Hunting Winterberries and Gathering Beauty in Earnscliffe--For Lucas

And on these late November days
when the now cold air feels thin as hunger, 
smells of wood smoke, leaf rot, mud.


We drive the narrow side roads, scoping out
winterberries not yet eaten by
Robins-- or buried by February's snow.


You see some, and I pull off where I think the ground will hold us.
We get out--you with the snips and your camera-- and tromp down into sodden ditches,
still wet with last night's rain. 


They like their feet soused- swamp holly--
and now my feet are drenched and cold too, damn rotten, rubbers.
You don't hear me. Crouched, keen and sighting out a shot. 


This time a greyed and time worn fence post, your unmarked target.
A pair of starlings nested here last summer -now long abandoned
amid golden grasses almost as tall as you, at newly thirteen.


An instant later we hear gun fire --hunters.
This is pheasant territory. Goose too, you remind me.
Perhaps the pair of ring- necks we saw last week are safe, still as decoys.

Soon after, men wave as they pass, their trailer full of guns, ammo, untold fallen prey.
We pause, gather our winterberries, red osier dogwood. You get your shot, retreat
watching as a herd of sheep graze nearby, undeterred by fear or encroaching darkness.


No blood shed in our ditch. Only greys, golds and reds of late November remain.
And the ache--do not forget the ache--that stark and lonely beauty within calls out.
Pay attention. Time is passing. We turn on the heater. Drive away. 

Jill MacCormack

The Stillness of a Midsummer's Eve

Life can be staggeringly busy as a parent of three with everyone old enough to have their ideas about how the day should go and what they would like to do while there is warmth and the sun is finally shining. 

Keeping up with all of this requires prioritizing, negotiating and navigation skills befitting an arctic explorer. It's enough some summer nights to leave a gal exhausted. 

Today was a semi day of rest following a wonderfully full Saturday. This evening an eve of preparation for a daylong outing tomorrow to the shore we love. A place of tranquil beauty and respite from our usual busyness. But this too requires planning.

This eve I made a stop to the grocery store to purchase some items to pack. The grocery store often represents a battle ground in my mind. A place where highly processed plastic encased food is sold and I become a mental warrior for local naked produce. Yet with my clay feet I still at times find myself purchasing less than ideally. The grocery store signifies to me many of the problems rampant in our world and in my own life. If only I could view it as the place of plenty I did as a child. Alas.

Battle waged, I exited the store to find an uncommon peace come over me. I was descended upon. Like summertime dew on grass I became drenched in serenity. I felt exalted. Like dancing chaines turns on the sand as my youngest did over and over yesterday at St. Peter's Harbour beach. I  first walked one way, then caught off guard by the enveloping sense of largeness, I turned to gaze at the place where the parking lot, almost empty, met the forest and then where the trees met the sky. I breathed in the air and paused a moment.

There was a lone truck parked facing me but I could not see who was in it. I then walked over to meet my daughter returning her cart and heard a voice speak from the parked truck.

"It's a beautiful summer night" they said. I turned  to discover it was someone I knew from my growing up years. I instantly became self conscious as I realized that they had been watching me as I stood and stared in awe at the sky.

"Yes, it is. I was just thinking to myself that on a night like this I would rather be anywhere than this parking lot" I clumsily replied reverting back to my shyness around this person when we were teens. 

As soon as the words escaped my lips I knew they were untrue. I had just felt as perfectly happy standing there grocery cart in hand, as I had ever felt anywhere, anytime.

I got in my car and as I drove away I realized that when I first left the grocery store I hadn't only left the store, but had completely escaped myself as well. The utter perfection of the temperature, the casual coolness of the dwindling light, the strange stillness of the air and the sense of a midsummer night's possibility all had conspired to enlarge my experience of my ordinary world. It had removed my need to think in terms of me, myself or I.

