The Great Way
The Great Way has no gate;
there are a thousand paths to it.
If you pass through the barrier,
you walk the universe alone. ~ Wu Men
Month: March 2019
Journaling Opened My Wounds
Journaling opened up wounds. Each time I journaled, tears flowed as if I were caught in a torrential downpour. It didn’t matter to me. I let them flow with each word I wrote. Here is an excerpt from my first journal on how I felt when Babe died.
“Babe’s death knocked me down to the depths of new sorrow. Like a badly beaten boxer, I am in a semi-conscious state trying to grab hold of my opponent before he pummels me with both fists and sends me to the canvas hoping I’ll stay down. I wait for my mind to clear. I wait to regain my strength to continue the fight against grief. In my dazed and befuddled state, I see Babe’s presence and touch everywhere. She was my life, she is my life, and her absence is devastating. My knees wobble and my legs feel like overcooked spaghetti. I struggle to keep going, holding on to the ropes to prevent me from falling again to the canvas as grief continues to deliver hit after hit to my heart.”
Ordering information for the paperback or ebook version of Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again may be found at https://optimisticbeacon.com/dancing-alone/
Excerpt From: Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again by Ray Calabrese. This material is protected by copyright
Writer’s Wisdom ~ Jeanette Winterson’s 3rd of 10 Tips
Love what you do. ~ Jeanette Winterson
Today’s Reflection ~ Strength
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. ~ Abraham Lincoln
To The Thawing Wind ~ Robert Frost
COME with rain, O loud Southwester!
Bring the singer, bring the nester;
Give the buried flower a dream;
Make the settled snow-bank steam;
Find the brown beneath the white;
But whate'er you do to-night,
Bathe my window, make it flow,
Melt it as the ices go;
Melt the glass and leave the sticks
Like a hermit's crucifix;
Burst into my narrow stall;
Swing the picture on the wall;
Run the rattling pages o'er;
Scatter poems on the floor;
Turn the poet out of door.
Journaling Helped Me to Unpack The Grieving Baggage I was Carrying
While I Grieved, Journaling Helped Me to Unpack The Baggage I was Carrying
Grieving is a heavy load to carry. M told me I was carrying a lot of baggage and it was time to start unpacking. She gave me advice that made all the difference. She encouraged me to journal as I grieved. Here is an excerpt from Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again.
“You’re carrying a lot of baggage, Ray. You need to unpack it, or it’s going to burden you for the rest of your life.” M replied. “Journaling will help lighten the load so one day you will fly unafraid through the clouds. Let your journal reflect your deepest emotions, your deepest feelings, and your perceptions of what happened to Babe and you. Try journaling about your grieving experience.”
Ordering information for the paperback or ebook version of Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again may be found here.
Excerpt From: Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again by Ray Calabrese. This material is protected by copyright
Writer’s Wisdom ~ Jeanette Winterson’s 2nd of 10 Tips
Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether.m ~ Jeanette Winterson
Winter Rain ~ Christina Rossetti
Every valley drinks,
Every dell and hollow:
Where the kind rain sinks and sinks,
Green of Spring will follow.
Yet a lapse of weeks
Buds will burst their edges,
Strip their wool-coats, glue-coats, streaks,
In the woods and hedges;
Weave a bower of love
For birds to meet each other,
Weave a canopy above
Nest and egg and mother.
But for fattening rain
We should have no flowers,
Never a bud or leaf again
But for soaking showers;
Never a mated bird
In the rocking tree-tops,
Never indeed a flock or herd
To graze upon the lea-crops.
Lambs so woolly white,
Sheep the sun-bright leas on,
They could have no grass to bite
But for rain in season.
We should find no moss
In the shadiest places,
Find no waving meadow-grass
Pied with broad-eyed daisies;
But miles of barren sand,
With never a son or daughter,
Not a lily on the land,
Or lily on the water.
Today’s Reflection ~ Having Fun
People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing. ~ Dale Carnegie
