The Dawning - A Weekend Away & David Whyte Poetry Event

"Lorena"
Alone on a highway in the early morning hours,
sunroof open to gifts given for a moment,
A single raindrop falls through onto my forearm.
I let it sit there by freckles, soaking in,
then with the smallest brush of my index finger
 all its history becomes a part of mine. 

Last weekend I traveled to Austin on a solo trip to see one of my favorite poet/philosophers, David Whyte. I wrote "Lorena" on the drive home. I had a fantastic weekend of adventure (including the Elisabet Nay sculpture museum) and wanted to share some key wisdom I carried home. 

• Hearing poetry spoken in front of you by the artist is a gift of a lifetime. I cried. Others throughout the crowd also wept. Hearts that are open to poetry are a community I love. Hearing a poet share the background of what inspired the poem is priceless.
  
• The strategic mind is meant to keep us off balance. It doesn't have the competence to keep you happy. It's job is survival. Pursue the creative mind and give the strategic mind a break. Let there be an "un-doing." Remember your great to-do list was created by the person you were yesterday. Each morning is an opportunity for re-imagining.
  
• It is okay to fall just fall in the right direction.
  
• The privilege of friendship lies in witness.
  
• My favorite new poems of his are "Cleave" and "To Break A Promise." Along with Cleave he spoke about how we are born saying goodbye to what we love. Newborns lament and at each new "birth" in our lives it's natural to do the same. To cleave is both to split and to stick fast to. With the other poem he spoke about how we are not taught how to break a promise...but there are times when previous promises need to be broken. Seasons change and sometimes, if we are honest, to keep an old promise can become no longer healthy for either person.
  
• Be an ancestor to yourself. Reflect on moments in your life when you took a courageous step and thank the you of that moment. Be grateful because it lead you to the moments of your now. I am currently revisiting those moments in my life and may post about it in the future. This weekend will probably become one of those ancestral moments of my life.