Feature of the Month . . .
Finding Peace in the Endings and New Begining
All Over The World At this Holiday Season
just bill aka William S. Peters, Sr. Inner Child Magazine Publisher and Peace Poet ... a farewell message offering my gratitude to the Houses of Sartawi, Masoud and my brother Rabié, Brother Hanna Michael Salameh Numan, The Houses of Mariam Saifi in Amman, Jordan and The houses of Khalid Saifi and my Brother Iyad in the West Bank Palestine, Brother Ibrahim and his lovely daughter Hanna of Rumallah, Morocco Ambassador Mohammed Sitri and his staff and all of the other wonderful souls whom I met and embraced me as family. I do look to return in the late spring of 2018. There is much still to see and much still to write about. The journey of spirit continues ...
As a writer and artist, Elizabeth Hellstern works to make word as interactive as possible. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Northern Arizona University. Her multi-genre writing work has appeared in Hotel Amerika, North Dakota Quarterly, Slag Glass City, Queen Mob’s Tea House, The Tusculum Review and New World Writing.
Her artwork includes the Telepoem Booth; poetry inscribed into the boulder base of Prairie Grass Ballet sculpture in ND; and Message-in-A-Bottle, clear pneumatic tubes that send notes underwater in carriers lit by LED lights (forthcoming.)
She lives off-grid on 44 acres in Santa Fe County, NM, with her partner, sculptor Owen William Fritts. More about her projects and writings can be found at www.telepoembooth.com and www.elizabethhellstern.com.
Telepoem Booth Photo by Diandra Markgraf
A Message from Writer Artist Elizabeth Hellstern
In the poetic arts, we focus on vision. We describe what the eye can behold ad-nauseum, forgetting that people aren’t all eagle-eyed; some have spectacles, some are blind.
Denis Diderot, 18th Century French philosopher said “The blind judge beauty by touching.” I have touched people I thought beautiful, and it’s a lovely thing. I’ve also touched objects I found beautiful; it’s a sacred act. I love to write and I love vision, but I want to incorporate something more touchable into my words and into the literary genre. Why? Because I think that we, as writers, could use a little help connecting with other experience modes.
In my former career as a fine arts curator, I began discerning splendor through the tips of my fingers (wearing white cotton gloves of course. Our bodies’ oils are strong.) There were pieces, especially 3-dimensional objects but paintings as well, that compelled me to inhale and release deeply before picking up. I wanted to be fully aware of the experience. Through the texture, the slope, the weight, the size, I was privy to an intimate connection with a piece of art—and the artist—that no one else had while touring the gallery. I was smitten with the novelty, and amazed that I could sense something more than what my eyes could tell me.
This led me to explore the meaning and experience of my “haptic” sensibility. A haptic, or kinesthetic, knowledge is related to the sense of touch and the perception and manipulation of objects using touch and pro-prioreception or movement. I read that 18th and 19th Century museums had actually encouraged touching their art collection. I began to imagine how one might use touch to appreciate beauty. As a writer, I ponder this idea of bringing multi-sensory engagement to word. What is the kinesthesia of word? How can I make my writing have materiality of object, make it touchable, bring it off the page and engage an absorbing experience with the receiver?
Touch is one of our primary senses, the first sense we begin with. It is also one of the first senses that we lose when we isolate ourselves or become lonely. Have you ever given someone a hug and realized they haven’t been touched in awhile? It can be a powerful gift to give them. The young can especially relate to touch, and so this mode of interaction is also associated with playfulness.
I want my words to engage an audience in a way that is visual and kinesthetic. I want my “readers” to feel more intimate and involved with my work. In my most recognizable project, the Telepoem Booth, I thought about the forms and objects that historically help people connect to others; mechanisms and processes created for small moments of intimacy and communication—pay phones and poetry. Separately, they are old and older ways of communicating that resonate with our culture. Together, as the Telepoem Booth, they create an immersive and immediate experience as one goes inside a phone booth, closes the bi-fold door and dials-a-poem on the rotary phone. The context of being inside a phone booth, the physical act of dialing and the anticipation of waiting for the poem to “answer” creates an exchange loop; the dialer engages the reader, who (through the database) responds to the dialer.
The Telepoem Booth is inclusive of all voices, and is a medium for perspectives to be shared in an accessible way. Although many people are intimidated by poetry, people do recognize what the phone symbol means and feel comfortable with that medium (aren’t we all on our phones, all the time?) Paradoxically, some people thought do have what’s known as “telephone anxiety”. My hope is that these people would find it a gentler experience to dial up a poem, rather than call in sick to work.
When people ask me what I do I say I create “kinesthetic word.” The Telepoem Booth and my other word/art projects are my effort to create new mediums for literary engagement. The Telepoem Booth is democratic, free and inserts the magic of poetry into everyday life. People can touch it—and I hope it touches people.
Inner Child Magazine Talks with Writer and Artist,
Elizabeth Hellstern
Inner Child Magazine: Elizabeth, you mention a few other art pieces that involve kinesthetic word. Can you describe them?
Elizabeth Hellstern: I created poetry and narrative for my partner, Owen William Fritts’s public art sculpture, Prairie Grass Ballet, a collection of forty-seven 18-22’ tall aluminum grass blades that are permanently displayed in an art park in Jamestown, ND. The grass blades are imbedded in glacial moraine boulders. The words that I created and collected are sand-blasted into the boulders so that visitors can physically touch them, take rubbings and read them as they walk amongst the sculpture. The best story was hearing about their first snowstorm last winter, and the kids who brushed off the snow who exclaimed on the magical words that they found underneath!
Another piece that is forthcoming is called Message-in-a-Bottle, a pneumatic tube delivery system that sends messages from one place to another. The carriages are lit by LED lights and can be seen through the clear tubing as they travel from one station to another.
ICM: What about your writing?
Elizabeth: I don’t easily fit into categories. For instance, I have a flow-chart series “For Creative Types” that is not the strict computer logic type system, but a more quirky choose-your-own-adventure experience. I like creating things that require a different reading pattern than the linear left to right rhythm we have with our books. When I do write more traditional essays and poems, I like to talk about touch.
ICM: Why touch?
Elizabeth: Because I know things by the way my body feels. If something’s right for me, I’ll feel alive. If someone is threatening to me or mine, my knees will feel weak and jiggly. I also like learning by using my hands. My best poems come when I’m on my typewriter—it’s so much more interactive. I love the carriage return best and the little ding when you get to the end of a line…
ICM: Where do you write your typewriter poems?
Elizabeth: My partner and I live on 44 acres in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. We take visitors along a meandering path up to my Poetry Hut, a 20 ft. shipping container that serves as my office. My typewriter lives there, and I type on my outdoor desk, within sight of four mountain ranges. I give the guests a selection of unique patterned papers to choose from, ask them why they chose what they did and type a poem from what comes up. It’s a very intuitive process where I try to let my ego step aside so the Muse can flow. Quite a few people have cried from the poems, and I think it’s a combination of the beauty of the land, the truth that it brings out in us and the context of being involved in the making of the poem.
ICM: What is your land like?
Elizabeth: We are creating an off-grid artist compound, with three 40’ shipping containers serving as our studio, and two shipping containers on top of that which will serve as our living quarters this winter. Then we’ll build a slanted Quonset Hut that slightly resembles the Sydney Opera House for the sculpture studio. Eventually we’ll create a stone house to live in which includes a visiting patron’s gallery for our current work. Everything is off-grid; we haul our own water, the sun and wind makes us electricity and it is all sustainable.
ICM: How does it feel to live so far away from normal services?
