Poetry and Mandala – On Emerging

December 2, 2017 by


In the middle of the night
when your companion is the tick
of the second-hand
– and your heart beat

In the early morning hours
awaiting first light
so still in the house
– too quiet

In wait for the coming of storm,
be it thunder, hail, snow squall
– or a brewing wild within

Midst scheduled days or days unfettered,
in calm or angst
with joy or grief,
– take up your pen and paper

And in keen or chant, praise or lament,
in raised voice or sultry whisper,
(remember this)
– all is sacred and profane

Cast spell and benediction,
turn your words into phrases
and phrases into lines
– invite unruliness and ecstasy too

Take up your pen,
invoke madness or muse
Take up your pen and write
– then, poetry emerges.

There will be poetry and mandalas, contemplative photography and more. The Contemplative Creatives Journey begins again on December 15th. Join me?

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Thanksgiving Blessing and Mandala

November 22, 2017 by

Bless the Absence @ Bo Mackison

A Thanksgiving Blessing

Bless the beginning and the end
and all moments in between.

Bless those in-between moments, long pauses,
interminable wait or – paradoxically –
too much action. A blur, a flash, a crash.

Bless this very moment.
Bless me, sitting at my desk
as filtered November light slips
through my window
and casts its blessing
upon these written words.

Bless this moment of routine and ritual
In the midst of the ordinary and mundane
In between the common and the trivial.

In the midst of unspeakable despair
there lingers persistent hope,
a relentless awareness of what is.
Bless that.

Bless the quiet night
the firelight,
the dark shiver and the cold.

Bless the dream unfolding in sleep
and the dreamer;
Bless the seeds resting in frozen earth
foretellers of life.

Bless a pale sun that casts blue shadows on crested snow;
Bless the lakes and rivers in their icy embrace.

Bless us, in our silence and our singing,
in our laughter and our weeping.

Bless the common ordinary moments
which would be missed – with longing –
if they were to disappear.

Bless the absence in the presence
and the presence in the absence.

Bless this moment.
Bless us all.

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Contemplative Creative Practices – A Mandala

November 20, 2017 by

Contemplative Creative Practices – A Mandala ©2017 Bo Mackison

 

This is a mandala of contemplative and creative practices. Almost all of these practices show up in one way or another in Contemplative Creatives Journey.

If these are practices that call out to you, please check out Contemplative Creatives Journey Winter 2017-18. We begin December 15th and registration is now open.

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Stars in Perspective Mandala

November 18, 2017 by

 

Star Perspective ©2017 Bo Mackison

A story about my contemplative creative practice:

My thoughts were too swirly as I considered the issues before me: a friendship once full of hope and promise now drifting away like a column of smoke; complicated relationships with both my aging mother and my disabled sister; conversations with a mentor parsing the differences between relationships that take and relationships that give. And then there remained the world beyond my door, a constant thorn and source of anxiety. Complicated stuff.

As I am wont to do when my thoughts feel too wobbly, too big, I took out paper and pencils. I formed an intention, something like “I need perspective… and stars” because I needed wisdom from deep within, a glimpse of understanding, wisdom that was vast and unconstrained and beyond any sense of control I could imagine, a wisdom that I sensed to be rather like swimming in a star-sea of grace.

I know (or I don’t know.) Wisdom is a tricky thing, being both microscopic and telescopic.

I filled the large circle on my paper with dense markings. Lots of intense energy. Color upon color, a thick buildup of color. My first inclination was to add some sparkle, but I decided that wasn’t quite right.

So I turned to my second line of defense – poetry. I googled “star and perspective poetry” to see what kick start inspiration I might discover and an art teacher’s blog showed up after a dozen or so clicks.

I read: “Fourth graders have been learning about one-point perspective as a way to create the illusion of space.” An illusion of space! If it is good enough for fourth graders, it is certainly good enough for me!

So I created the Stars in Perspective Mandala and as I created the various “explosions in space” I considered various perspectives to my issues at hand and wondered how I might see the space in which I am currently adrift as gift and blessing, not as a dark hole I try repeatedly and unsuccessfully to escape.

My contemplative creative practice at work by way of mandala creation and poetry reading.

If this sort of practice speaks to you, consider checking out my online workshop/community. We begin December 15th and registrations are already coming in. Join us?

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Under the Sea, A Garden – A Mandala

January 26, 2017 by

 

Under the Sea, A Garden © 2017 Bo Mackison

 

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