Events & News (03/16/24)
Hold yourself to the difficult
The Saturday Spark
Tell us: Name one way in which you “hold yourself to the difficult” in your creative life. (Remember, EVERYBODY is creative.)
On a personal note . . .
I’m currently out of studio. I’ll be back on Monday but with a crazy schedule through mid-April. Thanks to my wonderful virtual assistant,
, and Rafter volunteers and, Raft publications and events shouldn’t be affected. But I thank you in advance for your patience as you await shipments of packages and replies to your emails.Craft Chat
Recently I had a delightful conversation with the big-hearted
, publisher of a marvelous Substack called . Each week, Ken talks with a poet about some of the technical issues or magical moments s/he encountered while creating a particular poem. If you appreciate poetry as a reader or writer, you’ll want to check out Ken’s publication. Subscribe for free!Ken and I discussed my writing of “For the Sake of One We Love and Are Losing,” a long poem that the Muse presented to me largely in a dream in March, 2020. At the time, the COVID pandemic was just reaching the shores of the US, though it hadn’t yet been detected. Click on the link below if you’d like to read Ken’s feature on my poem.
Thank you,
, for all you’re doing on behalf of poetry.
Don’t miss this!
Catch up! (event replays)
Note: This week’s Poetry Pick-Me-Up was cancelled at the last minute as the volunteer host who was substituting for me had a family emergency. Watch for another replay next week.
Next week on The Raft . . .
Poetry Pick-Me-Up (Zoom, Thursday, 12-1PM Central). A casual weekly gathering for poetry-sharing, celebration, and discussion. Hop on the Zoom at this link. Bring a poem you like to read to the group. Or, just come to listen to poems offered by other Rafters and to participate as you’re comfortable in our informal but wholehearted conversation. Can’t make it? Watch for the video replay in this newsletter!
Grateful, grateful!
The Raft is my gift to you. If you appreciate my offerings, please consider supporting my work by becoming a patron (paid subscriber).
My heartfelt thanks to all these patrons who have made recent contributions: Barbara Bisgrove, Vicki Capestany, Joanne Draper, Anne Harris, Carroll Jones, Jackie Langetieg, Rona Klein, Geri Ortega, Lana Phillips, Julie Roth, Jari Thymian, Allie Turnock, Gerald Underdal, Shelly Wemhoener, Bruce Williamson, and kljohnson.
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Whew! That's all for now. Stay well. Stay witty. Stay tuned into your true spot and create from your radiant, beautiful self.
As I recall Rilke also advised us to "live the questions" of our lives.
The most difficult for me is to disengage from life. Life in its vibrancy surrounds me. I see possibility and beauty in every dawn, every despairing patient, every obstacle and certainly in the eyes of my four year old lab.
To disengage from those sacred opportunities that this world has to offer is most difficult. And while it is with ease and a longing that I move into the solitary, still world, the practice of not engaging with the outside world is quite difficult.
I have been a student of equanimity, balance between inner and outer worlds, for quite some time. To be on a path of inner world only is difficult.