Jane Hirshfield, “Counting, This New Year’s Morning, What Powers Yet Remain To Me” —
For four years, I woke each day first to the mountain,
then to the question.
The feet of the new sufferings followed the feet of the old,
and still they surprised.
I brought salt, brought oil, to the question. Brought sweet tea, brought postcards and stamps. For four years, each day, something.
Stone did not become apple. War did not become peace.
Yet joy still stays joy. Sequins stay sequins. Words still bespangle, bewilder.
Today, I woke without answer.
The day answers, unpockets a thought from a friend
don’t despair of this falling world, not yet
didn’t it give you the asking
Poetry, fables and children’s books serve as keys to the spaces we need to enter into, spaces for us to explore complex feelings in simple terms.
When we wake with questions it is life-giving (energizing and healing) to hold that space as sacred; to observe and to identify [validate, define], free-write (with words or visually) as we discover language (colors, marks, imagery) for what we are experiencing.
What does all of this have to do with planning?
Chronicling the details of our days is a way of understanding ourselves + mapping our desires. Tracking (and reviewing) our thoughts and routine activities reveals our beliefs and values — and helps us to discover our pace and rhythms.
Showing up for ourselves on the page along with setting aside time and space on a regular basis for both tangible and intangible processing is how we come to identify our desires + get clarity.
- Everything is an opportunity. Everything we have lived and loved, questioned and lost is a part of who we are.
And, Braveheart, there is enough time and space and energy for our dreams and desires, wishes and want-to’s (even when we doubt that enoughness).
Our dreams take time. Without some type of visual chronicle to serve as a “map” — as well as a reminder and directive — the timelines of our desires and experiences become jumbled. What matters most becomes forgotten and ignored.
💚 Right brain planning can become a meditation [focused thought; mindful practice] and a prayer [a statement of one’s desire; a wish].
- What I write becomes a form of poetry and affirmation, a means of inner connection and validation.
Thank you kindly for your presence here, Braveheart.
I appreciate your interest and support.
~love & good wishes~
2024 Right Brain Planner® Kit | field notes | Right Brain Planner® FAQ
2024 Right Brain Planner® Kit [Theme] Kaleidoscope Perspectives ✨ [Focus] — Noticing Beauty (within the kaleidoscope of your living: the ongoing, ever-changing “formations” of color and meaning)
❤️ Braveheart, as the Creator/Artist of Right Brain Planner® I am ever-grateful to have the opportunity to share my creative work online + support other creators since 2008! 🎉 This is possible, in part, by {you} and your presence here. But also because of the support of my Ko-fi patrons and the other other member/subscriber communities I host (via their presence, input and subscriptions).
P.S. I have been devoting more time to writing here about my creative practice. 😊 I hope you will join me here, Braveheart. 🎉