How Do I Listen?

June 23, 2010 at 8:48 pm (Books, The Writing Life)
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I’ve not spent enough time this week refilling my word pitcher.

When I went to pour from it just now, all I got was a little dust — the last drop of water dried into a rusty ring at the bottom.

So I opened The Gift, poems by Hafiz, and found indeed a gift.  A suggestion for refilling that word pitcher, replenishing my inner sanctuary [pronoun changed by me]:

How Do I Listen?

How

Do I

Listen to others?

As if everyone were my Master

Speaking to me

Her

Cherished

Last Words.

Perhaps my words ran dry tonight so I can instead just listen.  And so I shall.

6 Comments

Take two books and call me in the morning

November 3, 2009 at 9:45 pm (Books, Starla's Bookshelf, Uncategorized)

I don’t want to talk about it.   The phone call with my ailing elderly father that left me a jumbled mass of feelings as his decline becomes more and more evident.

I don’t want to talk about it, so I won’t.  

How about we instead talk about books?  The world always looks beautiful and comforting from behind a stack of books.

jazzy-books

Jazzy "reading"

I’ve been in a bit of a book-buying frenzy lately, and have a literal stack of books by my reading chair waiting patiently to see which one wins my attention next. 

confession:  I’ve started several of these already and am “reading” them in bits and pieces.  I guess I’m not always a very linear reader.  

The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It  (Michael Gerber):  (Assigned Reading from the Big Fish Nation (http://www.bigfishnation.com) program coursework):  Halfway through this one and boy does it have me thinking about our gardening business (http://www.signaturegardenscapes.com) — what process improvements can we make?  What can / do we want to delegate?  How much growth do we want?  Yikes!

Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing what you want — and getting it! (Henriette Anne Klauser) (Assigned Reading from the Big Fish Nation program coursework):  Warning: this whole write it down make it happen thing works!!

The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-Create Your World Your Way (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer) (Assigned Reading from the Big Fish Nation program coursework):  Haven’t started this one yet, but I bet it’s a doozy!

New and Selected Poems Volume One (Mary Oliver):  Ahhh, a respite into nature and its intertwinings into the emotions and actions of everyday life.

Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life (2nd ed) (by Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D.):  Just finished this one, but had to include it here because it has profoundly changed the way I communicate.  I thought I was a pretty good listener… but this takes it to a whole new level.  Thanks for the recommendation, Nancy!

Rumi: The Glance: Songs of Soul-Meeting (translated by Coleman Barks):  Rumi, ah Rumi.  These poems take me to that incredible place beyond words (how ironic!).  The “soul-meetings” are saturated with the emotions of connection.  magic. pure magic.

The Essential Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks with John Moyne):  Essential is right!  I still don’t quite know exactly why Rumi’s poetry has such an effect on me.  A wonderful mystery.

The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life (Julia Cameron):  A glimpse into the life of a fabulous writer.   This book helps me keep writing.

Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for Life (Kevin Chasman):  Haven’t started this one yet… stay tuned for review!

The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (Andrew Solomon):  An amazing book that “examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms.”   Some days I’m afraid to pick this up because I know I’ll recognize myself in there.  Other days I pick it up because I know I’ll recognize myself in there.

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose (Eckhart Tolle):  Haven’t started this yet, but I know it’ll be a good one!

Pitching My Tent: On Marriage, Motherhood, Friendship and Other Leaps of Faith (Anita Diamant):  Got this one to see if I can get insights into how Anita grew her writing career.  And it looked interesting anyway. And she’s really good-looking. :)

What are YOU reading these days????? 

9 Comments

Write on

October 12, 2009 at 10:01 am (Books, The Writing Life)
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Writers write.  That’s what we do. 

writeExcept when we don’t.

I’ve let my writing slip into the background as I’ve been digging my way out of overscheduling my landscaping work (ach, when will I learn!??!?). 

I’ve written about this — the not writing — before, in my Getting it Just Write post.  But this time it’s different.  

By now I’ve made writing such a habit that when it’s missing I immediately feel the loss.  I almost tangibly feel words reaching for me, begging me to stop and write myself down. 

When my life coach (Nancy Duncan, through the Big Fish Nation program) asked me last week how my writing was going, tears burst from heart as I said “I haven’t been writing… and oh, I miss it!!!”

A few of Nancy’s discovery questions later, and I have committed to her (and me!) that I will post a new Starla’s Word Stew blog entry at least once per week.  By every Tuesday, in fact.  And now, by telling you this, I have also committed to you. 

right-to-writeI share all this with you because I fully believe in the power of writing — for each and every one of us, not just for those of us who get paid to write. 

