A hot summer day in 1980. I’d spent much of it outdoors on our forty wild acres near Kingston, Arkansas. Now I stood meditatively inside our little hexagonal cabin, when suddenly, a group of figures composed of white light appeared within the field of white light which vibrated in and around me. I heard this unexpected message coming from them: “You could work on a book about natural means of protecting people from radiation if you want to.“

The wording of the message was completely respectful of my free will. The sacredness and clarity of the moment was so memorable that I recalled it several weeks later when Steven Schechter, N.D., a naturopathic physician, showed up on our land unannounced. He told me that he iwa just beginning research on a pamphlet about natural means of protecting the body from ionizing radiation. We ended up working together for over seven years on what was finally published in 1988 as a full-length book titled Fighting Radiation with Foods, Herbs, and Vitamins. It appeared in two more editions over the next several years, further expanded by Steven, the primary author, to include some information about counteracting the effects of chemical pollutants.

This day is a gift.

And…

Tides of sorrow and horror flow through as we see and feel the mounting wars. What helps you keep your balance and stay grounded in this torrent?

I want to offer you a poem by the American poet, Jack Gilbert (1925-2012). In addition to the seemingly endless pain and grief, “the 10,000 sorrows” of this life, there are also “the 10,000 joys.”

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift.

On Meeting the Great Man

More likely than not you’ve already read poetry by the Kentucky farmer-agronomist-poet-novelist-essayist and untiring champion of the Common Good Wendell Berry.  Here’s a imaginative, mysterious poem of his I like:

Go to the altar of water
and let your thoughts drown
as its ripples replace them.

Stroll through the murmuring pines
and the hemlocks and let your thoughts
be swept away in their shade.

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift.

We’re nearing the threshold of autumn as I write this. The Equinox falls on September 23 at 11:49 PM Pacific time.  It’s such a beautiful time to be outside close to the earth.

The poet and the scientist both observe Nature closely, though poets may wonder at the majesty of Nature more than scientists, and scientists may often wonder about the specifics of Her workings more than poets. We both require an experimental, fluid, playful mindset to be successful in our respective endeavors– the scientist must be willing to run many trial experiments to achieve her aim. The poetess turns lines over on her tongue and tries them for just-rightness and sonority.

Dear Readers and Writers

This day is a gift.

I want to address the vast range of perceptual modes we people experience.  It’s unexplored territory that poets and mystics have always made forays into.

How many senses do we actually have? Only five?

I’ve learned from experience that recognizing more of these ways and attuning to them can heighten our awareness of self and world and inspire us to respond more fully and creatively to whatever challenges we face individually and collectively.

Geoff’s Gifting for June. 2023

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift.

This year the Summer Solstice arrives here in the Northern Hemisphere at 10:57 A.M. Eastern time on June 21.

Remember getting out of school for summer vacation, the yearned-for return to sunny hours of outdoor play?  Let Mary Oliver transport you back there.

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift. This May is a gift.

Let’s take a imaginal walk into the terrain of May with two great English poets, Andrew Marvell and the under-appreciated John Clare, and the Kentucky farmer, agricultural/environmental activist, essayist, novelist and poet Wendell Berry. Then, I will invite myself and you to put aside our digital devices, rest awhile from our anxieties and concerns for the Earth and if possible walk into some green place in our own necks of the woods.

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift.

What role have your dreams played in your life and poetry? If you consider your entire dream life, beginning with the first dream you can recall., what comes to your heartmind as you review this dream history? 

I’ve always attended to my dreams. During an especially intensive fifteen years of “night school,” I journaled every dream and vision I had, jotting down a title for each. Keeping this discipline allowed me to distill and designate the most compelling images, words, characters, interactions, sensations, emotions, possible precognitive and other paranormal elements, transcendent moments, or overall felt senses of my dreams. Titling them helped me remember them and what I found most impactful about them. It allowed me to discern recurring dream-themes.

Dear Readers and Writers,

This day is a gift.

“Nothing is so beautiful as spring–
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightning to hear him sing…”

from “Spring,” by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-89)

Here it comes! Green tongues poke up out of the snow. Wind wags them
around and their soft songs stream down. The Solar Wheel has spun us back to this time of natural revival.

Dear Readers and Writers,

Several months ago my wife Leslie and I made our first trip since before the pandemic to my birthplace, Kansas City. While there, we paid a visit to our friend, SuEllen Fried, who had turned 90 only weeks before. In addition to raising a happy family, SuEllen has spent her adult life in creative service: she was one of the very first dance and movement therapists in this country; has worked for decades in many prisons with incarcerated people to build their self-esteem and resiliency; has authored books and spoken nationally about bullying and worked with children and teachers in classrooms to directly address the problem; and has consistently been engaged in a range of community mental health issues.

If you google SuEllen Fried, you’ll find photos, youtube videos of her speaking about bullying, her books, her website bullysafeusa.com and a wikipedia entry, among other wonderful things by and about her.

We found SuEllen to be as wise and kind and vital as ever, despite her age and the death of her beloved husband Harvey a few years ago. She shared with us that for many years she and Harvey began every morning of their long marriage together by saying, “This day is a gift.”