Reflections on three poems instead of a podcast

No new podcasts scheduled for a couple of weeks, but I still have some thoughts for you.

Lots going on here, juicy conversations about all sorts of things from the crisis of imagination, to telepathy to pockets of coherence in the chaos.

That’s all a bit raw and unformed at the moment, though it will be coming through over the next little while.

So today I have thoughts on three classic Anglosphere poems for your consideration.

Hope by Emily Dickinson

“Hope” is the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul

Lightness, that costs nothing.

Urgh, yet so reckless to risk feeling it.

Because if I am not weighted down by duty and complexity, then perhaps I could take some easy action.

It is is not our darkness we fear, but our light.   Marianne Williamson

What if it could be easy?   What if grace, and space, are real?

The Tyger by William Blake

And what art / could twist the sinews of thy heart? / And when thy heart began to beat, / What dread hand and what dread feet?

Blake speaks to the tiger, but we regard it together, and realise that perhaps the tiger is ourselves in fierce and unfriendly feels.   

When we will not feel.   When my heart is cold.

Yet when i begin to feel, it might be the tiger that first awakes.   

Anger and fear and danger.   What dread hand and feet indeed.  What harm might be wrought, what escape or attack made from that place.

And yet it does not have to be thus.

The other way this could work is heart is woken by music, laughter, love.   Hands hug and wave, feet dance.

The fear of waking up, of living and feeling is right here.

The grief of waking, twisting the heart – and yet from that tightness there must follow release – when we dare to allow it.

Urgh.

From held breath to heartbeat to movement.

The heart beat holds the story of the breath, the seasons.

contract ,  expand

Twist, release repeat

Live, love, dance.

What immortal hand or eye did frame thy fearful symmetry?

What holds you in every moment, and in balance?

The Blind Men and the Elephant   John Godfrey Saxe

The parable originated in the ancient Indian subcontinent, from where it has been widely diffused throughout various cultures and religions. It is a parable that speaks to the limitations of human knowledge and the importance of a complete perspective. 

I actually don’t like this particular telling of it.  There is a belittling of the “learned men of Indostan” that is unpleasant.  As if the learned men of Washington were (and are) not just as blind and bigoted.  

The story though is much bigger than the teller.

The elephant in the room.

When we find ourselves with differing opinions about the nature of something larger than ourselves, that we are unable to perceive in its entirety, can we wonder how all the perspectives can be true?

What would that look like?

What can include all of the things?

Oof

I can feel my mind stretch and resist the growth.

It’s hard to hold more than one idea at a time – in my mind.

But when i invite the minds of others, and also include the grounding of each of our bodies.

Common ground and common cause becomes possible to sense, if not see.

Inch by inch.

I don’t have to hold everything.

And also, my perspective is valuable.

There is something more here, between us.   Greater than the sum of the parts.

One of my favourite ways of increasing my mental capacity, is remembering, as often as possible, to use “and” instead of “but” in describing a situation.

Back to the beginning.   

No new podcast reflection this week, AND I have some other thoughts for you.

The energy shifts.  

No need to negate the one to make room for the other.

There is room for both to be true and enough in themselves.

Thanks for reading.

For a Curious Mind: Notice what thoughts and judgments arise as you read these poems.  What else would you like to know?

For a Connected Heart: Notice what feelings follow each other as the poems unfold.  

For a Creative Body: Dance it?  Both sides now – Joni Mitchell 

Radiant Voices

Where women’s stories of transformation take centre stage.

Changing the narrative, one story at a time.

Sharing grassroots stories from the margins

Cultivating creativity and human connection 

Subverting the mainstream crisis of hope,  imagination and care.

[✨ Hear Radiant Voices here✨]

Glimmers*

Reflection resources to support your embodied transformation story:

• Beyond expectations: What if there was nothing more to prove?   What would you be free to enjoy, already?   1:1 coaching package.   Special price available now.

• LOVE MOVES US: Can you listen and dance with this?  Guided reflection and dance practice to reconnect you with holding, moving and expresing complexity, in the safety of your own space and time.
• Recalibrate your life for joy:  Acknowledge and embrace the simple desire closest to your heart.   Free audio guide.  

Invitation to wonder: As you read through these poems, I invite you to become aware of the intriguing parallels between their wisdom and yours.

Is there a subtle invitation here for you?

Encouragement for Sensitive Souls:

✨ You don’t have to hold it all at once.
🌿 Let your breath come back before your next move.
🕊 Even fierce feelings soften with time and attention.
💧Your tenderness is not a weakness—it’s a way through.
🔥 It’s okay if rest feels edgy. Let that be part of your rhythm too.
🌙 The thing with feathers can sit beside the thing with teeth. You were made for both.