As Julia Cameron writes in her book, ”The Right to Write” :

“Writing is medicine.  It is an appropriate antidote to injury.  It is an appropriate companion for any difficult change.

Because writing is a practice of observation as much as invention, we can become curious as much as frightened in the face of change.  Writing about the change, we can help it along, lean into it, cooperate.

Writing allows us to rewrite our lives.”

Wait, read that again:  writing allows us to rewrite our lives…  rewrite-our-livesrewrite our lives.   

Do you realize how powerful that is???

What’s that?  You’re not a writer?  Ah, I beg to differ.  We are all “writers”… the act of picking up a pen and putting words on paper automatically turns us into writers, ones who write.

We all write lists.

We all write notes.

We all are writers.

So next time you’re feeling or thinking something you don’t know what to do with, try writing.  Anything.  Everything. Whatever’s on your mind.  Whatever comes out when you put your pen to paper.   Imperfect grammar, dangling participles (I still don’t really know what those are… I just I love that phrase), broken thoughts, incoherent ramblings.  Just write it all out.

And when you stop, you will likely have written yourself a golden word-thread of relief, perspective, even insight.  You will have rewritten your life.

write-on

"Life is Good" t-shirt - thank you Patti! :)

So today I cheer the writer in each of us and ask you to join me as we all write on!!    

In fact, you can start write now :) by writing a comment below about your own writing experiences or lack thereof. 
I’m listening….

16 Comments

“enough books” ?? NEVER!!!

February 12, 2009 at 11:04 am (Books, Starla's Bookshelf, Uncategorized)
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books1

I’m sitting in the “yellow room” (my sacred space room, painted butternut squash color…but used to be  yellow so the label stuck), surrounded by books.  I’m pretty sure that my heaven, whatever that place/state of being turns out to be, will have a gazillion books.   Words feed me.

Sandy, a one-book-at-a-time chick, pokes fun at my stack of partially-read books.  But there’s a different book for every need!   Here’s what I’ve got going on right now… yes, all at the same time:

  • The Essential Rumi (Translations by Coleman Barks with John Moyne):  opened face down in front of me right now on the ottoman.   Lately I keep this open so the whole “Rumi essence” can escape.  Kinda like those  air fresheners that automatically release a little puff of fresh scent every few minutes.   Rumi rocks my world!
  •  A Natural History of the Senses (Diane Ackerman):  One of my dear friend Jo’s fave books, so I bought it.   EXCELLENT DECISION! This book is such a feast for the senses that I can only read it in small doses without feeling gluttonous.  Phenomenal writing, almost magical reading experience.  Thanks, Jo!
  • The Art Spirit (Robert Henri):  How is it possible that I resonate so strongly with someone writing in 1923??  The art spirit is timeless, connecting us across generations, civilizations.
  •  You Can Heal Your Life (Louise Hay): Sent this book to my niece and opened it again for myself as a refresher.  The title always makes me cringe, but I have to admit this book has gotten me through some pretty intense self-doubting times over the years.
  • Younger Next Year for Women (Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge):  My sis-in-law gave this to me for my 40th birthday.  Fantastic book for setting yourself up to age gracefully and strongly.  Thank you Joan!
  • Gardens: An Essay on the Human Condition (Roert Pogue Harrison):  Haven’t started this one yet, but keep it front & center to let the anticipation build.  I suspect this will be a perfect intellectual companion to my garden design work.
  • From Entrepreneur to Big Fish: 7 Principles of Wild Success (Lorin Beller Blake):  Fantastic read from the Founder of the Big Fish Nation (http://www.bigfishnation.com).  I’m in the Big Fish full-year program now, but read this book before stepping in.  Not just your average business book — more of a life manual that translates beautifully into business success.  Thanks for letting this book write itself through you, Lorin!
  • Taming Your Gremlin (Rick Carson):  Boy, do i have some serious gremlins to tame!  Love the way this book helps you learn to observe your own “stuff” without judgment.  Out damn gremlins, OUT!  Nancy, thank you!
  • Blink (Malcolm Gladwell):  Fascinating read about making split-second decisions.  Thanks Patti, for buying this for me when I was on a spending moratorium!
  • And then, of course, the bedtime reading mind candy: Prep (Curtis Sittenfeld).

Of course there will always be more… so I’ll have more book updates from time to time.

1 Comment

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