Wishes Can Be Made Real- By Roxie Marie

If I asked you on your deathbed "Was your life a complete success?" What would your answer be?
If there were any areas of your life that didn't seem fulfilled what would they be?


Put your statement in the perspective of your deathbed such as "My life was not a complete success because I ( did or did not )".....fill in the blank.
Consider, what is it about your statement that makes it so important to you that you would consider having such a lifetime regret about it?
Now, turn that statement into an intention and into the present tense such as "My life is a complete success because I am doing/living/being/achieving"...fill in the blank.
Ask yourself is this  something you really resonate and feel strongly about?
Can you commit yourself to this statement in a purposful way?


Now go on to do this process for a total of 5 deathbed wishes. Write these down, write down everything that feels pertinent to the process. Give yourself 1 hour (or more but no less) alone to do this, relaxed emotionally sharp.


This is a life alterning exercise. It is one that I have just completed and it has totally refocused me and brought me into a deeper awareness of my soul. It uses the "end of life" as a very positive and powerful metaphor.


This is also something that feels healing to me now as Dad is alive one more day, but one day closer to his passing. My grief work can tire me, but this process revived me.


I hope everyone who tries this has a rewarding experience.


Love, Light and Grace to all,
Roxie Marie

William Stafford's "Being a Person"

Be a person here. Stand by the river, invoke
the owls. Invoke winter, then spring.

Let any season that wants to come here to make its' own
call. After that sound goes away, wait.

A slow bubble rises through the earth
and begins to include sky, stars, all space,
even the outracing, expanding thought
come back and hear the little sound again.

Suddenly this dream you are having matches
everyone's dream, and the result is the world.

If a different call came there wouldn't be any
world, or you, or the river, or the owls calling.

How you stand here is important. How you
listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.

Morning sense~ by Roxie Marie

The sound of the singer is quiet, she
sat by the water when the sun went down.

In a morning light, red~pink~orange and black, she
rose to inhale a new warm air.

Be strong, or not, be calm, or not, be here said she,
this now and next then.

No wonder feels right, no inspiration appears here,
not now, next when?

There is a meant place for all of the fog, she
knows this gray space.

Reach up and hold on to the only one, who
she believes can create.

Exhale the stale thoughts and shine a light on,
the one dark spot.

Exposed it will be, to you and to all, who
need to move onward.

John Fox and Poetic Medicine is Amazing~!!

UPCOMING EVENTS

With John Fox & The Institute for Poetic Medicine

January 14, 2010

John's Schedule At A Glance

THE HEALING ART OF POEM-MAKING

and

POETRY, COMMUNITY & THE FLOURISHING HEART

March 26-27

Auburn, CA


FINDING THE WORDS TO SAY IT

May 5

Tucson, AZ


HEALING ART OF POEM-MAKING

and

POETIC MEDICINE: A WRITING WORKSHOP

May 7-8

Tucson, AZ



THE NATURE OF POETRY:

EXPLORING THE BEAUTY WAY

May 25-June 1

Canyon de Chelly, AZ



THE HEALING ART OF WRITING

June 27- July 2

San Rafael, CA

TAKES TIME

June 30-July 4

Bowen Island, B.C.

Canada


THE JOURNEY OF THE UNDIVIDED LIFE

Sept. 10-12

Burlingame, CA

Dear Friend of The Institute for Poetic Medicine,

We are aware, as we prepare to send this Constant Contact about my schedule, of the earthquake devastation in the country of Haiti.

My thoughts and prayers immediately went to my friend Dr. Diane Allerdyce, Chief Academic Officer for a remarkable charter school, Toussaint L'Ouverture High School for Art and Social Justice that serves the Haitian communities of Delray and Boynton Beach in Florida. Please read past my letter here to learn more about this school, her students and how you may support their response to the tragedy in Haiti.

(There are inspiring links including an NPR broadcast of poems written by Toussaint students.)


While our eyes are on Haiti now, when the news lessens, how can we continue to pitch in to help others in need? How can we draw closer to one another and be more cooperative on this small planet?

We may pray for solace and aide to touch Haitian people experiencing trauma and grief. May our prayer remind us of our own fragility and the great difference made by a simple gesture of support. We will be moved by acts of courage in the face of tragedy. Let us allow courageous acts to inspire and motivate the choices we make.

May all this stir in us a daily question: how shall I live?

Whatever challenges you face or goals you set for yourself in 2010, I believe you possess the resilience and creative spark necessary to keep stepping forward. If some unknown is large before you, may your depth and courage help you honor silence and the grace to pause and wait, for guidance, for rest. It is in that pause, in that rest place, where you might listen for a poem that is yours.

This silent pause, this listening space, is what holds our words. We, and those people we may be blessed to work with, can speak and listen to this heart language to foster truth-saying, release, insight, remembrance and renewal.

This Constant Contact contains my current schedule for 2010! I will offer programs in Tucson, AZ; Auburn, CA; Canyon de Chelly, AZ; Bowen Island near Vancouver, Canada and a co-led retreat with Sally Hare in the San Francisco Bay area. I'll also participate on the faculty with David Watts, Rachel Naomi Remen and Jane Hirshfield at The Healing Art of Writing conference at Dominican College in San Rafael, CA.


Look for future schedule updates on my web site. If you are interested in bringing "poetic medicine" to where you live, let us know. We can work with you to make this happen!

I believe the essence of community and poem-making is this: that each one of us brings something irreplaceable to life's circle. Your irreplaceable nature and voice is what makes the whole sacred. The expressive arts have a knack for teaching us about the sacredness of the person, the value of receptivity and a deep sense of community.

