poems as mantras
Cute story.
I was talking to my son who is going to work in a US Summer Camp for 3 months. He’s headed to the deep south and the camp he’s a staff member at is a Christian Camp. In alot of his coworkers Instagram Bio’s are quote’s from the bible and emojis. So interesting I thought.
Anyway, I was thinking that often a quote from the Bible, or a Psalm can become something that defines your belief system, or anchors you, perhaps a guiding light. There’s so many systems and religions that can help us make sense of the world. They are a lense, perspective or system that often offers us community and structure. I think we all crave that! Maybe its why Cross Fit, Bikram Yoga and other organisations are so popular as they really committ to & grow their communities.
Later that day I was driving thinking about these Bio’s and I asked myself what I would put in my bio, if I was so inclined. And it would be poetry for sure.
I LOVE Mary Oliver and parts of her poems echo in the underlying soundtrack of my life. Then I remembered that here’s also many parts of the Bhagavad Gita I LOVE and would say I live with them as guideposts that I often return to. Then over to Alice Walker and John O’Donohue.
The thing is, what you have in your Bio is intentional, not random. Its like putting a steak in the ground and making a declaration. And I like that. To have a sense of intention and purposefulenss about what it is that underlies your decisions, what you refer to before making decisions, what or whom you go to for advice.
So below I’ll share a few of my most beloved people, my treasured quotes or poems. And I think that I’ll be so bold as to say, that at one time or another these have been like mantras to me. They have kept me company, they have informed decisions, helped me when times are hard or when there is a fork in the road. I’m sure you’ll have yours too, they might come straight to mind or they could take a little excavating. Let the process take its time.
There’s so much I love by Mary Oliver, John O’Donohue and The Bhagavad Gita. Really, so much of my life, my mood and my life has been influenced in some way by these 3. And lately 3 modern poets, who I adore also are a part of my influencers: April Green, Cleo Wade and Tess Guinery.
‘The Summer Day’ by Mary Oliver:
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
‘Sometimes’ by Mary Oliver:
4. Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.
Alice Walker:
Look closely at the present you are constructing, it should look like the future you are dreaming.
The Bhagavad Gita: the entire text is just divine! The translation is The Song of God. It is held lovingly by so many, for good reason from Henry Thoreau to Emmerson to Cleo Wade. It is a text that dives into wisdom, devotion and karma so beautifully and its so accessible! If you are new to this I’d suggest you go to the translation so lovingly done by Eknath Easwaran. But here’s a small collection of my favourites:
2.40 On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a littel effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.
2.47 You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. YOu should never engage in action for the sake of reward, not should you long for inaction.
3.35 It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following ones own dharma, but competition in anothers dharma breeds fear and insecurity.
17.3 A person is what his shraddha is. (Shraddha ‘that which is placed in the heart’ our very substance, our values, our prejudices, our prepossessions and what colours our thinking).
In the summary notes Eknath writes 'What we think we become, for as Emerson says, the ancestor of every action is a thought’.
The Apricot Memoirs by Tess Guinery.
The green-eyed monster only exists when you forget your birthright - when you turn a blind eye to the truth that God has beautiful plans for you too!
Comfort with the unknown: the silver lining of faith.
Heart Talk by Cleo Wade:
Being and Becoming
be who you are
be who you wan tto be
make those
the same thing
arrive in the world
each day
embracing
yourself
And lets finish with this from John O’Donhue’s book Divine Beauty:
Graciousness is a quality of mind that does not seperate truth and beauty (pg 63).
Without the warmth of care, the world becomes a graveyard. In the kindnesses of care, the divine comes alive in us.
All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul (pg 87).
Lets finish here with a contemplation, what is your life’s soundtrack? What poem, phrase, song, scent humms in the background, gently supporting you and your lifes choices?