Elizabeth: It feels very honest and pure. I am very conscious of how precious our resources and how we mindlessly consume them. Our land, which we call SkyHeart, also brings out the truth in everyone who visits. I always say that the cabinet doors are opened wide and everything on the shelves is exposed when you spend extended time off-grid at SkyHeart. There’s no hiding from your demons. But it is also a very healing land, and if you’re ready you can make great progress in your personal development. David Whyte says “Aloneness begins in puzzlement at our own reflection…and culminates, one appointed hour or day, in a beautiful unlooked for surprise, at the new complexion beginning to form, the slow knitting together of an inner life, now exposed to air and light.” I think that is especially important in our world today; we can’t afford to NOT face and lovingly integrate our shadow side—there’s too much we have to accomplish right now.
ICM: And finally what books are you reading and what have you heard lately that inspire you?
Elizabeth: The books in active rotation are Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link and Consolations by David Whyte (see quote above.) All of those books, in many genres, strike a chord within me. The TED Talk 12 Truths I Learned From Life and Writing by Anne Lamott touches me too.
Recently, I was at a creativity/growth festival held at the alternative architectural community of Arcosanti, AZ. Mustafa Ali, former environmental justice official of the Environmental Protection Agency spoke on how artists and writers can use their art as a platform for social and environmental change. He had us stand, hold up our fists, and utter—with feeling—the word “Power!” I felt such empowerment and solidarity with my brothers and sisters of all races and beliefs. I also found a new sense of purpose in my writing and my art—that I can use it for transformation. That REALLY inspires me.
ICM: Sounds beautiful. Thank you for sharing your touch, art, vision, and poetry.
Roni Lipstein sat down with Inner Child Magazine to talk about her latest book, The Gardens of Life.
In a sea of books that cultivate self-growth, “The Gardens of Life; a Journey to Radiate Soul Light” by Rhonda Sheryl Lipstein stands out as a brilliant introduction to living life through Love Consciousness.
The intention of this work is to achieve a heightened awareness and enlightened consciousness, a more honest understanding of the self, answering questions such as: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? What is this thing we call “life”? Why do I have the fears I do? How may I heal? How may we live in the most optimal state of homeostasis both independently and interdependently? Why do I dream the dreams I do? How may we fulfill our Personal and Collective Legends for the Benefit of ALL? How can I live a happy, healthy, positively abundant, fulfilling life?
The author invites you to journey with her upon this pathway of blossoming love consciousness that we may Live the Life We Love and Love the Life we are Living.
Inner Child Magazine: What does love consciousness mean to you?
Roni (Rhonda Sheryl) Lipstein: Well, let’s ‘break it down’ ---
We’ve got “love” which for me in this instance, refers to what I call a “Namaste Love” – what some refer to as “Agape”, “Unconditional”, or “Divine” Love.
Then we have “consciousness” which for me in this instance refers to the paradigm of thinking and feeling by which we perceive, receive, and respond to life, and all that we may experience therein.
So, when speaking to Love Consciousness we are speaking to perceiving, receiving, and responding to life through a perspective that we may call, Namaste Love.
Having said that, to take this one step further, the reason we are even discussing this, is because we are living in an era that has for the last several millennia, been operating as a collective species, through a consciousness paradigm that is predominantly Fear based in nature. Results of which are clearly evident to all, most especially now.
To begin the shift we are all wanting to be, one of the first things we must do is shift our consciousness, our modality of how we see the world, think about the world, relate to the world, feel about the world, and all things, people, and places in it, including it and our selves.
To do so means, at least in the beginning stages, to in the very least, take into consideration the perspective of Love Consciousness in any and all of our decisions in life.
In other words, we don’t just flippantly or robotically make decisions, we don’t just follow the ‘status quo’, or blindly ‘do as we are told’, we Consciously wield our creative manifesting force of Free Will to make our choices. Thus, the choices we make are informed choices, choices which we come to based upon the consideration of BOTH “the worse case” scenario and the “best”.
Ultimately, which may be a ‘lil far for some right now……, we shall come to embrace the reality that the potentials we consider, such as the best or the worst case scenario for example, whichever one we place our focus upon, give weight to, direct our energy towards, is actually the one we are assisting into manifest creation, that this IS the manner by which we create and collaboratively co-create.
In other words, that we have the ability to create a world some may call “Utopia”…… today, but like we have with so many other of our misguided perceptions, shall one day come to understand to be ‘common place’.
ICM: You tend to mis-spell and 'make up' certain words, seemingly on purpose, like “beayoutyfull”, “onederfull”, “blissing”, can you say a little about this?
Roni Lipstein: Absolutely, and thank you for noticing and asking. Language is, for now, our main modality for communicating with one another, or at least the one we give the most of our conscious attention to. We actually communicate with much greater information and insight on the more subtle levels of our beingness. Alas I digress…. ;) As an inter-dependent species, our communication tools are integral to every aspect of our lives.
Thus, if we want to create positive change--- from our personal lives to our world as a whole,--- one of the most readily available means by which we may so do is through our communication tools.
For you see, our means of communicating affects our very perception, our very experience of reality itself. Thus to affect change, we create change, and creating change through a tool that is integral to all aspects of our beingness, is a very effective means of so doing.
We can even see historically how hugely language demonstrates major shifts in our global society, such as when we have shifted from one era to another. For example, look at the language of the Renaissance era when Shakespearean language was more predominant, and then to the language spoken by the time we entered the Industrial age. We can see a vast shift in our use of language.
It was thusly natural for me, a ‘messenger’ of Love Consciousness, and Ontological Literary Artist that I would find myself playing with the “tools of my trade” which as it so happens to be, are the main communication tool of our Human Family currently. (telepathic communications shall predominant once again, soony…… ;) )
Playing with the presentation of words in the written form, gives an immediate invitation visually to any so experiencing, to shift their current perceptual reality, and invite a little more love into their experience of beingness. It is an immediate “call to Awareness”, which is the first step in becoming Conscious, or as is common place now in our language, to “waking up”. The same holds true for when I am speaking orally, and the manner by which I string my words together, as well as the words I choose to use.
Which again, we can see examples of in our societal growth as whole, wherein for example the word “spiritual” at one time was hardly used, and if and when it was, it referred to those in religious positions. Today, it refers to the exact opposite, as it is used to delineate those who are definitely not religious, but instead inclined to a more metaphysical understanding and experience of life as a whole.
And let’s be honest, it’s loads of fun to play with words, kinda like playing with our food. ;) Especially when words are part of your ‘work’ --- all~ways better to make work as playful as possible…. after all, in my humble opinion, that which we refer to as ‘work’ today was initially supposed to be that which inspires the soul and enlivens the heart, that which we enJOY thoroughly, not dread intensely. ;)
ICM: What is Being Love T.V.?
Roni Lipstein: Being Love T.V. is our online T.V. Channel through which we broadcast two live shows, “Souls Talking Brain” which I am blissed to co-host with my Double Goddess, Starry Soul’s Twin Sister, Aline Ohannessian, and “Radiating Love with Roni Lipstein”.
The channel is dedicated to sharing the messages of Love Consciousness.
From journeying the adventures through Metaphysics, to questioning the ‘status quo’, that we may together discover means by which we may materialize manifest the world we as a global human family would like to be.
And of course, all~ways honouring our authenticity, Being Love T.V. is dedicated to assisting, uplifting, empowering and enlightening any and all so seeking to imbue greater blossoming bliss in their lives, by realigning their minds out of the consciousness paradigm of fear and into our authenticity, ‘namaste love’.
