a second series based on what I wrote during my meditative writing and it blasted more helpful content. Whether or not I post elsewhere, I follow up with discovering the next poem. 

In this case I’ve planned ahead and will next read Kim Adonizzio.

If you have a favorite poem or poet you would like to suggest please do so in the comments. .

.

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How Will You Look Back at “Times Like These?”

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There are a lot of people who are writing poetry during National Poetry Month. This is something I do – and while I am not keeping up with producing a poem a day – it is more like a torrent of poems every few days – my reading of poetry is what is fueling me quite intensely as of late.

A tree listens in the image as does the quote from Adrienne Rich says, "Because in times like these to have you listen at all, it's necessary to talk about trees." Who is listening to you with sacred, heart opened ears?

In bringing you into my poetry sanctuary – in quarantine times especially I feel more than a bit vulnerable. Speaking that aloud first makes me feel slightly more open to share with you this unfurling process this week as you may choose to step into it, too, to gain an understanding of both yourself, your loved ones and your world.

So far this morning I livestreamed Adrienne Rich’s poem, “What Kind of Times are These” twice, on Instagram and Periscope. Each time I read this poem aloud more turns of phrase and meaning slowly or not-so-slowly rise up to greet me.

Now, it is time to consider how the words of Adrienne Rich and the prompts I am providing may rise up to greet you in your creativity, in your contemplation and in your conversations.

Consider:

Where is your sacred space to listen and to be heard?

Where is your sacred space to listen during this time of quarantine?

Who are the people who will listen to you from their own place of sacred listening?

You may contemplate these questions, discuss them with your friends or on the pages of your notebook or journal. You may also watch the replay of the livestream video on twitter:

Now, a writing prompt to take on your way, without concern for what poet Adrienne Rich had to say or not.

Consider and then reflectively write, free flowing style – to the prompt –

What kind of times are these? and/or

These are the times when…..

If you are not in the space to write, have a conversation with a friend or spend some time in contemplation.

In the future, these time will be a memory you will be asked to remember and talk about with others. These are the times you may still shape these next few weeks.

What will you do to shape these times with hope, light and inspiration?

Woman writing on the front porch of a brick home,
Write wherever you find yourself.

Julie JordanScott is the Creative Life Midwife. She inspires people to live their life as an artform and take action towards their best results. During the 2020 Pandemic she is also leading daily Virtual Coffee Dates, Facilitating Intentional Conversation so people will feel less isolated during this time of social and physical distancing. Join the conversation by registering for free by clicking this link.

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