As I drove away I thought of what I really should have said to my parking lot companion:

"It is such a wonderfully beautiful night, so full of an uncrafted perfection only a midsummer's eve can hold, that it is able to transform Sobeys parking lot into something altogether marvelous."

May midsummer find you able to enjoy the bounty of the harvest and the peace of the wondrous present.  

Sincerely,
Jill MacCormack

The Wildness of an Island Summer

Wild Rose

The blush of Wild Rose
stops me in my tracks, breathless.
While unabashed they
swell, blossom fragrant, heady.
Madly I devour their scent. 

After walking through a hedge of bayberry, down the forty eight step skeletal stairway that frames our descent of the red cape, my husband and I wandered the sandstone shore a while. We then sat and looked out upon the calm, blue Atlantic, still frigid in early July after a late winter. Quietly I thought about the wildness of this world.

Why do we deny its beauty? Endlessly seek to manipulate, manage, and control? What aspects of ourselves do we lose in this process? What have we quelled in our desperate quest for order, power and security? What havoc has our need to dominate wrought upon the world? 

How can we fall in love with the wildness of the Earth again?

Without a doubt I know we cannot fall in love with the Earth unless we slow down and make time to experience its wonders. Today I did just this:

I walked slowly enough that my steps fell into the rhythm of my breath. Stopped to swat the mosquito which was feasting on my flesh. Remembered that my blood feeds its young and that it pollinates the flowers by the cape. Turned quickly as a flash of green caught my eye. A grasshopper called my gaze to tiny things. It hopped away and I noticed a blood red trailing vine creep across the ground at my feet. And what did this vine bear once I'd traced its tangle to the prize? The delicate taste of tart sunshine, with a hint of strawberry sweetness that only wild strawberry can impart upon willing lips, tongues. My mouth became a tiny festival of summertime. Songs sang inside me and I swooned in return.

With ten thousand different love songs, the wildness of an Island summer begs for our embrace. How willingly we respond is up to us.

To love this world is to heal our hearts, re-connect, and let the Earth heal.
Jill MacCormack






 

Raise Your Words, Not Your Voice. Rumi -- The Creativity Project 2015 and the Power of Your Choices

                                                                                 Viceroy Butterfly
                                                  Raise your words, not your voice. 
                                              It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
                                                                                                                   Rumi

If the only part of this blog post you read are the above words of the Sufi poet Rumi shared with me recently by a friend. That is enough.

I had an interesting conversation earlier in the week at a watershed mtg. We were discussing a new development in Stratford and traffic concerns came up. Someone was complaining about the general rise in traffic and I noted it as well. Now, on an average weekday afternoon, there seems to be two lanes of traffic heading in both directions across the Hillsborough River Bridge. I mentioned to those in attendance at the meeting that my own displeasure with the traffic caused me to take a moment and consider the fact that mine is one of the cars contributing to that traffic. It also caused me to consider whether I needed to be on the road at that given point in time; if I was using the privilege of driving a car with wisdom and prudence. (We were on our way to West Royalty for piano lessons which on a personal level could be justified by certain rationale-- but doesn't everyone have their own justifications for being on the road?) The very thoughtful new town planner sat a minute and then said:

"Wow--it's really great that you were able to make that connection."

It seemed as though he was surprised that I understood that I was part of the problem and that I was considering my own role in it. I found it strange that he was rather amazed by this. Doesn't everyone make connections to the consequences of their actions--at least some of the time? Or is it our seemingly profound inability to make those neural connections between the cause and effects of our actions that gets us into trouble as humans?

I personally think that a lot of the difficulties we are currently facing have arisen due to a lack of making the connection between things.

 A lack of a sense of our own interconnectedness with each other and all of the living universe has brought about a sense of divisiveness in our hearts and minds which is intimately reflected in how we interact with the natural world and each other. 


A lack of awareness of the power we wield as consumers has allowed capitalism to reach the level where the rich are growing richer at the expense of the well being of the vast majority as well as at a tremendous cost to the environment. 

A lack of awareness of the power we each have to effect change in our lives has rendered many immobile and unresponsive. 

