Living in Transition Times
on the power of art to help us through and finding small wonders in our lives
A walnut from my yard—love and wonder inside a small shell
{Note: This post was written during election week in the U.S.}
This has certainly been a doozy of a week. I've cycled through shock, sadness, fear, and disappointment, but didn't stay rooted in them too deeply.
In times like these, we especially need to reconnect with beauty, wonder, and a sense of possibility. That's what we're up to here. The arts and artists can be powerful way-showers for the collective, opening up new realms and leading us to our higher natures.
So, thank you again for being with me here and supporting these things.
Update from the Wonder Factory
I'm fasting for three days, starting last night after dinner, and right now (late afternoon on Friday) I'm hungry! I need to do this because my digestive system has been an ongoing source of distress—it's the one remaining symptom that's really hard from my year-long intense healing journey—and I am hopeful this will help me make a powerful reset.
1. Enter Substack!!
The poet Robbie Burns wrote: "The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men/ Gang aft agley." (in other words, "often go awry.") That's been true on multiple levels this week.
I intended to launch Small Wonders into the world this week to begin to invite new subscribers, but first I realized I needed to wait until after election shock settled a bit…and then I realized that I need to move from Patreon to Substack. Yikes!
I feel very nervous about this transition. It means more work for me and learning a new platform. I'm terrified I'll lose all of my existing patrons. I don't 100% love the way Substack works. But in the long run I think Small Wonders will be more likely to grow and thrive on Substack. And that's my desire for it.
But sheesh, more change in a sea of changing times! It's unsettling to say the least.
2. Poems as Lamps in the Dark
I've been writing poems this week. Five of them!
The medium of poetry is a lamp in the darkness and gives me the kind of language I need to say the deep stuff. There are so many things that cannot be said except through poems. Here's my favorite new poem from this week, an early draft but perhaps it’s one that won’t need a ton of revision.
I wrote it on Monday, before the election, and it has nothing to do with that.
the heaven we inherit
will it come
upon us all at once
raveling silken hair
in a ribald wind
or will it wait
paitently for us
to come toward the flaxen
gates groveling
on our knees?
what is it
that we earn or is
passed down from generations
like the timbre of a broken
voicebox or the shiver
of a memory not our own?
what mothers us, mirrors us
into the one high
decibel we recognize
as source of all our longing?
and why does it take
so damn long? why leave us
cold and haunted
through the alleys of our lives
searching and keening
while this paradise rests
behind our breastbone
or in some echo of our breath
nearer than our nearest
for us to awaken
and discover it?
Weekly Wonders
Even in a tough week in the outer world, there is plenty of wonder to find and share. Here are a few things I think you might love.
This post from The Marginalian, one of the newsletters I've subscribed to for years, is so good about the power of art and artists in these times of great upheaval. https://www.themarginalian.org/2024/11/06/transition/?mc_cid=1b5b3b6b0a
And these poems from my friend and poetry buddy, Sandra Fees, are stunning: https://cutleafjournal.com/poetry/lessons-on-nothing-and-other-poems/
Her new collection, Wonderwork, is just out from BlazeVox press. You can order it through your favorite independent bookstore or here: https://www.blazevox.org/search?q=wonderwork
Also, I highly recommend the 3-part series on PBS on Frida Kahlo. So good! (PBS is the only streaming service I subscribe to. At $5 a month, it's a bargain, and the quality of programming is amazing.)
Wonder Spark
Be attentive to moments of small wonder this week like the walnut in the shape of a heart my husband found in our yard. Is there something beautiful, lovely, touching, delightful, awe-inspiring that you experience? It can be quite small.
I invite you to share it in the comments here or in our chat thread. At the very least, note it for yourself. This is how wonder grows in our lives. Perhaps even make a bit of art about it or weave it into art you're already making.
With love and courage, Maxima