Let's travel this journey with that kind of sensibility in our hearts. I hope to meet you along the way.

Sincerely,

John Fox

for The Institute for Poetic Medicine

Another Roller Coaster

It has been 2 weeks since we learned of Dad's cancer. There were days or even weeks, and perhaps months that something was odd, but Dad was always odd. He never shared the truth of how he felt or what he needed. It was unhealthy for us all to be in this relationship with him, to some degree. Not to say he wasn't/isn't a good man. He is an incredible man on so many levels...just not emotionally.
SO, here comes the most emotional experience of my life with my father and all I know is a dysfunctional
way of relating. My journey with him has been a love/hate, up and down, in and out of my life kind of thing. The last few years have actually been the best years since I was his "little girl". The first 10 years of my life.... we went camping, fishing, and I helped him build things in his wood shop. Then I became a young girl, interested in boys and friends and he up and dumped me. Flat out rejected me for growing up. Well the story goes on from there, very old and regurgatated stuff for me to consider at this moment. Still, I'm sure I'll go through all the images and words at some point, after he is gone. Then again, I have NO idea what I will do or feel after his passing. I know that I'm anxious about flying back to the freezing East to see him after 5 years and perhaps have an emotional freeze over. Or maybe I'm really afraid of a huge thaw and all the feelings just being so very raw~!!My journey is just beginning on the chapter.

What is Ritual?

When you enter ritual time, you're stepping out of your day-to-day concerns. It's a way of looking at life and tring to get in touch with a greater purpose and meaning. It's giving people a gift of time and attention, which to me, is the most valuable thing we can give each other- that's what love is. So when we engage in ritual, we're saying that we're intent on making a connection, whether it's with God or with spirit or with other poeple.

Gina Lake is as clear as pure water source~!! I love her~!!

Newest Blog Post: Believing


Written by Gina Lake

Have you noticed that believing something doesn’t make it so? As much as the ego would like to believe that believing something has the power to make it happen, it just doesn’t have that much power. You’ve believed lots of things that never came to pass, and many things have come to pass that you never believed would happen. The ego wants so much to be able to control life to get what it wants, but the purpose of life isn’t to please the ego. This egocentric view is, in fact, the cause of so much suffering. The ego wants life its way, but life isn’t about giving the ego what it wants, but about pointing you to what brings lasting happiness and fulfillment: love, peace, unity, goodness, compassion, wisdom, service, learning, and growth.



Belief does have some power, however. A positive belief has the power to neutralize a negative one, and negative beliefs can block you from taking action that would bring you what you want. That’s why believing something positive often has the effect of creating it. Positive beliefs don’t cause what you want to happen, however, as much as they allow what you want to be created by you or received by you because what you want is no longer being blocking by believing the opposite. Affirmations work, not because the affirmation itself creates what you want, but because it helps you release, or neutralize, whatever beliefs stand in the way of you creating or receiving what you want.



Your negative beliefs are powerful if you believe them. But if you don’t, they have no power whatsoever. Can an idea affect the world? Only if it’s believed and only if it’s put into action. The belief itself, which is just an idea, has no power of its own. Everyone has beliefs and negative thoughts. If they aren’t believed, they end there and quickly disappear. They may show up again and again, but if they are ignored, they don’t affect you or anything else.



You don’t have the power to determine what thoughts show up in your mind, but you do have the power to choose to believe them and respond to them or not. Not everyone realizes they have that power, but that doesn’t mean they don’t. What an amazing step in evolution it is to realize you have this power. That realization is the beginning of freedom from the egoic mind.



When negative thoughts have been reinforced by believing them, especially when they’ve been acted on time and time again, you may not feel like you have much power to choose differently. Thoughts that have been believed and reinforced by feelings and actions can feel very compelling, but you always have a choice. That is the great gift you’ve been given. But you must use that gift, and that sometimes takes a great deal of will. When you first begin to choose differently, it can seem very difficult—almost impossible—but each subsequent choice becomes easier.



Eventually, those negative thoughts won’t show up anymore, and a choice won’t even be necessary. You’ll function from Essence, and the egoic mind will be like whispers in the background, if you experience it at all. Waking up isn’t easy. For most people, it’s a gradual process that requires choosing over and over again not to listen to the negative mind but to something else that speaks to you and moves you, not through your mind, but through your intuition and your very being. This that you are is right here living you. It’s what moves your body, breathes it, and experiences this life. When the mind doesn’t interfere or take life in another direction, life happens, and it happens beautifully and joyfully.





Excerpted from Living in the Now: Reflections from Another Dimension About Being Happy in This One by Gina Lake, available on Amazon.com.

"In death and in grief, we do not need as much protection from painful experiences as we need the boldness to face them. We do not need as much tranquilization from pain as we need the strength to conquer it. If we choose to love, we must also have the courage to grieve."
~Roy and Jane Nicoles~

How does death take it's rightful place in your life? At the core, grief is really a form of praise. Grief carries with it the seeds of strength and hope, but if grief goes unrecognized, those seeds never grow. We are fearful of grief and reluctant to find our own ways of dealing with the pain, let alone sharing it with others. When one experiences loss, all things begin to feel unreal. There is a period of disbelief and denial, which then leads to anger and pain. When we lose someone (family, friend, or colleague) or even something (a job or relationship) we need ways to mark and express the loss. Only after there are expressed can true healing begin.
We tend to be fearful of people in mourning, not always knowing what to say or do, It is a gift to make space where people have permission to mourn. Ask people what they need, what they remember, and what stories they'd' like to share.