All of these disconnects undoubtedly have contributed to our current social, economic and environmental crisis.

How can we re-aquaint ourselves with a sense of our interconnectedness with each other and with the living world? How do the daily choices we each make shape the world around us both locally and globally? 

Some considerations:

A possible antidote to commodification and destruction of land, sea, air and community:

 

• Get to know your natural environment
• Dream and imagine new ways of being
• Seek alternatives to fossil fuel consumption
• Support causes that foster change
• Be open to beauty
• Be open to wonder
• Spend time with someone who might be lonely
• Plant a native species tree
• Turn away from fear and hatred move in the direction of LOVE and PEACE
• Practice mindfulness
• Talk with a farmer/fisher
• Be gentle with yourself and kind to others
• Take time to be quiet/reflective
• Visit with an elderly person
• Respect different ways of being
• Walk, cycle or take public transit when possible
• Learn to value concepts of simplicity: lagom, wabi sabi
• Cultivate an attitude of gratefulness
• Learn to sit with uncomfortable emotions
• Buy locally more often
• Trade/swap used goods
• Buy plastic less often
• Consider your water usage and consumption
• Don’t buy into images
• Appreciate local arts and culture
• Express your creativity
• Talk to your neighbours
• Practice community mindedness
• Acknowledge the impermanence of all things
• Grow a garden
• Hug someone 
• Be patient and tolerant in the process of change 
• Don't underestimate the power of your own inner voice

—–Sincerely,

Jill MacCormack

Part of this blog post has been re-published from the original Creativity Project posting of several years ago. 

The Creativity Project aims to foster an environment of whimsy and wonder for reflection and is open to the general public for eight hours once a year during Charlottetown PEI's grand open air festival Art in the Open. This year's festival will be on August 29th throughout Charlottetown's outdoor public spaces.

Caveat:

Your own moments of whimsy and wonder are available for your reflection 24 hours a day year round. 

SOIL--Giver of Life--Happy Earth Day 2015

"Healthy soil brings vigorous plants, stronger and smarter people, cultural empowerment, and the wealth of a nation. Bad soil, in short, threatens civilization. We cannot have good food- healthy, sustainable or delicious-without soil filled with life." pg 77 The Third Plate by Dan Barber  

photo/text by Janice McGuigan

There is no single element of greater importance to overall well being than our soil, yet we ignore and destroy it as readily as we do air and water. Have we forgotten our utter dependence on these elements for our survival? What of the countless number of silent species which also require clean air, clean water and living soil for life as well?

April 22 is Earth Day and 2015 is the International Year of Soils as declared by the UN. We are  midway through a Provincial Election on an Island of tremendous potential but are currently experiencing a social, environmental and economic downturn of epic proportions. What demands can we bring to our politicians to ensure that our topsoil be allowed to regenerate itself? That our waters not be condemned to ever increasing levels of pollution? That clean air becomes a real priority?  That all Islanders have a right to a healthy environment?

We all play a role in shaping where we live. Choices we make in our daily lives impact the world as a whole and are intimately reflected in our local environment. How we make use of our land and waters will impact those elements either positively or negatively. The quality of soil is directly related to how it is fed. We as a people are no different. The well being of a civilization  is intimately tied to the health of the natural environment that supports that civilization. Why can we not see this? We would do well to look to the Wheat Belt in the US to see what wrath a lack of understanding of the importance of bio-diverse soil has on culture.

"...biological complexity has direct implications for social and cultural robustness...the Wheat Belt's cultural decline is a reflection of its denuded landscape- the product of  'what nature has made of us and what we have made of nature.'" pg 51 The Third Plate by Dan Barber

Prince Edward Island has many gifts yet we do not honour them. As Island historian David Weale has pointed out, we have lost our sense of ourselves and with that we have forgotten our interconnectedness with each other and with all things. I ask, how else could we have allowed our Island to reach a state where fish kills are normalized as something that happens after heavy rains, where topsoil is allowed to be blown to kingdom come in windstorms, where alarmingly high levels of nitrates in our well waters is quietly accepted as an aspect of rural living? How could we have become food insecure in a land that should be able to feed us all without question and why are we seeing the exodus of young Islanders  in droves to try and earn a living elsewhere? Our vitality as Islanders depends upon our reacquainting ourselves with a deep sense of our own identity as well as a respect for the well being of our land and waters.