You can check out some of our past Being Love T.V. shows by visiting our youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/beinglovetv
ICM: Where did you get the inspiration to write the book?
Roni Lipstein: Writing has been one of my natural forms of expression since I was a child. I used to write poetry and create songs when I was in elementary school, and later turned to writing journals of my life’s experiences, wherein I would ponder upon the deeper unseen meanings of said experiences, and their relevance for me to have had them. What lesson did they provide to me in having had that experience, what purpose did they serve, how did I benefit from having such an experience?
I have always been fascinated by the ‘inner workings’ if you will, of us.
From biology, which wow! how fascinating are we?!?!? straight through to the ‘unseen non-physical operating systems’ by which we exist, and sustain our beingness.
How fascinating to know there is a part of us we can not see, and yet, it knows all, sees all, is really all that we call “me”.
Where is this me ?
What part of my body ‘do they’ reside in ?
How does it all work ?
By the time I got to writing “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light”, which you can journey through here: http://amzn.to/1T7YtTz, writing was a huge part of my life, and one of my developed divine channels of expression.
It actually did not even begin as a book for the public. I was going through a huge shift in my own life then, getting out of an abusive relationship spanning more than a decade, leaving behind the corporate world I had risen so quickly within, and making the choice to Trust in Love, in Love Consciousness, in my Soul, my higher calling, my Self, and do all I could to face my own fears and Love my Self more authentically, so that I could Be Love more whole-istically, both for my self and my young (at the time) son, Zion, who I was independently guiding into adulthood, and for all the Earth Angels Divine I am here to be of service to as the messenger of Love Consciousness I am.
As I was writing my way through this shift, I realized that I was amassing a huge amount of writing, enough in fact to assemble into a book, and more importantly, was the realization that, that which I was sojourning through in my personal life had opened me to receive a level of love’s wisdom that was relevant to all of we, and not something I should be keeping to myself, for indeed, it was not why I was receiving it……
It was then I was inspired to create “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light”, though at the time the working title was simply “Radiate Soul Light”.
ICM: We understand there is a guidebook series “Serenity Through Soul” that was inspired by “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light”– what is it, and where might we get copies?
Roni Lipstein: Yes, there most certainly is, and you can get your copies, currently in easily downloadable e-Book format from the Kobo Bookstore, through this link: http://www.bit.ly/RSLstsSeries.
The “ Radiate Soul Light; Serenity Through Soul Self Discovery Adventure and Activity Home - Play Guidebook Series” consists of two guidebooks, the first, “Series One: Discovering and Embracing Self” takes you on a magickal journey of Self Discovery, while the second, “ Series Two: Living Aware. The How to: Exist Authentically emBODYing Love Consciousness “ assists you to integrate your discovered authentic Self from the first series into your every day life, and the world at large.
The two guidebooks draw from the essays, stories, and parables shared in “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light”, to create twelve (12) Home-Play Activities contained within each, which provide a creative, inspirational, experiential, and hopefully entertaining ;) means of more easily integrating the messages of love’s wisdom into one’s expressed, and shared experience of beingness.
ICM: We understand the subtitle for your book “Radiate Soul Light” has special meaning / was discovered through a special process, can you tell us about this?
Roni Lipstein: Awww…..receiving this as a question brings a smile to my heart. Thank you.
“Radiate Soul Light” came to me as an inspired revelation.
It was after participating in a Wiccan ritual wherein we were connecting our selves with Mamma Gaia, allowing our selves to feel our interconnectedness to all that is, ever was, or will be. We were asked to lie down directly onto her (no blankets, etc… just right onto the grass or earth – whatever was there) and feel her heart beat, and then our own, and then the merging of the two. We were then asked to call out our “Soul Name” or sacred name, and I had nothing……
Whatever did come up did not feel authentic. The High Priestess who was facilitating this onederfull experience did say that if we did not know or receive our name then, it was okay, it had been requested, and would come to us in divine timing.
So, I let it go.
Some years later, “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light” was being birthed through me, though sans name/title.
As I was journeying the adventure to discover the treasure that would be the title for the book, I was at the same time inspired to ‘word – play’ with potential divine meanings for our birth names, our soul’s purpose if you will, likely inspired from the initial experience I had, had years earlier during the Wiccan ritual, information I was receiving about hidden codes and messages from ‘the Universe’, and the fact that I was ‘knee deep’ into writing.
I found myself playing a word association game with birth names, starting with my son’s I believe, moving through my birth family’s, and then getting to my own, and it just came through so naturally, without any seeming hesitation or question, Rhonda Sheryl Lipstein = Radiate Soul Light, it just ‘fit’.
ICM: What is enlightenment? Is anyone true-ly “enlightened” ?
Roni Lipstein: From a very, shall we say, logical stance or rudimentary definition; to be enlightened to anything is to have greater insight, awareness, knowledge, and eventually wisdom thereto. Thus to answer is anyone true-ly enlightened --- we are all always becoming enlightened.
For most however, enlightenment refers to achieving a state of inner nirvana, zen, or what I may refer to as a consistently sustained state of Love Consciousness. Having said that, still, in answering is anyone true-ly enlightened does the answer remain, we are all~ways becoming enlightened. We live in an infinite existence, with infinite potential. Thus what we may understand to be a fully and wholly sustained state of Love Consciousness today, may prove to be but the kindergarden stage tomorrow, when our awareness, knowledge, experience, and wisdom have had opportunity to flourish – when we have become enlightened to yet a grander, more whole-istically full experience of Love Consciousness.
Infinite are the ways by which we may enJOY existence. ;)
ICM: How can one go about “Being Love” in a world that perpetuates fear?
Roni Lipstein: Like an alcoholic attempting to stop drinking while living in the middle of a bar…..it’s a biggie, n’est ce pas ? And yet…it is exactly what is being asked of each and every one of we. And let’s face it, what each of we would prefer our world, and our life experience to be, n’est ce pas……
We are “creatures of habit”.
We are inter-dependent.
We are connected.
So……how do we go about being love?
We do our utmost to foster positive habits in our personal lives, to make conscious, healthy lifestyle choices that authentically imbue our lives with greater good, whilst doing so for the greater good of all, such as buying local, purchasing products that support the environment, etc…and, we enlist the support of our friends and family, our human family brothers and sisters to walk this pathway of love consciousness with us.
As more of we do more to imbue greater love consciousness, to love self, to be love in our own personal private lives, which ultimately is shared, seen, witnesses, experienced with others, being love becomes an easier choice for all, and eventually, the natural choice for all, and one that by the time we have reached the pinnacle point of shifting consciousness, (approx.. 3.5% of us) shall be an effortless transition that many shall not even notice, yet shall wholly be.
ICM: How does art, poetry and word play influence your work?
Roni Lipstein: I simply adore artistic and creative expression. Indeed, for me, life itself is the greatest example of artistic creative expression, wouldn’t you agree? How miraculously amazing and majestically marvelous is life, is existence are we? And…..to think of the interconnectedness of it all, the gorgeous artistry that permeates through it all, such as the sacred geometry which we can find in all forms of life.
Leaves me breathless in awe.
As my ‘work’, my ‘Personal Legend’ or life’s purpose is one of a dedication to sharing the message of Love Consciousness; it is by virtue, inherently a celebration of artistic and creative expression, which for me is (love consciousness) the pathway to its mastery.
ICM: You have been known to say no thought is our own......what does this mean?
Roni Lipstein: Everything is energy.
When we understand the functions of energy, for example, it has a natural ebb and flow to it, it permeates through everything, it can not be contained, we begin to understand how connected everything is to everything else, including us.
