FootprintsintheWind.com

The flame alive
atop the candle
our elder years are

:- Doug.

What does it mean to do eldering?

:- Doug.

I have found the bedrock of humanity
& it is not and never was a rock
rather a pulsing heart
pumping out inner space
infinite
places & spaces & lives to explore
& invent & engage
pumping out stars & black holes
holding pain and abiding happiness
& what if the stars & black holes we see
out there were some one’s in here?

:- Doug.

It is not our original self
we seek
but the one who has
grown up from here
whom we have not yet met

:- Doug.

A heart is opened
sometimes
by being broken

:- Doug.

The individual stands for the universal
the individual’s right is the right to be heard
If one is not heard are heard none

:- Doug.

Being
Seen
Heard
Known
Understood

is probably
what we
most need
in order
to live

:- Doug.

Do you want to live? Meet!
Hear another! And be heard!
Write poetry to hear your own voice!
Engage our world for its betterment!
Find a mystery to chew upon!
Risk your soul for your soul!
Tell a paradox about truth!
Wrestle with life! Exercise it!

:- Doug.

These are a lot of different ways to say it, and I need to give up the need to say them all. I need to be there and simply gently say what they need to hear from within themselves.

That is the key, yes? Give voice to what is already present: the part of ourselves that seeks peace and gentleness, open space, freedom to be and be heard.

:- Doug.

There are things more important than, more essential than, stuffing one more thing to do into our day. Our essences demand space, openness, gentleness.

:- Doug.

I wrote at one time about someone speaking incessantly of what pains him. I now see that that is not whole-making, expressed that way, for I have not heard the person and his pain. I said he needed to become aware, which is true, but I do too. We are all doing our work, some with attention, some unconsciously. We can help one another become aware, and hear our own and each other’s pain toward healing. There is a time when the person wants to hold on to the pain as if it were their identity. Pain is never a person’s identity but the block to its flow. So attention must be paid, but to what wants to flow. Pain ought to be temporary, even if we need to call it to mind every once in a while.

:- Doug.

Pain is part of our wholeness; not owning our pain leaves us with a hole that cannot heal and become whole again, and so it festers and we grow smaller.

:- Doug.

Hearing and amonging are the same.

:- Doug.

Pain is a pathway shared. It is part of our common human experience. And sharing it opens more interconnections.

:- Doug.

Opened space invites each voice to be heard, and each person to hear her own voice. That takes time, will not be rushed. To dig deeply takes time. & makes time.

:- Doug.

What questions do you need to ask each other? What do you need to say?

:- Doug.

To evoke—call up—what’s true within
Requires time—but not clock time
A space-time unforced, favorable to spirit
When-in soul can find spacious openness
Not chronos but kairos: time’s right

:- Doug.

Entrepreneuring is a lonely thing
The edges of your world shrink
To the walls of your shop
Your vision to that one
Little window

Poetry is measured
—Just by different measures
From commerce’s Dollars & Numbers
Instead by feet and syllables
Not by letters but by heart’s beat

Stretch this window & those walls
Make room for your soul
& your friends
To tell you their ideas & pains
Your own to hear

:- Doug.

Poetry is necessary
Giving expression
To the cries of our souls

:- Doug.

Find a poem in your responses:

1. What is your truth about the world-work you want to do?

2. What is your truth about the people you want to do it among?

3. What is your truth about life?

:- Doug.

Write poetry—just to tell your truth.

:- Doug.

Evil may have always paced
In our blood
But since now we see
Ours are the times for
Choosing

:- Doug.

Waters lapping my canoe
From the bottom looking
At changing clouds
Sitting in a new spot
Seeing my world afar
Allowing my being to be
Strangely touched, rejuvenated

:- Doug.