Growth & Compost (vol. 3, no. 2)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month:

1. Question(s) I’m living with:

  • “By faithfulness, I mean, am I being faithful to my own gifts? Am I being faithful to the needs I see around me within my reach? And am I being faithful to those points at which my gifts might intersect those needs in some life-giving way?” – Parker Palmer (On Being Podcast)

2. Quote I’m considering:

  • “A flower, although beautiful, will become compost someday, but if you know how to transform the compost back into the flower, then you don’t have to worry. You don’t have to worry about your anger because you know how to handle it—to embrace, to recognize, and to transform it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

3. Poem I’m pondering:

Surviving by Leona Gom (ht Matthew Ogle)

growth,
the smell of it
like warm vinegar,
it pushes through all
the burned-out places, the
logged-out places, crawls
from stumps, vines,
the dark throat of seeds,
from all the things
that know
how to hold
their breaths
and wait

4. Something inspiring:

5. New blog:

  •  My First “No” for the Tribe – “I raised my eyes to look at them. I stood up straight before them. I gripped the top of the syllabus with my hands and ripped it. I split it in two. I tore it right down the middle in a purposively dramatic slow-motion die-syllabus-die manner. And as it fluttered to the floor I said…”

If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues hereview lists of poems, questions, quotes and songs I’ve shared before here, and subscribe here.

Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn

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