Now, let’s look at consciousness, which can be understood to be the stream of energy by which information is passed on through the ethers of existence itself.
Now let’s look at us…..
We have the individual ‘me’, who is all energy, and as a result, connected to everything else, including the collective ‘we’. Which says…..even though we may be individual, we are connected to everyone else, (and everything else) on an unseen energetic level of existence.
When we have a thought or feeling that ‘comes to us’, we must take into account that though we are hearing it in our own ‘head’, experiencing it in our own body, the energy that inspired that thought or feeling into our experienced reality may have come from ANY WHERE……
We may be picking up on vibrations that are coming from our collective consciousness as the human family we are, or further beyond, from fluctuations in the cosmos, or from our own biology, and that’s just to start.
To briefly explain without getting too scientific here, understanding again, everything is energy, including us, and the means by which our brains process. We have an entire neural network that functions on, and operates the rest of our body using electricity. When a particular frequency, vibration, or energetic signature is strong enough and/or familiar enough that we ‘tune into it’, our brains will immediately be stimulated to fire along the most familiar/similar established neural pathways – established through our past experiences, and having the most similar wave signals to the frequency being picked up on.
Our minds are like the greatest library or hard drive ever. They will do their utmost to assist us with whatever we bring to the table, {tune into}, good, bad, beayoutyful or ugly. And …they are such eager ‘lil beavers, that if they recognize anything that is coming through/being picked up on they will immediately go looking in their databases to show us that they know what this is, and understand it because of this experience we have had in the past. They are so thorough, they will even bring forth the associated feelings we had when we last encountered this (or one very similar to) ‘frequency’.
The problem is that whilst our minds are wanting to give us reference materials to further our understanding, we often get confused and think the reference material is our actual experience in the now, when it is not.
The onederfull thing about all this, is the gift of our Free Will.
We get to consciously choose to embrace ANY thought or feeling that we are experiencing in ANY given now, or……to let it go. We can also choose to USE any thought or feeling that arises as an opportunity for our growth, as well as our blossoming bliss.
Of course to do so, one must be conscious – we must be paying attention, we must be aware of the thoughts and feelings streaming through, and the fact that we Do get to make this choice if we so choose to.
Ahhhhh the infinite choices available to we.***
ICM: What advise can you provide individuals right now that they can use to shift a negative mood into a positive one, a life they dread to one they love?
Roni Lipstein: Pay Attention, Be Aware, Be Present, Be Love.
Instead of simply ‘giving in’ if you will, to the negative thoughts or emotions that are streaming through you, recognize that No thought or emotion is yours until You Choose to own it….. In other words, you may hear a thought spoken in your own voice within your mind, feel an emotion deep in the pit of your own belly and still, choose to disown, discard, or otherwise disassociate from it.
And we have not even gotten to the action stage yet….
Once there is some space between you and any given thought or emotion being experienced, -- this space achieved through your conscious awareness of the fact that we have infinite choice regarding our perceptions--, we then have the opportunity to reflect upon that which is coming up, to invite alternative perspectives in, to investigate where such a thought or emotion is derived from initially, to use it as an opportunity for our growth, to transcend our fears, or, to simply ignore the thought or feeling altogether, and redirect our attentions onto anything else that is more inspiring, uplifting, empowering, and enlightening.
Either way, the most important thing is to remember who is ‘in the driver’s seat’……
You are not your thoughts, emotions, or even your body and mind.
These are all ‘systemic operating tools’ that we are each gifted to make use of on this journey we call life. The expertise (and our lives of blossoming bliss) comes in mastering our tools, which we can only do once we remember, accept, and embrace that they are tools and not what we refer to as “me”.
ICM: You have been known to say we will be remembered as the era of Emotional Maturity....what does this mean to you?
Roni Lipstein: In my humble opinion as well as personal and professional experience, our ‘human family’ as a whole is maturing vastly in this era more than any other, with respect to our emotions or what some refer to as our E.Q.. We have dedicated a huge part of our lives these last several hundred years, if not thousands, to heightening our intellectual prowess, (our I.Q.) much, I am sad to say, to the detriment of our emotional prowess. More over, the intellectual heightening we have been so focused upon has in and of itself, been rather narrow minded in scope, especially these last several hundred years with the advent of the industrial and technological ages. For example, focusing on learning the “3 R’s” to the exclusion of our own inner operating systems such as our intuition, or our creative expression, or our telepathic abilities, or…..
The intellectual and emotional bodies are akin to the left and right brain, or the mind and heart connection, or the interdependent relationship between the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine….for either to be exalted, they both must so be, co-creatively collaborating in what I call Divine Delicate Balance.
For the most part, we have been ruled both my our thoughts and our emotions…..as opposed to ‘ruling them’, or as I prefer to explain it, using them as the signals they are in service to our highest happyness and greatest good.
We are however learning the divine delicate balance of experiencing a thought and / or emotion with enough of a disconnect or detachment there from, that ‘space’ I spoke to earlier, to actually pause before impulsively reacting ---a condition of fear consciousness. This ‘taking space’ as we have discussed above, allows us to make a conscious choice in how we shall perceive, receive, or respond to any internal (thought or emotion) or for that matter external (person, place, or thing, situation or circumstance, etc.. affecting our thoughts and emotions) stimuli, a condition of love consciousness.
As we hone these skills of consciously choosing how we shall experience life, skills we are only now just beginning to acknowledge more readily, as we learn to use our emotional and intellectual operating systems as opposed to being used by them, we shall begin to see how we actually create our life experiences. We shall come to understand that we are actually the creators of this gift we call life, and that it is through our conscious choices regarding our thoughts and emotions that we create.
Once we have arrived here, then the magick can really start to happen, as we begin to consciously create and collaboratively co-create the blossoming of our life’s gardens through the grace of love consciousness’ embrace.***
ICM: What's next for you?
Roni Lipstein: Infinite are the possibilities.***
All~ways the most exciting prospect for me, of ‘what’s next’, is how much higher, deeper, fuller, more authentically and whole-istically emBODYed “I, I, I, I, I” can Be Love. [ “I, I, I, I, I” being both me, me, me, me, me and …..we, we, we, we, we ;) ]
Beyond this, in this now, I am looking forward to continuing to walk this journey with my newest designation as Ordained Metaphysical Minister. I am so deeply humbled the honour gifted me in embracing this anointment, and the additional services as a Licensed Officiate I am now able to provide to my Angel Partners {clients}, honouring their special life celebrations and transitions in life through Sacred Ceremonies and Rituals.
I am also looking forward, as all~ways, to openly welcoming and accepting more opportunities and invitations to share the message of Love Consciousness with as many members of our Human Family as possible, around our beayoutyfull Mamma Gaia.
These are also as infinite as existence itself, from inspired speaking engagements to additional books being published, the expansion of our Metaphysical Ministry and CalmUnity Wisdom and Wellness Home, Sanctuaire Soul’s Sanctuary, to facilitating more playshops (workshops ), satsangs, calmunity gatherings, and sacred circles both at home, through S3 and as a guest facilitator globally. I am also looking forward to doing more Being Love T.V. shows and seeing how that blossoms, embracing more inspiring journeys with my Angel Partners who come to me for Whole-istic Life Guidance, to the honour of sharing the message of love consciousness through interviews such as this one. Thank you sooooo much to William S. Peters, Inner Child Magazine, and your onederfull staff for the opportunity, and beayoutyfull platform through which to share Namaste Love’s message.