   "Our vitality as Islanders depends upon our reacquainting ourselves with a deep sense of our own identity as well as a respect for the well being of our land and waters."

Be willing to ask  difficult questions. What is our precious land being used for? Those French fries that North Americans, many Islanders included, so readily eat? GMO crops whose long term safety is still in question? What choices do we make in our daily lives that support such systems of farming? Why, despite our knowing better, are we still swayed by agri-business and the land development interests of corporations? High capacity water wells, hydraulic fracturing, storm water runoff, the burning and burying of our household waste products and chemical spraying of our land are all things that impact the well being of both our soil and waters and issues that all Islanders should be deeply concerned about. We must create a new way of thinking about and relating to our natural environment. We must speak for the silent majority; those microorganisms that inhabit the very ground beneath our feet and upon which the well being of so much depends.

 "We must speak for the silent majority; those microorganisms that inhabit the very ground beneath our feet and upon which the well being of so much depends." 

Revitalization is not only possible, it is our only hope. But it requires that we be courageous enough to step outside the parameters of how we have been governing things for the past very long while. We must safeguard our land and waters through the implementation of good process in order to achieve comprehensive laws which ensure their long term well being. And we must act as watchdogs of those laws we help to formulate such as the upcoming development of a comprehensive Water Act to govern how Islanders utilize this vital resource.

Solutions are all around us but they require that we move away from idle chatter and return to  listening to the land. The Earth has a language too (pg 57 The Third Plate by Dan Barber) and our Island soil  and waters have much to say to a willing listener. It's time we all became better listeners and advocates for these silent elements of our Island. One way to do this is to use  your hard earned money to support those whose farming methods promote a living soil, clean air and water. Another way is to engage in meaningful dialogue with local farmers to hear their concerns and express your thoughts to your local candidate for MLA, and/or converse with fellow Islanders such as those involved with formulating a new Vision for PEI, called Vision PEI.

After all, we have come from soil and to soil we shall return. We must act now for the well being of future generations of life on this Island.

"Land then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of  energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants and animals...." pg 104 The Sacred Balance by David Suzuki 

Happy Earth Day 2015 --Love the Earth

Sincerely,                                                                                                                

Jill MacCormack

IMAGINE--Cultivating A Culture of Learning on PEI

IMAGINE

Imagine learning that has not been institutionalized—imagination running free, curiosity encouraged, smiling, chatting, motion and doodling allowed. Imagine facilitators encouraging exploration, questioning, the process of trial and error, figuring things out for yourself combined with learning from the mistakes and wisdom of our elders.

Imagine an environment that allows you to take your time with things, to mull things over, to move away from something when you are stuck and come back to it after a healthy break. One in which there is room for mental sorting, space to learn at your own pace, allowing each to learn in the way best suited to their own personal learning style.

Imagine heart centered learning; training our children in paying attention to their intuitiveness and cultivating their own wisdom. Imagine how highly respectful of children such an environment could be; respectful of children’s keen need to move their  bodies, to dance, to sing, to be quiet, to spend time outdoors by themselves or in small groups.

Imagine an education system that grants children exposure to the many wonderful things of this world and lets them choose to pursue learning in areas where their own interest lies. Imagine a learning environment that allows kids to honour the curiosities and enthusiasm innate to childhood: their deep sense of wonder, their insatiable need to know, their desire to run and scream when the first snowflake falls or the first butterfly of spring flutters by.

