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This month's Spiritual Journey Thursday theme is Closing Doors Opening Doors | arjeha. And Carol at Beyond LiteracyLink who's invited us to share love. Both these themes are needed in the world at this moment. Bob offered this quote from Alexander Graham Bell: “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” Most likely you have heard a shorten version of the quote. It seems that doors are closing for many and other doors people are waiting, uncertain that their door might close. This is what I have heard from friends this week, Some of their adult children with government jobs or ones that depend on federal funding are living, waiting for the shoe to drop. For me, it's hard to see that the door might close and another one will open for them. Carol shares this quote from a 1912 postcard: Love in all its complexity, is the ethereal beauty that resides within the human soul. I am feeling the heaviness of this week. My faith is being challenged. This is a little rambling that needs work, A found poem within the two quotes. Love wonders about the closing of doors because of your beliefs, your ethnicity, your job Love wonders what if we do not see the open doors because it took so long for them to reopen Love wonders when the human soul will take action and re-open the doors. ©jone rush macculloch Save the Date We need more community! Join me on Saturday, April 5, 11 AM-1PM EST (feel free to come for all or part) to kick off National Poetry Month. Details soon!
Spiritual Journey Thursday: 2025 One Little Word For the last thirteen years, I have chosen a One Little Word. My 2024 word was "Expand-take a Risk." It served me so well. From sharing art in the community to going to Japan, my world expanded. So in thinking for the word this, several came to mind. I've chosen DREAM for 2025. Langston Hughes' "Hold fast to dreams /For if dreams die/ Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly. " has always resonated with me. Finding quotes that make me want to copy them down has been trickier. I found two that I used for golden shovels. A golden shovel, riffing on wilde. A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. ~Oscar Wilde I disagree with Wilde...it's never a punishment to see the sunrise. And this quote by Anaïs Nin: Dreams are necessary to life. ~Anaïs Nin Dreamers find their way by moonlight Consort with the dreamers the ones who find the tchotchkes and trinkets left on their deck by crows. The ones who know the way to the sea by their whimsy and moonlight ©jone rush macculloch, 2025 (draft) Dreams are necessary to life Anais Nin In my dreams the ravens are at the feeder. They’ve returned the necessary keys and word, I lost last decade to the divine chaos of life. ©jone rush macculloch, 2025 (draft) Invitation for Saturday, January 18, 2025What: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr. Let's create or write poems for persistence, for presence during the Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Let's share our work in community. If you are a writer, a poet, a slow stitcher, or artist, join us for a couple hours of creative community. 10-12 EST If you can only join us for an hour, great. Join us. Join here: Creating for Persistence.  WINTER POETRY SWAP JOY I'm always excited when Tabatha Yeatts puts out the call for poetry swaps. I love out poetry community, our connected collective. This year, Tanita Davis and l swapped. Her poetry rock will be on display with my other rock words, She's nudged me with some slow stitching with a little felt embroidery project and given me words for future poems. Thank you, Tanita.   Kim Johnson hosted Spiritual Journey Thursday with the topic of 'Wintering". She recently finished reading Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. It is a TBR book on my imaginary pile for a while. The fabulous Carol at The Apples in My Orchard is hosting Poetry Friday. She's reflecting on caring for her father and the seasonal transitions. I researched quotes by Katherine May and found several that rang true to me: When it’s really cold, the snow makes a lovely noise underfoot, and it’s like the air is full of stars.” — Katherine May “That is wintering. It is the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can.” — Katherine May “We have seasons when we flourish and seasons when the leaves fall from us, revealing our bare bones. Given time, they grow again.”— Katherine May  I also follow Christine Valters Paintner. I subscribe to daily messages. This recent one tied in so beautifully with the topic of wintering, I love all the seasons. The season I am in is my favorite. They each bring a unique rhythm. The invitation of winter invites me to begin the day by having tea and the gas fire lit. I watch as sunrise shows up. This year as part of wintering and the Christmas season, I have be participating in the "Advent Photo-of-the-Day". I am enjoying the challenge to photo something for the word of the day and creating a tiny poem for #haikuforhealing24 and #haikuforpersistence24. Below are some of the recent haiku for wintering and being in the season.
It's 28 days until the new year! Time to start thinking of sending New Year Post Cards! I've have also been thinking that this is an excellent way to incorporate the small poems that some have been writing thanks to Mary Lee Hahn and the hashtag #haikuforhealing2024 and mine #haikuforresilience2024. Send five, send ten or send to all? In Japan, it’s called Nengajo, a Japanese custom of ushering in the new year. How It Works:
Click here to join us: 2025 New Year Post Card Exchange Announcement: #haikuforpersistence2025 #poetryforpersistence2025As we begin 2025, there will be changes and challenges for us. Many of us were hoping for a different outcome last November. On Saturday, January 18, 2025, 10AM-3 PM EST , 7 AM-12PM PST, I will have a Zoom Writing and Creating Salon as a place to write for #haikuforpersistence2025 and #poetryforpersistence2025.