Love’s embracing blissings sent forth to one and all.***
Blissedly Be,
In Lak’ech Ala K’in
Namaste
Rev. Roni*
Introducing, Ordained Metaphysical Minister, Reverend Rhonda Sheryl Lipstein,
commonly known to most as Rev. Roni, Founding Partner and High Priestess of Sanctuaire Soul's Sanctuary, your Wisdom and Wellness CalmUnity Home and Metaphysical Ministry,
and her multi blossoming Lotus’: BEing LOVE T..V. Fulfilled Destiny S3, Soul's Talking Brain, & ArtWave Design,
Roni courageously chose to, “walk the path less traveled”.
As an Intuitive Mystic and Empathic Holistic Healer, Roni has consciously dedicated the last two decades of her life to imbuing all those so seeking with the gift of Love Consciousness. This dedication, a result of Roni welcoming the recognition of her "Personal Legend" {purpose in life}, by opening herself to, and accepting love from withIN self.
It was thus, she was blissed the awareness of her unique gifted tools, translated into the plethora of services she offers to and for the benefit of all. Roni provides what she has coined, Whole-listic Enlightenment Life Guidance, a combination of Psychotherapy, Wisdom and Wellness Life Coaching, Spiritual Counsel, and Clairvoyant Channeling, which may also include Physical Fitness and Nutritional Consultation. She is blissed to also provide Ordained Ministry Services for your Sacred Life Ceremonies, and deeply transformative Inspirational Talks, Community Workshops, and Satsangs.
As Founder of the Multi-purpose Metaphysical Ministry and Wisdom & Wellness Community Home, Sanctuaire Soul's Sanctuary, and BEing LOVE T.V. Roni co-hosts the online show, “Soul's Talking Brain”, and hosts “Radiating Love with Roni Lipstein”.
In tandem support of her “Personal Legend”, Roni has also taken the word of Love Consciousness to ‘paper and screen’. An Ontological Literary Artist, and Communications Specialist, Roni’s literary artistry honours the messages of love’s wisdom, for the benefit of all. Her beayoutyfull and insightful means of communicating are experienced through her “Radiate Soul Light package”, consisting of the main book, “The Gardens of Life; Your Journey to Radiate Soul Light”, and its Self Discovery HomePlay Guidebook Series; “Serenity Through Soul”. The love’s wisdom Roni is gifted to receive, and share with all of we is also available through two blogs; Fulfilled Destiny S3 and Souls Talking Brain.
Roni imbues her professional expertise with a degree in Psychology, and certification in Communications from McGill University, certification in Professional Personal Fitness Training and Nutritional Consultation, as well as, her most recent official designation as Licensed Ordained Metaphysical Minister.
Roni is committed to providing the utmost to her clients whom she calls “Angel Partners”. To this end, she expanded her whole-istic/holistic expertise with ongoing education to this day in fields of study such as the Metaphysical Sciences, Ontological Philosophy, Theology, as well as various Native, Natural and Alternative modes of healing.
Some specific fields of discipline include: Emotional Freedom Technique to Neuro Linguistic Programming, Naturopathy to Massage Therapy, Energy based healing modalities to Brain Entrainment and Mindfulness, Yoga to Pilates, Tarot to Numerology, Astrology to Cosmology, Shamanism to Wicca, Buddhism to Kabbalism, and many others.
To journey with Roni personally, contact: Calmunity@RhondaSherylLipstein.com
To book Roni to provide an Inspirational Speech, Playshop, or Satsang for your Special Event, to Officiate your Sacred Life Celebration Ceremony, or for an Interview, contact: Events@RhondaSherylLipstein.com
Roni provides:
Whole-istic enLightenment Life Guidance (Spiritual Psychotherapy) for individuals, couples, families, and groups.
Whole-istic Life Guidance ‘Journeys’ are available internationally via Skype, Phone, and Email, and for those in Toronto, Ontario, in person within the loving embrace of Sanctuaire Soul’s Sanctuary.
Inspirational Speeches, Playshops (workshops), Satsangs, Group Therapy and CalmUnity (community) Sacred Circles both off-site for Your Special Gatherings, Events, and Festivals, as well as within the loving embrace of Sanctuaire Soul’s Sanctuary (S3).
Physical Fitness Consultation and Training, as well as Nutritional Consultation and Programs.
Tarot and Numerology Readings – which may be included within Life Guidance Journeys.
Non-denominational Ministry Services which include Officiating your Sacred Life Ceremonies such as; Funerals, Vow Renewals, Memorials, Baby Namings, Name Change and Gender Alignment Ceremonies, Hand Fasting and Chord Cutting Ceremonies, as well as Sacred Ceremonies and Blissings [blessings] for your Relationships, Families, Pets, Homes, Businesses, and more.
As a Licensed Metaphysical Minister [Ordained Officiate], recognized by the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia, Roni is also blissed to offer her Non-denominational Metaphysical Minister’s services for your special Marriage Ceremony.
Main Website: http://www.RhondaSherylLipstein.com
Inner Child Magazine Talks with Writer, Langley Shazor
Inner Child Magazine: What does it mean, besides writing, to be a writer and to live as a writer?
Langley Shazor: Always be listening to the world around you, using all your senses to draw inspiration. To be constantly learning: words, concepts, structures, forms. Assimilating all the information that you possibly can.
ICM: When did you know you had to write?
Langley Shazor: I wrote lyrics and composed back in 2008, 09, and 10. So I was always writing. However, it was not until 2015 that I began to take writing seriously and started the journey of finding my voice and style.
ICM: What do you do when you do not know what to write?
Langley Shazor: I try to write every day; and that may not be poetry. I write articles, letters, essays, etc. As long as I am writing something that comes from my mind, I am staying on tasks. But if I am at a loss, I will take a walk or just sit and look at my typewriters. That seems to work well.
ICM: What is the value of writing? Do authors actually offer the world anything?
Langley Shazor: Writing is well known to be therapeutic. Moreover, I believe that goes for both the author as well as the reader. A connection with words that help people through times or forget about things that sometimes cannot be understood in any other way. I believe that authors give a voice to those who would remain silent.
ICM: What things often inspire you to write?
Langley Shazor: Words. Words more than experiences or events. I will certainly create a piece out of an experience or conversation, but words trigger those memories. Reading, hearing, or remembering a word is the catalyst in most cases.
ICM: What is something, which you will never write about?
Langley Shazor: I am not fond of vulgarities or profanity. So very explicit subjects and works do not interest me to read or to write.
ICM: Who do you wish would read your work?
Langley Shazor: Not to be cliché, but everyone. I want to be mentioned in the same breath with other great writers and poets, but that only happens with more eyes on your works. To me, anyone who is making a living with written works is someone I would love to read mine.
ICM: How does your writing make a difference?
Langley Shazor: Sometimes I am not sure that it does. I have been having people comment on how certain pieces help them through something or give a different perspective. I guess it depends on what type of difference one needs to have.
ICM: Why do you use typewriters and fountain pens, aren’t there better ways to write now?
Langley Shazor: There are certainly more efficient ways to write, but there is something mystical about having no distractions and watching the letters form words, the paper rise out of the machine. There is nothing quite like it. Fountain pens give me the same feeling. I can see the ink moving down to the tip and on to the paper. I feel like the paper is simply an extension of myself when using either tool.
ICM: How much of your writing is good? How much do you throw away?
Langley Shazor: Good is a matter of opinion. I very seldom dislike anything that I write and I only throw away pieces with blatant mistakes or technical issues from the machine. I have pieces that I think, “Eh, that could have been better”, but I leave it as a stepping-stone. Something to gauge my growth against.
ICM: How do you choose a book to read?