Imagine a learning environment that teaches life skills, and values kindness, sharing and gentleness over competition. One which naturally encourages a holistic approach to well being and reverence for life!

Imagine a culture that recognizes that we are all learners and teachers both at any given point in our lives. Imagine a world in which pursuing your innate desire to learn about those things in which you are keenly interested and which are meaningful to you is prized! Imagine a system where no one is graded but instead all recognize that the greatest reward is learning itself! Imagine the possibilities!  Imagine if…

Jill MacCormack

First published on Vision PEI facebook page April 13, 2015

An Alternative Approach to Education--Imagine if...

First written in March 2015--

Yesterday was the 12th day off from school on PEI this school year due to inclement weather and/ or unsafe road conditions. There's been considerable media attention given to missed instructional time for students and teachers. There has also been media attention given to the Vision Initiative, a local, non-partisan group of Islanders looking towards new ways of living for Prince Edward Islander's, including a new way of educating Island children.

As a parent of three school aged children, and a mother who was involved in her children's formal education (as a parent volunteer from preschool days to sixth grade) and a current practitioner of homeschooling, I am given to the belief that the current education system is highly disrespectful of our children's innate curiosity and natural energies and enthusiasms.

In North America far too many children are suffering from inactivity, disconnection from the natural world and boredom. I am inclined to see a strong correlation between children being forced to sit indoors and learn in ways that are not designed to suit each student and the problems modern children face.

Every child has the ability to shine in something but our current model of education stifles and squeezes much of what is innate to childhood out of our kids by highly emphasizing academic achievement based on a time focused, linear model that simply doesn't match the myriad of ways in which children's minds develop. (Children in mainstream schooling must learn according to grade level expectations based on age and not on individual needs of each child...and the children's abilities to keep pace are accordingly graded). Ouch! We no longer measure a child's intelligence by the age they say their first word or take their first steps...we know that these things can successfully occur within a window of time, so why are we forcing this model on our school aged children?

I continue to be grateful for the many wonderful teachers our kids came in contact with as well as the caring and  sensitivity they showed to  the children they worked with, but I remain troubled by the tremendous pressures classroom teachers face due to increased class size and the high needs of many of their students.

Two years ago my family and I made the choice to live a lifestyle that allows one parent to be at home facilitating the education of our three kids. That said, it has taken me the better part of the past two years to sort out the learning styles best suited to each of our three children, and I am their parent! How on earth could a classroom teacher be expected to discern and cater to the individual styles of twenty to thirty young people along with teach and manage a busy classroom?

Any person who studies early childhood development recognizes that small children are little sponges well designed to learn through manipulation of and immersion in their environment. New studies in neural plasticity demonstrate that our brains are hard wired to continue to grow and learn throughout life. The most challenging thing I've faced as a homeschooling parent is knowing when to just step back and let my kids natural curiosity lead their learning. Yet every time I do, we've all been deeply rewarded by the results. Perhaps I've been the slow learner?

Yesterday was a great example. We decided that even though the mainstream kids were not in school that we would, as we do on many " mainstream days off", still get in some structured school time. Canadian curriculum reading comprehension and math workbooks were in order. This was both preceded and followed by several kid led activities: shoveling out the neighbour's condos (a paid gig for our two older children) helping with a major clean out of our house, gym time with my youngest at our local town center--  In addition to this, our youngest also took up hand stitching a little flower to celebrate spring (inspired by her grandmother) as well as spending some much needed time outdoors playing in the snow which inspired her to compose a moving ode to the sunset on a wintry night.   There was also piano playing by our oldest, as well as working on a piece of short fiction she plans to submit to our local literary awards. Our middle child practiced painting snow laden evergreens in his sketchbook and translated this to a large canvas. He also took part in online correspondence with a group of Island bird watchers and  went for a midday walk in the woods. I asked the kids to do essentially none of these things. They just did them because they wanted to. Well, I might have reminded about the shoveling and encouraged our youngest to play in the snow but that was basically it.