I will be honest, I am a teeny bit scared about hosting this salon. I am hoping to share some mentor poems (DM me if you have one that would be good), having writing time, and share in community if you feel moved. Also, I think I want to have a c0-host to help me monitoring the Zoom room and tech (DM me if interested) I am also suggesting that you make a donation to a charity of your choice. I am seriously considering donating to Planned Parenthood. Details and sign up some. You know, in some ways this is my OLW (Expand) in action. Poetry Friday, Week 44: Taking the November Challenge by the Inklings with a Tie In to SJT11/8/2024
 Linda at A Word Edgewise hosted Spiritual Journey Thursday last week and her prompt was "world". She also shared her prompt for the The Inklings: As we enter Native American Heritage Month I ask that you respond to Joy Harjo's Fall Song in any way that makes your heart happy. I needed this prompt. Have you read Harjo's poem? It's so good. It has been fuel for three poems.  Thank you, Linda for this incredible poem. There are so many juicy lines in this. I was Between the election and the passing of a friend, it's been a week. I turn to writing and art in times such as these. Today, I'm sharing two with the focus on Linda's prompt for SJT. Thank you to Cathy at Merely Day by Day and her powerful poem, "In the Mourning". The Greyness of Winter The earth is slightly damp with rain From “Fall Song” by Joy Harjo I voted. Then bided my time for the results to come in by digging in the earth. Planting bulbs to contrast the greyness of winter. Is it too early for hope? I slightly pat down the mulch with a damp hand. The one with cramps from the letter writing. My eyes spill rain. ©jone rush macculloch, draft, 2024 When the World is Unhinged
Is there another word for ‘‘divine’’? From “Fall Song” by Joy Harjo Our world is unhinged at this moment. There is anger, fear, and worry for one another. It feels like actions and words of the our better angels cannot compensate for the collective sadness of now. How do we contact the divine? ©jone rush macculloch, draft, 2024 Thanks to Leigh Anne Eck for hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday and Tabatha Yeatts for stepping in to host Poetry Friday. The theme of SJT is change/transformation. Autumn is such a great time for this theme, Days are getting shorter, leaves are changing, and the mornings have a crispness to them. The sky even seems bluer. I am returning to SJT and Poetry Friday after being gone for about six weeks. As it often happens, while taking a rest, a break is good, returning always feels like a change, a groggy, sloggy return. Can I still write? Are there poems that eke out onto the page? What I planned to do while in Japan: sit, sketch, and write, didn't really happen. I was acclimating to heat and humidity, figuring out the trains and subways, and monitoring the impending typhoon. What calls to me is this quote :The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tse This is where I am. Taking that first step. Reaching out to my writing pals. Last Saturday, I was in an hour long writing session. I found Georgia Heard's Write Bites class to engage myself. Re-dedicating myself to reading the Two Sylvias Muse weekly newsletter. Last week, I also took another step in the area of returning to the practice of yoga. In Poetry Friday news, I was pleased to return home I early September and find my Haiku Society of America's (HSA)members' anthology. I have a haiku in this journal. Last May, I witnessed the aurora borealis and was so taken by the experience, I wrote this:
sky ribbons flutter I inhale aurora borealis If you were gifted the experience you know,
Carol is hosting the topic “pause” for August’s Spiritual Journey Thursday. It’s a fabulous topic for August. When I was teaching, August 1 signaled it was time to pause before the beginning of the new school year. In Celtic tradition, August 1 is Lunstal (Scottish Gaelic, pronounced “loo-nas-til”), the midpoint between Summer Solstice and Autumnal Equinox. It’s a time to pause as the berries are ripening and harvesting is beginning. One of my favorite Bible verses is “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10) We are reminded to pause. I also found this quote: Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God.” Arvo Part. I feel this so much when I walk in the woods or on the beach. There are times in the day in which I practice a pause. Every morning, I take the dog outside and I am so glad, I pause to find the moon and watch the first light of day. Each afternoon I nap. I don’t really fall into a deep sleep, it feels more meditative. What would our world be like if more people take time to pause? Laura at Poems for Teachers has the weekly poetry round-up. She’s sharing her new book and a terrific poetry prompt.  I loved that I captured the moon this morning. What a beautiful pause.