Langley Shazor: My Father recommends several books. I am fond of the world. Learning about other cultures, their religions, customs, and philosophies. I am also very interested in ancient philosophy from all over the world. I read to learn. I seldom read fiction because I watch many movies.
ICM: How can you share your writing with people who do not care about reading?
Langley Shazor: Fortunately for me, I also moonlight as a photographer which allows to show my work in very interesting ways. This gives me the opportunity to reach the eyes of those who otherwise would not see my work.
ICM: When editing, how do you know when you are done?
Langley Shazor: I actually almost never edit. 99% of everything I write is a first run. I like it better that way. I know it is not for everyone, but it works for me. I try to stay true to my craft and write as organic as possible. A normal edit would be word left out or the wrong word typed. I feel that, even if I had a word or phrase in mind, but I went somewhere else, it is the way the piece was supposed to flow. I run with it.
ICM: How do you respond to people who do not like your writing?
Langley Shazor: I honestly don’t care. Everyone has an opinion. I know I can’t please everybody. Constructive criticism is welcome. However, if someone just does not like it, well, to each their own.
ICM: Can anyone write? Do you have some special talent?
Langley Shazor: I think anyone can write. I know that sounds a bit naïve, but I firmly believe it. Whether a person will like what is written, is a matter of preference. I encourage everyone to write and get out whatever it is they need to put to paper.
ICM: When you have an exciting idea, but what you write isn’t good enough, what do you do?
Langley Shazor: Start over most of the time. Still, there are occasions where, even though it isn’t as good as would have liked it, it still gets the point across. I also remind myself that simpler is sometimes much better, straightforward being better than complex.
ICM: Do you write things you wouldn’t want your family or students to read?
Langley Shazor: Not that I can think of, I believe in being transparent about how I feel or what I am thinking, etc. If I am bold enough to write or say it, then I should be confident enough to have to it heard or read.
ICM: What have you learned which did the most to make you a better writer?
Langley Shazor: Nothing can take the place of writing. I read a lot, and learn a lot. Nevertheless, nothing but more time on paper will make you better. The more you write, the better you will get, and the more expansive your work will be.
ICM: Does writing ever feel lonely?
Langley Shazor: All the time. This is my medium of choice, though. I can convey my emotions or thoughts better on paper than in person sometimes. I suppose I choose the solitude to help me purge and reflect.
ICM: What are you fears?
Langley Shazor: Failure at any level. I want to succeed as a writer, father, friend, businessperson, companion, philanthropist, etc. I know that set backs are inevitable, but I do not want to continuously experience them.
ICM: How do you celebrate?
Langley Shazor: Normally a fist pump and a little dance.
ICM: Is anything about writing still hard for you? What?
Langley Shazor: Novel writing is still something that is very daunting. I am unsure that I could keep a story with multiple characters, storylines, and settings straight. I have dabbled with playwriting and screenwriting. Oddly enough, trying to not give too much detail seems as difficult as monitoring all the details.
ICM: As a writer, does it matter that you are black?
Langley Shazor: Yes and no. No because I never want to perpetuate division and I believe that writing should be about your works. I think it also has to matter because so many black aspiring writers are having their dreams dashed, by both internal and external forces. It is very difficult to separate the desire for unity and the obligation to be a role model for the black community. We have to find a balance that helps all parties.
ICM: How do your beliefs affect your writing? As a writer, are you responsible to share or hide them?
Langley Shazor: My beliefs flow through everything I write. It is more obvious in some pieces than others, though. I do not know that I am responsible to share them. I certainly don’t feel that I need to hide them either. I just write what I want and whatever comes to mind.
ICM: What are some of your favorite words?
Langley Shazor: Pusillanimous, asseverate, oxymoronic, quandary, vacillate, pulchritude, propagate, usurpations. To name a few.
Thank you Langley
Langley Shazor
Langley was raised in Bristol, VA; currently residing in Abingdon, VA, he is actively engaged in both communities. Serving as a board member of the Barter Theatre as well as other civic and legislative organizations, Langley is an advocate for performing arts, education, community involvement, and sustainable economic development. Before joining Bristol Virginia Public Schools, he worked as a process engineer, specializing in system automation, data mining, and platform development before moving on to operations and strategic planning. His hobbies are writing, film photography, and physical wellness training. He has a deep appreciation for culture, history, philosophy, science, and religions. An avid reader, he is passionate about learning all that he can and imparting that knowledge; breaking down stereotypes, creating social awareness, enlightenment, human rights, and helping those less fortunate are his life’s quests. Langley has a particularly strong burden for empowering today’s youth and encouraging their interests in the arts. A lover of all things antiquated, he is an avid typewriter collector, something that has only fueled his affinity for writing and encouraging others to write as well. Typewriters being his tool of choice for his craft, Langley has been able to bring a forgotten medium back to life and give it relevance in this, ever growing, digital world.
His latest ventures continue to push the legitimacy of “unplugging”; again turning to typewriters to bring people together, propagating interpersonal interactions, creativity, conversation, and building a stronger community. It is his goal to continue to push the boundaries of economics and social norms to continue to create new and diverse endeavors for today and tomorrow’s generations.
A Message from Langley Shazor
The Virginia Middle School Writing Club spawned from my love for writing and, more specifically, love for antique typewriters; as well as a passion for education and enriching the lives of children. I received my first typewriter this past year as a birthday gift and was immediately bitten by the collecting bug. As my collection grew, my knowledge, ability, and passion followed suit.
When the opportunity presented itself to work at VMS, particularly in a disciplinarian role, I thought it was a great time to utilize that platform; transitioning it into an arena for continuous learning. It was with great pleasure, and most certainly a privilege, that the administration shared and supported this idea. I cannot accurately express my gratitude to everyone, faculty and staff, who has helped bring this vision to fruition.
We laid the groundwork by having students write in between receiving assignments, before assignments are sent, and after work has been completed. The idea was that students continually work for the duration of their time in In School Detention; giving them practice on subjects they were deficient in, granting the opportunity to make up work, and to some degree, not make the experience one they would be itching to repeat. Using the typewriters was a way to fill in the free time, allow the students opportunity for creative expression, increase cognitive and analytical ability, channel emotional and behavioral issues, increase writing and typing ability, and enjoy the experience of using 50 to 100 year-old machines.
The interest in both the machines and typing grew rather quickly. Students who were in the classroom were getting the opportunity to write on machines many of them had never seen before; students passing by stopped and asked questions as they heard the clicking of keys and ringing of bells. Though I had planned to start a writing group, I was unsure how well it would be received. I was encouraged by the number of students who wanted to participate in the writing club as I pitched the idea to them. It has been a humbling experience to watch the creativity flow, read stories and poetry, and to see the improvement in typing.
It is the mission of the Virginia Middle School Writing Club to encourage creative thinking, create a positive outlet, encourage individual expressive freedom, and also offer an atmosphere of learning and enjoyment. With this platform I hope to help students develop new relationships and skills, both social and educational; that they may be better children and, in turn, better adults. That they will be empowered to make their own paths and pave the way for future generations.
Janet Perkins Caldwell
gone too soon . . .
who was Janet Perkins Caldwell ?
Janet P. Caldwell was a Mother, Mate, Grandmother and friend to countless souls. Janet was a Valentine’s Day Baby, born February 14th 1959. This explains the beauty and depths of her uniquely wonderful heart and its unlimited capacity to love. Janet was also a Social Activist who utilized her writing, keen insights and empathy for Humanity’s cause and Justice to make a lasting impact on many souls globally. She was particularly fond of her involvement and donations to 3rd world countries. She loved contributing to the digging of wells for consumable water in Africa.
