Keep reading to the very bottom to find out what ‘Shine’ is all about, but first the loss of a great poet & what brought me joy this weekend…
If you are on social media you could hardly escape the fact that the other day we lost one of the most impactful poets of our time. Yes I am talking about Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver, who passed away a few days ago at age 83.
Mary Oliver 1935 – 2019
“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings.”
-M. Oliver
Ahhhhh Mary…
The person who introduced me to Mary’s poetry was my original coaching mentor Martha Beck, who shared her powerful work with us coaches when we were in training.
You know that quote;
“What is it that you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Well, that is Mary Oliver.
A kindred spirit to so many, who like her, found renewal and peace in the natural world. Today I listened to the piece CBC radio ran on the poet and hearing her poem ‘Wild Geese’ unexpectedly brought tears to my eyes.
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place in the family of things.
How beautiful is THAT?
If you aren’t familiar with Mary’s poetry I encourage you to treat yourself and pick up a volume of her poems.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
Mary Oliver 1935 – 2019
And now for murder, blizzards, and Quebecois pea soup…
The poetry of Mary Oliver brings me joy, and so does the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny.
I’ve just started her newest book ‘The Kingdom of the Blind’ and within seconds of picking it up, I am transported from my house where sounds of Fortnite and Angry Birds fill the air, into Gabri’s cozy bistro, situated in the village of Three Pines in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, sipping my cafe au lait as the snow falls outside.
Can you say escapism?
I’ve mentioned Louise Penny’s series a few times in these missives, and for good reason! 🙂 Her books have captured the fancy of luminaries such as Ex- Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, and after Louise Penny’s husband died in the fall of 2016, Hilary took the time to write her a letter of condolence, despite the fact she was on the campaign trail. The two have since become friends and Penny hosted the Clintons, their daughter Chelsea and their grandchildren when they holidayed in the Eastern Townships staying at the luxurious Manor Hovey.
Anyhow, I digress. If you haven’t read this series, well lucky you! You then have 8 plus books to tuck into! If you do pick them up, make sure you start with book 1 and work your way through them in order.
This is what Louise Penny says about here books (I took this from her website).
“My books are about terror. That brooding terror curled deep down inside us. But more than that, more than murder, more than all the rancid emotions and actions, my books are about goodness. And kindness. About choices. About friendship and belonging. And love. Enduring love.
If you take only one thing away from any of my books I’d like it to be this:
Goodness exists.”
Next Up…’SHINE’
Yay SHINE is a coming!
Shine! It’s Your Time!
Coaching Workshop
SHINE is a new upcoming (free!) workshop that I am hosting for local women who want to make the new year the best that it can be!
I’ll be hosting a tea and coaching workshop next Sunday, January 27th at my place, on how to SHINE in 2019, and there are a couple of spaces left if you are interested.
We will be focussing on getting our intentions and goals clear, dissolving bocks that may be getting in the way of our dreams (and FYI we ALL have blocks!) and harnessing our energy to create a fantastic 2019.
So if you are a local woman (Surrey, BC area) and you want to SHINE in 2019 shoot me an email to admin@fullflightlifecoaching.com
For those of you not local- stay tuned, as I hope to have something on-line coming down the pipe soon!
And if you aren’t already following me on social media Instagram or FaceBook why not? As I share good stuff there all the time! 🙂
xo
Eliz