Freefall into Future (vol. 2, no. 6)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month

1. Question I’m living with:

• “Who do you think is in your household? If only the people in your household are comfortable, is that enough? Who do you imagine is in your broader household?” –  Pádraig Ó Tuama (reviewing Ilya Kaminsky‘s poem We Lived Happily During the War)

2. Quote I’m considering:

• “We’re in a freefall into future. We don’t know where we’re going. Things are changing so fast, and always when you’re going through a long tunnel, anxiety comes along. And all you have to do to transform your hell into a paradise is to turn your fall into a voluntary act. It’s a very interesting shift of perspective and that’s all it is…joyful participation in the sorrows and everything changes.” – Joseph Campbell (Sukhavati – A Mythic Journey)

3. Poem I’m pondering:

“The Journey” by Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew
What you had to do, and began,
Though the voices around you
Kept shouting
Their bad advice‚
Though the whole house
Began to tremble
And you felt the old tug
At your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
Each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
Though the wind pried
With its stiff fingers
At the very foundations‚
Though their melancholy
Was terrible.
It was already late
Enough, and a wild night,
And the road full of fallen
Branches and stones.
But little by little,
As you left their voices behind,
The stars began to burn
Through the sheets of clouds,
And there was a new voice,
Which you slowly
Recognized as your own,
That kept you company
As you strode deeper and deeper
Into the world,
Determined to do
The only thing you could do‚
Determined to save
The only life you could save.

4. Something inspiring:

• I send out a monthly newsletter to my current students. It’s called Threshold Crossing. Anyways, last month I shared my 50 Bits of Unsolicited Advice with them. In reply, one of my students (Quinn) shared a lesson that a family friend shared with them: “Only look in someone else’s cup to see if they have enough.”

5. New blogs:

• There is this threshold. I walk my students up to it each semester. They stand on one side as they are, as they arrive. On the other side is… How to Be Vulnerable with Your Students
• My people raised me to be a warrior. And, I want to be a warrior. But, here’s the thing… I Would Rather Take the Beating 

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

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