As far as her writing and related accomplishments ... She is the author of 3 books and she has one on the way. She has participated in numerous anthologies (over 50) and is / has been a member of The Poetry Posse since its inception in January of 2014, a venue where a book a month has been published. She also served as Managing Editor of Inner Child Magazine since its inception on February 2013. She served on the executive board of all things Inner Child to include Inner Child Press where she was instrumental in the launching of many careers for new authors. She performed duties such as counseling, proof reading, editing and publicity. She along with William S. Peters, Sr. is the founder of the World Healing, World Peace Poetry movement which is a bi-annual published work aimed at elevating the global consciousness of humanity through poetry. In 2015 she was selected along with many other world class poets to attend and participate in The Kosovo International Poetry Festival as a representative of the United States and Inner Child Press. There she was blessed to meet so many other wonderful souls dressed as poets from all over the world.
Janet also served as an Executive and Radio Talk show host on the Inner Child Radio Network from 2011 until 2014, which included Heaven Speak, The Hump Day Show, Conversations, Fryday Nyte Spitz and the morning sessions of The Hour of Power where she along with Bill moderated discussions of empowerment, spirituality and consciousness through the teachings of The MasterKey studying paradigm and other related materials. This was also from 2011 until 2014. Janet was a member and supporter of many writing, empowerment, spiritual and consciousness organizations via Social Media and wherever she could lend a hand / heart of encouragement and unique brand of embrace and love to and for others. Janet was always there for whomever needed a helping, loving hand. Her physical presence will be missed greatly, but many will carry her spirit in their hearts for all eternity. She made a difference . . . and still does !!!
in loving memory . . .
Janet P. Caldwell
Memorial Radio Show
26 September 2016
Janet Perkins Caldwell . . . Books
We all do know of Janet’s Loving Soul and giving Heart. As a token of her love for all of Humanity we are making available as a FREE Download two of her three books which was published by Inner Child Press.
Print Copies are also available at : www.innerchildpress.com/janet-p-caldwell
Additionally, Janet was a member of The Poetry Posse since its inception, January 2014. More of her poetry can be found in every volume. These are also as a FREE Download and Print Copies are available at : www.innerchildpress.com/the-year-of-the-poet
Please stay tuned for the Memorial Anthology for Janet which will be a collection of words and poems written by her beloved global family and friends. Coming November 15th , 2016.
Finally . . . “All about the Love Baby” is a book that was Written by William S. Peters, Sr. and Published for her Birthday for Valentine’s Day 14 February 2015. This book was dedicated to Janet and the love of her beautiful soul and embracing heart.
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a few words with ~ Nizar Sartawi
Nizar Sartawi is a poet, translator and educator. He was born in Sarta, Palestine, in 1951. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Jordan, Amman, and a Master’s degree in Human Resources Development from the University of Minnesota, the U.S. Sartawi is a member of the Jordanian Writers Association, General Union of Arab Writers, and Asian-African Writers Union. He has participated in poetry readings and festivals in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Kosovo, and Palestine.
Sartawi’s first poetry collection, Between Two Eras, was published in Beirut, Lebanon in 2011. His translations include: The Prayers of the Nightingale (2013), poems by Indian poet Sarojini Naidu; Fragments of the Moon (2013), poems by Italian poet Mario Rigli; The Souls Dances in its Cradle (2015), poems by Danish poet Niels Hav; all three translated into Arabic; Contemporary Jordanian Poets, Volume I (2013); The Eyes of the Wind (2014), poems by Tunisian poet Fadhila Masaai; The Birth of a Poet (2015), poems by Lebanese poet Mohammad Ikbal Harb. He is currently working on a translation project, Arab Contemporary Poets Series.
Ssartawi’s poems and translations have been anthologized and published in books, journals, and newspapers in Arab countries, the U.S., Australia, Indonesia, Italy, the Philippines, and India.
ICM: Poet and translator Nizar Sartwi: Welcome to Inner Child Magazine!
Nizar: Thank you! It is really a great honor to be your guest.
ICM: A poet and translator! Which one came first, poetry or translation?
Nizar: Definitely the first. I was barely 14 when I started writing poetry. Translation came much later. I started to translate in 1978, as an employee at an American company operating in Saudi Arabia, but that was purely technical translation. It was decades later that I started focusing on literary translation.
ICM: I’ll come to translation later; Let’s focus on poetry now. When did you start writing poetry?
Nizar: I started at the age of 14.
ICM: That is an early age! So how did it happen? Did you wake up one morning and found yourself a poet?
Nizar: Well, I discovered I could write poetry, but not overnight of course! I used to peruse thru my older sister’s Arabic literature textbooks. When I was in grade 8, I stumbled upon a book on prosody, which I began to read immediately. And it all made sense. Soon I found myself able to scan poetry, recognize the meter and even write poems in the classical Arabic form.
ICM: So you began to write classical poetry!
Nizar: Yes, in form, in matters of metrical design and rhyme, and for some time. Later I shifted to modern poetry.
ICM: Why? What prompted this change?
Nizar: Thinking back, I believe there were three major sources of influence: Andalusian poetry, modern Arabic poetry, and world poetry. From Andalusian poetry I learned new rhyme schemes and new stanzaic structures. From modern Arabic poetry I learned new ways of expression, new meanings, fresh metaphors, etc. World poetry and literature in general gave me the opportunity to learn, among other things, about new cultures, ideas, modes of expression, linguistic patterns, paradigms, and sensibilities; and, above all, it helped me expand my knowledge and enrich my experience.
ICM: The world has witnessed a lot of change in the last few decades, particularly in technology and communication. Do you view this as a positive or negative thing? How does it affect you writing and your relationships?
Nizar: Well, the world is becoming a global village, to borrow Marshall McLuhan’s expression. The World Wide Web, which, interestingly, McLuhan himself predicted almost three decades before its invention, has changed our lives dramatically. It has brought us closer to each other than ever before. At the same time it has created distances between people who live together even in the same house, as though they lived in different planets.
This is the paradox that the cyber world has brought into our lives. For example, it often happens that while I am sitting with my family, I may be chatting thru the Facebook with Mohammad Ikbal Harb in Saudi Arabia or Margaret Saine in the U.S. At the very minute, my daughter, sitting beside me, might be using Skype to talk with her husband who is on a business trip in China or Turkey.
Is this positive or negative? Good or bad? I know that so many people, particularly among the older generation, see the internet as a curse. They believe that it has taken away the best parts of us, our mind and heart. We no longer have the time to think or feel. I am reminded of a few lines from a poem by William Henry Davies that I studied in high school:
What
is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
With virtual reality playing a significant role in our life today, the “leisure” Davies lamented more than a hundred years ago is even much less available now, but with this difference: that while people had little leisure time because it was necessary to work hard in order to make a living, in today’s world, leisure time is more available (limited working hours, a 2-day weekend, annual holidays, and so on). And yet we are not inclined to make use of it the way Robert Frost or Olav Hauge did (Both poets loved nature and enjoyed spending hours watching its wonderful phenomena: sunshine, dark evenings, rain, snow, woods, etc.). We are always busy working on our Pcs, cell phones, iPads, and all electronic devices that come our way. Many people spend hours and hours everyday playing games or chatting with friends, very often virtual ones, on the Facebook, Skype, Messenger, WhatsApp, viber, imo, … what not.
On the other hand, as free agents – and I believe we are in numerous aspects of life– we can choose how to spend our time and how to turn these great gifts of technology to our advantage.
