NURTURE COMES FROM THE EARTH
During this writing circle, women writing inside Northwest State Correctional Facility wrote and created ‘soul collage’ to prompts that included the following epigraphs: ‘The body knows things a long time before the mind catches up to them.” – Sue Monk Kidd, Secret Life of Bees; and “Like an unexpected pregnancy, you may be carrying the seeds of something that will change your life and the world. ” — Jean Shinoda Bolen, Urgent Message from Mother. After the collage images were created, the women were invited to sit quietly with their work and enter into its meaning, to address what wisdom that image may have for them, something to take with them to remember when they need centering quiet.
Rivers and falls, maple and birch –
my shelter, my home
"Wisdom for the Inner Life"
signs and wonder
in one tiny star
and beyond;
her wisdom, her power engage me
vibrant and alive, like I am -
start one way and end up another.
My body knows it’s
lucky to have the experience of life on earth,
strength of women despite our differences;
wisdom of the inner life
to live one’s dreams or choose not to.
I get a second chance,
can feel the changes
ensure a future for us all;
take joy in little things,
remember moments of tranquility -
a beautiful day out picking flowers with my Mom,
make wishes at the full moon -
me, who was forced into someone else’s mold.
I carry the seeds of possibility;
vivid green of hope
speaks to me of new beginnings,
simple, profound lessons:
I am different for wanting it to be different,
feel I am worth taking care of
[constant caretaking sometimes exhausting].
What really matters
is worth the effort:
to go home better people than when we arrived;
know right from wrong,
vibrancy in corners of our soul,
life spun in another direction.
Nature in its many forms
are ones that relax me.
Sitting on this beach, what would you do
if somehow our world changed overnight?
I sit and I stare
writing freely as if I had no cares.
