In a workshop on sacred space, I drew a rainbow vortex, holding 4-6 crayons in my hand at a time. I loved that part. Then, looking at my crayon drawing, I wrote this letter to the rainbow vortex. Later I cut the vortex into a spiral and pasted it into my journal, folding in switchbacks as if climbing up a canyon wall. –JGR
RAINBOW VORTEX
You call to me, call to me.
Call me back to be there with you.
To dwell there with you
in pure heart
essence.
Remember that ultimately going for the money is 100% wrong. Going for love of what you’re doing is sort of 60% right. You can fill that other 40% with a little practical thinking: I also want to make a living at this. I don’t want to starve. —George Lucas, Quoted in USA Today
“Poetry is words on a page nibbling at the edge of something vast.” –Nebraska’s less-well-known poet laureate, William Kloefkorn (Suggested by Susan J. Tweit) Biography William Kloefkorn was named Nebraska Poet Laureate in 1982 and held that distinction for more than a decade. Often called “the Garrison Keillor of contemporary American poetry,” Kloefkorn’s poetry collections…
Hostesses and the floral industry have known this for a long time. But the symbolic action of giving and receiving flowers makes people happy. The tangible symbol of being surrounded by flowers, makes people happier. Now the Home Ecology of Flowers Sudy at Harvard reveals that: 1) Flowers Feed Compassion. 2) Flowers chase away anxieties,…
Beautiful multi-media presentation fully worthy of the topic “The End of Suffering.” Brooks Cole who hosts the Thich Nhat Hahn Room introduces it in this way: Very seldom as a media artist do I have the opportunity to be so moved by the material that I am composing with that tears are streaming down my…
Anais Nin, photo courtesy Maryanne Raphael Maryanne Raphael has written and co-authored 10 books, short stories, poetry, and articles. You can read more about Maryanne and her work on www.authorsden.com/maryanneraphael. She says: “No matter what I’m doing right now, I would rather be writing.” Anais Nin was important in my own life as a woman…
This flash fiction of 3 parts, or panels, was originally published in The Portland Review. I’m posting it on Riehlife in three parts. “Triptych: Jeweled Bones” links to an on-going theme of how the land nurtures us as writers and creative people. Arletta Dawdy found inspiration in this piece and I’ll be posting her story-poem…
Yes! Maybe the rainbow vortex is the sunset….is the sunrise. It does call to us, all the time to be more fully the colors of ourselves.