The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein recently was recommended to me by a friend as we discussed, over our lunch at Perry’s, the long term ramifications of having been raised entirely in the “digital age.” Bauerlein is an English professor at Emory University. If the title doesn’t make it altogether clear what Bauerlein believes, the subtitle clears up any ambiguity – How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30). I purchased the book in an MP3 format, as my work recently has had me in my car 5 to 7 hours per week. At 11.5 hours, I would complete the book in a little over a week. I started it out last Friday, endured the first chapters, then something amazing happened – I ejected the disc! I actually stopped “reading” a book. That almost never happens with me. Sometimes I put a book down to begin another (I often read as many as 5 books concurrently), then pick it back up a few weeks later. But with this one, I had the distinct sense that I was finished with it! Keep Reading »
Archive for the ‘Poetry’ Category
Put That Book Down!
Haiku Moments
In response to my #DEATH tweet books, readers often make comments about the “haiku” quality of the individual “tweets.” While an aficionado of great poetry, I previously had never studied haiku’s form or the “great works” of the genre. My first exposure to haiku came through the reading of poems of my friend, acupuncturist and Chinese medicine practitioner, Suzanne Freeman – a nice Jewish girl from New York, who gave up the practice of law, to follow her calling into healing. I recently became more serious about my pursuit of the haiku form as Nancy and I began our work on #DOG Tweet. Was there something in haiku that would aid us in our writing?
Patricia Donegan wrote a wonderful book, Haiku Mind – 108 Poems to Cultivate Awareness and Open Your Heart, which has served as my portal into this poignant poetic form. The haiku traditional form consists of 17 syllables in three phrases ( 5-7-5) in Japanese or, usually, three lines in English. According to Donegan, “A fine haiku presents a crystalline moment of heightened awareness in simple imagery, traditionally using a kigo, or “season” word from nature.” That crystalline moment causes us to pause and be present to every day wonders. At the same time, the haiku references the ordinary and profound, the mundane and the sacred. It invites you to take a breath and relax, if for only a moment. That moment of awareness and relaxation is what Donegan describes as the “haiku mind.” A modern example from the great 20th century haiku poet, Shuson Kato: Keep Reading »
David Whyte – On Belonging
Nancy and I just returned from a weekend with David Whyte at the Mount Madonna Center, about 20 miles south of Santa Cruz. David is a poet, author and lecturer, who appears to be in his mid-50s, now living in the Pacific Northwest. His poetry is an extraordinary blend of influences stemming from his upbringing by an Irish mother who raised him in the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire; from his studies as a naturalist and his training in the Galapagos Islands; from his pursuit of all things psychological and spiritual. David has taken his perspectives on artistry into the field organization development to foster, in the corporate setting, courage, engagement, awareness and creativity to deal with issues arising from our ever-changing and increasingly complex world. Keep Reading »
Statues in the Park
The poem below, “Statues in the Park,” by Billie Collins appeared in The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems, published in 2007. In a 2009 interview, Collins, the former U.S. Poet Laureate, explained “The inspiration for a poem usually takes me by surprise.” The inspiration for “Statues in the Park” arose from a conversation Collins had had with a friend as they walked through a park. He explains, “I forgot who the statue was, but it was a man on a horse and the person I was with asked me if I knew about what one hoof up or two hooves up meant…I recognized right away [that this would make material for a poem], because it had to do with death…[I]t had a kind of code to it that was interesting… I right away leapt on that as having possibilities for a poem.
Please enjoy ‘Statues in the Park’.
Billy Tate
Every second and fourth Friday of the month, there is a “happy hour” at Laguna Honda’s Ward C-2, the hospice ward. It is open to residents, their families, friends staff and volunteers. The happy hour was initiated by Dr. Derek Kerr, the former medical director of the ward, who used to dress in a “smoking jacket” to mix and serve cocktails himself.
Last Friday’s happy hour was a special occasion. Billy C. Tate, a ward resident for over a year, had his first book, Jack Artist, published. Billy sat in a wheel chair before a group of about forty, most of them known to him to read excerpts.
Eight solid years on a fifteen-year sentence. Day for day. He watched the clock tick. They painted the windows so he couldn’t see out. Didn’t know if it was rain or shine. No yard time. No kind of time outside the cell, save for half-an-hour a day shower. No one came to visit. He became the forgotten man. Learned not to need a damn thing, and felt good about it. By the time of his release, he’d earned the respect of the red-faced warden, who declared he didn’t like him, but nearly shook his hand on the day he left.
Sit Quietly
Thanking Larry Robinson again for his daily poetry postings, please enjoy:
Sit Quietly
If you have time to chatter,
Read books
If you have time to read,
Walk into the mountain, desert, and ocean,
If you have time to walk, sing songs and dance,
If you have time to dance, sit quietly,
You Happy Lucky Idiot.
– Nanao Sakaki
I later will take up the subject of reading and how to consciously use it to expand your awareness, freeing you from constraining judgments and beliefs.
I Love the Way the World Works
In the last week of May, a friend, knowing of my volunteer work with the Zen Hospice Project, sent me the following poem:
Dear God,
Please flood her nerves with sedatives
and keep her strong enough to crack a smile
so disbelieving friends and relatives
can temporarily sustain denial.
Please smite the intern in oncology
who craves approval from department heads.
Please ease her urge to vomit. Let there be
kind but flirtatious men in nearby beds.
Poetry – Tagore
Every year, on the anniversary of my becoming a hospice volunteer with the Zen Hospice Project at Laguna Hondas Hospital, I receive a certificate marking the date. This morning, I opened an envelope from our selfless coordinator, Eric Poche and found my latest, recognizing six years of commitment to our hospice residents and a lovely handwritten note from Eric. The certificate contained six simple lines from the poet Tagore which read:
I slept and dreamt
that life was joy.
I awoke and saw
that life was service.
I acted and, behold,
service was joy.
Coach’s Corner
Here, I will be initiating conversations that matter to you – about overcoming your fears, about getting “unstuck” from a life dilemma; about coping with change; about finding and offering forgiveness; about finding your purpose in life or establishing a balanced life or creating a community of support to help you keep on track. We will explore new paradigms for measuring “success” and new means of expressing leadership. We will discuss helpful books and articles, inspiring music and transformational poetry. You also will hear from my friends and colleagues in the coaching and human potential fields. But, I need your help.
One of the wonders of blogging is that it is not a one-way communication. I want to hear back from you. What is it that would best help you now? What resource is missing from your life? Is there something that a rich conversation can open up for you, a loved one or a friend? We will have that conversation, in which all are invited to join. I can’t believe that I have waited this long to get started.
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