Thank you for your patience today. I love each season as each one is gives a different lens to look upon life. May 1 is the halfway point between spring and summer solstice. The days are still lengthening, the soil is warm enough for the starting of crops, and I am watching as the juncos return to the nest. It's a time of expansion
which contains part of my OLW, expand. “When you expand your awareness, seemingly random events will be seen to fit into a larger purpose.” Deepak Chopra I am learning to sit and rest to expand awareness.. In a period of spring's rapid growth, taking time to rest and be idle has its benefits. You can hear your breath, watch as the bumblebees busy themselves in the Rhododendron blossoms. I make myself sit daily and rest even though, the writing calls and the art calls. It's vital as a creative to take this time.
I love this poem by Christine Valters Painter
Spring Ephemerals The lambs have appeared overnight smelling of salt and soil. Where just yesterday bellies were still heavy with growth, soft mouths suckle, so full of longing, tiny “o”s of joy. Sparrows form a choir, coax the sun awake, thrum of blackthorn blossoms where before was only branch and bud. A yellow festival of daisies and dandelions blanket a fragrant meadow, swath of primrose announce themselves with pink fanfare. The river reveals she is my sister as she rushes into the arms of the sea. White horses galloping across sky are my brothers, and soon I see even the delicate bone left from a swallow as part of me, white gleam of belonging, how I am no longer Earth-and-me but one wild love for this world. 
Please share your verses and thoughts on growth.
Welcome to Spiritual Journey Thursday (late edition) and Poetry Friday. How are we into week ten of the year? I'm a tad late as yesterday's dubbing job was a whirlwind of checking in books, meeting with students. Then leaving early as my husband has a dental emergency which requires the pulling of a tooth. so unexpected.
This month Ramona from Pleasures from the Page asks us to reflect on 'Gather". I instantly thought about how the Poetry Friday community gathers each week to share from our little corners of the world. We gather words family friends We gather observations the weather the seasons We gather goodness faith wonder creating poems from moments of this life ~jone rush macculloch, 2024 For Poetry Friday, Laura at Laura Purdie Salas is gathering us all and sharing news of her latest book, Oskar’s Voyage . it looks to be a very cool adventure. I have had the opportunity to teach poetry in two different classrooms in the last month. The first graders were to write snowman poems in January but we were snowed out. So when February arrived, the teacher asked if it was still winter and could we do the snowman poems. we also created our snow people. He has seventeen students but not everyone was in the room when we wrote the poems. 
Later in the week, I was asked to sub in a third grade class where they had been working similes (it shows). I used a poem from my WIP as a mentor text on How to Have a Friend.
 I'm combining Spiritual Journey Thursday and Poetry Friday. Patricia J. Franz is hosting SJT with thinking about the word love. Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading has a secret to share. Today is the Irish holiday, St. Brigid, patron saint of poetry as well as dairy farmers, cattle, midwives, babies, and blacksmiths. So today, I thinking about how we are at the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox.
The word love is a perfect word for these days, we need more for the world. A book I dip in and out of is the Adam Cara by John O'Donohue. I was taken by this quote on love: “When you send that love out from the bountifulness of your own love, it reaches other people. This love is the deepest power of prayer.” ~John O'Donohue And there was this one: “Love opens the door of ancient recognition. You enter. You come home to each other at last. As Euripides said, ‘Two friends, one soul.‘” ~John O'Donohue Recently, I've been seeing the arrival of dandelions, St. Brigid's flower and sign of early spring. I thought about the dandelion photo I took in Kildare, Ireland and that first sentence in the second quote. 
Welcome to December's Spiritual Journey Thursday. I am so honored to be hosting today.
Little did I know that when I signed up in January how an event earlier this week would modify what I was planning to write. On Monday, I awoke to news that three shining stars on earth moved to the heavens. This Mom and her two wonderful daughters (my former students) were victims of a mass shooting by their husband/father. Their uncle also was shot and then the shooter turned the gun on himself. It made me think of this quote by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 – 1881): The darker the night, the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief, the closer is God. We are in the season of darkness and waiting for the light to return. My grief is a bit deeper this week. When I look at the night sky, three stars will be shining in remembrance of these three souls. 
Husband and I had a reservation to lo have dinner and enjoy the Christmas ships Monday night, I saw this.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu Finally, I discovered this site and found this blessing at the Unitarian Universalist. (Linking is not working well.) A Blessing of Darkness and Light Delicate branches, at night, surround the light of the moon Blessed is the dark, in which our dreams stir and are revealed. Blessed is the dark of earth, where seeds come to life. Blessed are the depths of the ocean where no light shimmers: the womb of all earthly life. Blessed is the light into which we awake, the light that sparkles on the waters: that calls the tree forth from the seed, and calls the shadow forth from the tree. Blessed are we as we move through darkness and through light. Amy Zucker Morgenstern How do you honor/embrace this time of darkness? Where do you find the points of light in your life? In a few weeks, winter solstice will be here, how do honor this and Christmas? How do you use this time of year for self-reflection? |
AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
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