I have been thinking a lot about you all lately: how I can better connect, what I would like to offer next, and different ways to utilize this space.
There are some things I know: less screens; more contact in person. Less teaching; more sharing. Less general; more personal. Less literal; more metaphor. Less text; more poetry and song. Less me; more you.
As I’ve been musing on the next incarnation of my work, an idea sprung to mind of having a section on my website called “The Community Garden” where I would invite YOU incredibly creative, innovative, beautiful people to share your own creative expressions.
I am often blown away by the creativity that I witness on my forums, and quite often a member of this community will send me an email that contains a song or poem or drawing that touches my heart deeply. This is what happened a few days ago when Paulina, a beloved, long-time member of this community, sent me an email in which she shared:
“Thank you for helping me get in touch with all my grief and sensitivity, which is always there but which I have a habit of running from. When I read your blogs about your son leaving home I am reminded that there is safety, healing and connection when I turn towards and tend to it. I turned it into a song: “One Day He’ll Move Out”.”
With her permission, I’m sharing it here: the first flower in our Community Garden.
And for those of you who struggle with difficult family dynamics where the message is that the problem is always you, this poignant and brave song is for you. As Paulina writes about the song:
“I hope the Scapegoat song can be a light in the darkness that is living in this dynamic wherein a whole group of people see you as “the problem” and there’s not a thing you can do to change their minds. This topic is super close to my heart and my experience and I look forward to writing more songs about it! People who have this kind of family or mother “get it” and it can be so affirming and comforting to hear a song that perfectly encapsulates your experience.”
Paulina has many more beautiful songs that emerge from her sensitive heart. You can listen/watch here.
And one more “plant” to add to the Community Garden. This is a video I created from the poem, Brave Spring, that I shared in last Sunday’s email:
The Community Garden
If you have something that you would like to share in this space – a song, a poem, a drawing, a photograph, a short film – please let me know. I might not be able to share everyone’s expressions – there are a lot of you – but I’m excited to offer a space where you can offer your soul-selves in this way.
Please note: This is not a place to market your business wares, but rather a place to share vulnerably from your creative self with the intention of touching others’ hearts. As Paulina so beautifully wrote when I asked for permission to share her songs:
I would be so honored if you shared my song. I’m creating songs a lot these days and hoping I can find a way to reach the people who would benefit and be touched or soothed by them in the way it does for me when I write them.
Let’s create this beautiful, kind, life-affirming, colorful, accepting garden together! Let’s lift each other up above the anxiety into the place of creativity. May The Community Garden be a place to share your soul safely, channel the sensitivity that lives at the core of anxiety into creativity, and touch others in this very special community.
