Of Love, Life & Truth ~ Secret Wisdom in the Poetry of WordPlay
~ by Vince Gowmon Know, know now, the only time you can k-now, and you’ll win your Heart over, now won One. But you may need to say a brave No to what is false, what is not You, to say Yes to what is real, what you know is true now, know now. And so trust your inner No, your inner k-no-w, its strength, its worth, its reason for being, so you embrace and follow your Heartfelt knowing, and boldly own what is kn-own within, making You more authentically known to the world, hiding less, if only a little, if only from your beloved, co-worker, friend, cat, plant… If only you own not just what is known now but what you’ve always known since […]
The Wisdom of Pain and Suffering ~ Surrendering to the Gifts of Weakness in a World that Pedestalizes Strength
“Be crumbled. So wild flowers will come up where you are. You have been stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender.” ~ Rumi “To be worn out is to be renewed.” ~ Lao Tzu Pain and suffering are difficult gateways no one avoids. We wish it was different, but it is the way of life. They are fierce and necessary teachers at times, initiating us to disarmour, soften into vulnerability, into our heart. They wear the edges off our hubris and pride so we become humble and compassionate in ways we could not without the adversity. To feel more deeply at a cellular and soul level. Pain and suffering did exactly this for me. Bit-by-bit, they crumbled the arrogant, overly-driven and insensitive man […]
Rising Levels of Chaos, Complexity and Confusion Serve to End the Division of Self from Life
Let it all come to an increasing boil, as is happening now. Let it boil away your ideas of right and wrong, good and bad. For, whatever narrative you choose, I can assure you, it is wrong… unless it is right, unless both, unless neither. That is yours to decide. Ultimately, God, The Universe, or whatever you wish to call It, cares and does not care about your preferences, your ideas of what is or what should be. It has its own reasons and ways, irregardless of your own. So often, humans confuse their preferences with truth. It’s worth considering that whatever narrative we choose, whatever preference or bias we have, whatever we feel should or should not happen, may not be it. May not […]
Losing Yourself to Life: Surrendering to the Ancient Cycle of Death and Rebirth, Dark and Light
Maybe you are searching among the branches for what only appears in the roots. ~ Rumi “Remember, like a tree, you rise into the light only as far as your roots will take you, as far as you are willing to immerse yourself into the medicine of the dark, tear-soaked soil beneath your feet. Therefore seek those who have the capacity to honor your tears, to hold you in them, to deepen your immersion into cold chambers of yesterday, and to help you rise anew, fed from the light of truth found only in darkness.” ~ from Awakening to Darkness, by Vince Gowmon The light of indescribable joy arrives in our hearts when we enter the depths of forgotten darkness. Down, through the many doorways […]
Maybe It’s Not Meant to Be Solved ~ Surrendering to the Heartbreak of Not Having the Answer
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” ~ Frank Herbert “If you’re really listening, if you’re awake to the poignant beauty of the world, your heart breaks regularly. In fact, your heart is made to break; its purpose is to burst open again and again so that it can hold evermore wonders.” ~ Andrew Harvey Maybe the problems we face are not meant to, nor can be solved. Our determined beliefs tell us otherwise. We can solve our flat tire and painstakingly slow computer, and we are fortunate to have our broken leg fixed at the hospital. These are relatively simple issues to deal with. But the same linear, quick-fix mindset from which we approach these human dilemmas […]
Remembering the Wildness You Are
“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.” ~ Alan Cohen As we fear death, we fear life. And in fearing the emptiness that comes with dying we fear our native wildness. The two pairings go hand-in-hand. The impersonal nature of wildness is born in the space between our flurry of personal plans and agendas. There is comfort and safety in the stories of our lives. We grasp believing them to be “our” life. But just as we don’t “own” land, we cannot […]
She is the Door
by Vince Gowmon From Wild Empty Spaces ~ Poems for the Opening Heart She is the door. She won’t let you in until you surrender to her, until you set down the tattered old baggage you have carried and worshipped these many years. Drop the illusions of your mind, the ideas of who you are: the bluster, the charm, the false pretense, the wild, well-versed stories you tell so well. The ones you have deceived so many others with. None will work with her, her piercing eyes see right through them. None will be the key that opens the door, that opens her heart. Leave them at the threshold, let them slip from your hand and fall crashing to the floor, leaving you naked, […]
Play ~ The Artful Dance of Living: Surrendering to Joy and Our Magical Universe
“Children dance before they know there is anything that isn’t music.” ~ William Stafford The essence of play is an experience rooted in the present moment without attachment to specific outcomes. It is this moment that matters, and the experience of joy, wonder and imagination. That is why play is such a gift. Over and over again it brings us to the here and now, away from our discursive and troubled minds. Just a few moments of joyful interaction with another, or swinging on a swing set, or twirling around in our living room, can shift our energy, change our focus, and redirect our day down a road we would not have traveled otherwise. We temporarily let go of our plans, our agendas, our thoughts, […]