If I had asked them to do the fiction and poetry writing or to figure out how to mix paints to find the right green for beneath the snow on evergreen trees I would have been met with groans and disinterest (as I was with the workbooks). This is contrasted with anything that the kids do that is interest led. Their interest led learning absorbs them to such an extent that hours can pass and they can forget to eat and drink. They work with an intensity rarely matched by any school children in a classroom because they are provided with a learning environment which both encourages and allows this.

I do not fault  teachers for dreary faced kids. As a homeschool parent I've seen my share of my own children's dreary faces. And them, mine. Rather, I fault a system that fails to understand and respect the many, varied ways that children learn. Children require long periods of uninterrupted time to explore and discover what might interest them. This allows for the specific type of brain development that engages the innovative and creative elements of children's minds. Researchers have discovered a link between this kind of playful uninterrupted learning and the ability to innovate in adulthood (as we've witnessed through watching our kids engage in endless hours of creating a lego town fueled by an ongoing storyline and the later creation of comic book writing, art and music). This type of creative learning is not possible in any type of institutional environment. At the end of play time in early childhood centers the instruments of play must be cleaned up. And play is not encouraged much past kindergarten classes in mainstream school. Elements of this type of play still develop on the playground where kids, when left to their own devices string together ongoing dramatic story lines and engage in role playing because it is innate in kids to do this.  Any child who from a young age has been given the daytime and evening hours to pursue their own interests will seem precocious when compared to those children forced to follow the drill of mainstream school.

I seriously doubt that children would be faced with the dilemma of what to do with their lives if they have been allowed from an early age to explore and consider both the natural and constructed environments around them. Imagine the innovations, imagine the possibilities, imagine the learning that could happen. Imagine how we adults would learn from the children. Just imagine if!


Check out this article written by a classroom teacher after spending two days as a student. It was sent to me this morning and prompted me to revisit this post which was in my draft folder:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/24/teacher-spends-two-days-as-a-student-and-is-shocked-at-what-she-learned/


Jill MacCormack

Happiness--What's That? Simplicity, Courage and LOVE

Happiness--what's that? Is it found in having people in our lives who care for us and for whom we care about or is it found in having people who stroke our egos and whose egos we stroke in return? Is it found in having  decent shelter and warmth or is it found in having a nicer, newer, bigger home than our neighbours? Is it found in seeking for ourselves or sharing of ourselves?

In our uber competitive culture we see self-serving raised  up as the ultimate source of meaning and means of creating happiness in our lives. Who is this "self" that we so desperately seek to serve? And at what cost to the environment and to those whose competitive ability is not fully intact? (Not that intact competitive ability is something that should be prized, rather that in our culture it is something that social/economic survival largely depends upon.)

This brings me to my dear brother-in-law Andrew's MacCormack's first documentary called Searching for Simplicity which he made in his early twenties while on travels in South America with friends. For those people in S. America whom he encountered, happiness was not nearly as tied up in stuff and comparison as it is for many in N. America. Rather the root of their happiness lay in simplicity: in having basic needs met and living closely with family and friends. It wasn't tied up in excessive choice of goods and services either. Corporations would have us N. Americans believe that choice is a reward of capitalism but in reality many consumers are weary of choice overload.

Eco-localism is one response to such overload. Thanks to imports we have far more than we need as far as goods are concerned on this little island we call Prince Edward Island and still not everyone's basic needs are being met. And because of having access to far more choices than we need, we develop wants that we confuse with needs.  Our attempts to seek happiness through fulfillment of those wants reaffirms our dependence on a system which sees us degrading our natural environment. This  further ingrains an underdevelopment of the local culture and economy. (The very high cost, both actual and environmental, of imported goods reduces our food security on PEI as well.) 

So what is there for us to do in response to such challenging times? Plenty if we are courageous and thoughtful!

From Pema Chodron's heart strengthening book entitled Living Beautifully with Uncertainty and Change  come the following words of wisdom:

 "In their prophecy of 2000, the Hopi elders said that in order not to be torn apart by these turbulent times, we have to let go of the shore and stay in the middle of the river, in the unceasing flow of life. But they didn't say we have to do this alone. 'See who is there with you and celebrate,' they said. 'The time of the lone wolf is over.'"


As often occurs within the individual on a spiritual journey, I am inclined to believe that we as a society are entering a period of being stripped away. That perhaps the degradation of our environment and the social and economic crises are forcing a stripping away of comfort and security. What remains may not be pretty, but it will be real. And I for one would rather see real ugly than fake beauty. How we choose to respond to what remains may be where our greatest hope for beauty lies. 

 Pema Chodron would call us to be warriors in our response to the living of our lives:

" 'We are needed.' We make this journey for the sake of ourselves, our loved ones, our enemies, and everybody else. Since we all share the same planet, it's crazy to continue acting in ways that will destroy it." 

Perhaps the most radical response we could be making is towards increasing the breadth and depth of our COURAGE and LOVE for the world.  Maybe we could work on transforming our understanding of ourselves in relation to all other beings in the universe. Once we stop seeing ourselves as separate from the entirety of it all we will be free to realize our connections to each other and to the rest of nature. Is happiness found in this?---it is certainly blissful in my own personal experience.

In beauty,
Jill

A Culture of Awakening

Admittedly I am not your average person when it comes to sharing my desires for seeing the world recognize its own inherent magnificence. I want us all to love and care for each other and the environment as we would our own flesh and blood--because we are all thoughtfully interconnected, flesh and blood of this majestic Earth. Yet I am not alone in my desire. Anyone who cares about and reaches out to help others or acts on their concerns about the social and environmental fabric of our world lightens the load of caring people. And it is up to each of us to sort out an approach to life that meets our own needs for meaningful connections while helping each other and the world at large. Thankfully there are so many inspiring people whose trailblazing footsteps we can follow in and whose wisdom we can learn from along the way.

In our all too busy lives it is too easy to forget that we are

the spirit of the sky, 
the bones of mountains, 
the flesh of grass and trees ,
and the moist tongue of the sea 
as it speaks the love song of our names.

We are creatures of rhythm and beauty. We are meant to dwell in cycles and communion with each other and the natural world, not live beneath the crushing weight and pressures that society imposes upon us.

A culture of awakening is forming in the hearts of those around me. I feel it in my heart that goodness is eagerly awaiting our unearthing. Community mindedness is becoming more prevalent. People are no longer willing to sit idly and watch as the rich continue to get richer and the poor more displaced. Environmental stewardship is catching on. But continued pressure on government accountability is always needed. And a willingness on the part of ordinary people to be self reflective and consider possible changes we can make in our everyday lives towards more sustainable lifestyles is always helpful.

Joyfully yours,
Jill MacCormack

Indulgence

Sometimes the world I love makes me sad and I'm compelled to write depressing poems. It's not usually one single thing which gets me down, more likely a series of unfortunate events or worries I have let grow too large. 
So how do I navigate the inner turmoil of being a highly sensitive person in a noisy, fast paced world? Working towards a balance of mind and body is always a good preventive, but when that has failed to happen and I am sad, or over- tired or befuddled by my own seeming inconsistencies, I tend to curl up with a cup of tea and read or write. 
Yesterday I was feeling a little too sorry for myself and I indulged in writing a double cinquain on wallowing in self pity. Anyone who truly knows me knows that practicing gratitude is a cornerstone of my approach to living, but every now and them I am given to writing a sad poem.

Wallow--
The word makes me
think of weeping, lonely
as the high tide mark of sadness
is breached

and I
am slowly drowned
by a sorrow I could 
have saved myself from had I known
better.

Jill MacCormack

In truth, my surest way to escape myself is to get out for a walk in my favourite woods, or by the pond or muck about with heavy boots around the ditches. And as soon as wellness and weather conspire to allow this you'll find me doing just that.