I for one am so lucky to have made so many friends from the different parts of the globe thru the Facebook. Facebook friendships have led to other friendships. For instance, it was thru the Facebook that I became a member of Axlepin International Publishing, a literary organization in the Philippines. It was also thru Facebook that I became friends with Kosovar poet Fahredin Shehu, who kindly invited me to Rahovec International Poetry Festival last September, and it was there that I had the honor to meet great poet, such as William S. Peters, Sr., Janet P. Caldwell (the U.S.), Leetiv NamdagJanchivin (Mongolia), Gene Barry (Ireland) Adrian Grima (Malta), Bedri Zyberaj and Sali Bytyqi (Kosovo), Milan Richter (Slovakia), and many others. You know my story with my special friend William S. Peters, aka Bill, whom I regard both as a brother and a role model. I was honored to receive three invaluable invitations from him: 1) to join C.O.P.S. as an organizing member, 2) to participate as a guest with two other poets of my choice in The Year Of The Poet for the month of March, 2016, and 3) to join as a member in The Year Of The Poet for 2016 as of last May. Here I have had the opportunity to make new friends, the members of the Poetry Posse Family. These are blessings for which I am more than grateful, and I will always say to my beloved brother Bill: IOU.
ICM: Talking of festivals, could you mention some of the significant literary events in which you have participated?
Nizar: The first events I participated in were naturally local. I was invited to numerous poetry readings and major events within Jordan. I participated twice in the renowned Jerash Festival for Culture And Arts in 2014 and 2015, in Sawsana Poetry Festival in 2014, and Zaraqa First International Poetry Festival in 2015. Outside Jordan I was in Lebanon in 2010 and 2011 as a participant in poetry readings; I was invited to a poetry festival in Morocco in 2012; I took part in two events in Palestine in 2015, and of course in Kosovo in 2015. I was also invited to other events in Iraq, France, and Turkey, which I politely declined.
ICM: What in your view is the value of such events?
Nizar: Poetry and cultural events have numerous advantages: You have the opportunity to listen to other poets reading their poetry, meet wonderful people – literary figures that you may have never thought you’d ever meet, expand your network by making new friends, visit new places, exchange thoughts and ideas, get exposed to new cultures, and have fun. I believe though that the greatest advantage is LEARNING. Learning in fact sums it all up. I strongly believe that any experience which cannot be turned into a learning opportunity loses its value.
ICM: What is so special about poets that distinguishes them from other people?
ICM: The romantic English poet Percy Bysshe Shelly once likened a poet to a nightingale sitting in the dark and singing in order to cheer his loneliness. This is a rather gloomy outlook. It sets the poet apart from the rest of the world; he/she is estranged from society. Maybe there is some truth in that. But personally I am more inclined to think about poetry rather than the poet himself/ herself. I know different poets have different philosophies, styles, ideas, faiths, world-views, etc., and of course they may speak different languages. But poetry is like art or music; it has a universal language which has the power to bring poets together. Poets, more than other people, seem to understand each other, to share their minds and feelings. A poet may feel lonely; he/she may sometimes feel isolated. But they will probably be consoled, comforted, or feel less solitary when there is another poet in the vicinity. It is possible to say that in many ways poets are kindred souls.
ICM: What is the source of this uniqueness? Is it the language of poetry?
Nizar: In part, yes. Language is, figuratively, a “material” common to all humanity, the major means of communication. But when I ponder on what poets do with language, I think witchcraft. Language for a poet is like clay from which they craft new images and breathe life into them.
I still remember when a professor of American literature gave us a very short poem and asked us to write down our thoughts about it:
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside the white
chickens.
We, the English literature class, had never heard of William Carlos Williams or his famous red wheelbarrow at the time. We were only sophomores, and English for us was a second language. I do not think any of us understood the poem. But the professor told us the key word was “glazed.” He also said this poem was about poetry, or art.
I can’t remember the details of the discussion, but years later I reflected upon the poem again, and it dawned on me that the basic fabric of art could be very crude; it could be borrowed even from a farm – a wheelbarrow and chickens, for instance. But then rainwater adds the glaze. These simple, earthly things needed a little heavenly touch, as it were. By bringing rain water the poet breathes beauty into them. Thus the vernacular is elevated to the realm of poetry.
continued . . . .
Poetry, however, is not merely about language; it is not just about taking language to a higher esthetic level. After all, the heavenly part in W. C. Williams’ poem is not REAL; it evolves around language – around diction, its function is essentially esthetic.
The esthetic feature is important; it cannot be undermined. But when it is over-emphasized, becoming central to our writing, it tends to place poetry and poets in an ivory tower. In these tough times, amidst the violence, suicidal bombing, sabotage, and continuous war, we need to engage the human spirit. This is where poets like Bill come in. They are the poets who have the power, thru their poetry and their leadership, to forge a new path for humanity – a path for world healing and world peace.
ICM: You have described the language of poetry as universal. Is it this universality that tempted you to translate poetry?
Nizar: I think this was a catalyst. It helped me cross the language and cultural barriers. Because, translators moves between two languages, they need not only to master them both, but also to have deep knowledge of the cultures that they represent.
But the real driving force was my passion for poetry and literature in the first place. At the beginning I wanted to read, learn, and enjoy. Then I toyed with translating a few poems from English to Arabic because I wanted to share what I admired, to invite people to read and appreciate poetry in other languages. Of course there are thousands of translators in the Arab region. But few of them translate poetry, and fewer still are good translators of poetry.
I published my translations in journals, magazines, newspapers, and literary websites, and they were well-received by the readers. That was just the beginning of something like a career, with only one difference: I mainly wrote for fun, not money.
ICM: By saying “for fun,” don’t you think this implies that there was no message, no sense of purpose?
Nizar: I was only talking about the beginning. That is why I said I “toyed.” But throughout the years I have learned that by moving between languages, I am moving between nations, and building bridges – bridges of peace, understanding and love – bridges that invite people – even entice them – to cross to the other side, if not physically, at least mentally and spiritually.
ICM: Don’t you think that when translated, poetry is deprived of many of its poetical qualities?
Nizar: I asked a similar question to American poet Elaine Equi in an interview that was published in Arabic in Ebabil literary journal (Issue 59, January, 2013). Here is what she said – and I do agree with her:
In my poem, “Found in Translation,” I say: “Poetry is the sound one language makes when it escapes into another.” I know a translation is not a clone. The original poem is sure to lose something –
those “sparks of sound and sense” as you put it so well. But when I read a poem in translation, I like the sense that there’s another version of the poem – its ideal, if you will – hovering nearby. This double allows the reader to imagine the original as being perhaps even better than it actually is. I’m being playful here, but also sort of serious.
ICM: I gather that you also translate poetry from other languages. How can you manage if the only language you know beside Arabic is English? How can you translate from say Danish or Hindi?
Nizar: When I want to translate from a language that I don’t know, I use English as a medium. When possible I send the translated poem(s) to somebody who knows the language to see if my translation is accurate. The feedback I’ve gotten so far has been generally positive, though occasionally I get some helpful comments.
ICM: Are the poets whose verse you translate aware of your efforts? How do they feel about that?
Nizar: I translate any text I like without permission; I take it as an exercise. But when it comes to publishing, unless I am sure the author does not mind, I do not unless I get their permission. For publishing in a journal or newspaper it is enough to receive a casual approval by email or Facebook. But to publish a book, I ask for a formal permission.
ICM: Could you name some of these authors, or poets?
Nizar: There is a long list of poets from all over the world whom I translated into Arabic. I’ll just mention my closest friends:
From the U.S. I translated selected poems by Veronica Golos and Cathy Strisik, editors of International Poetry & Art; Margaret Saine, member of the board of directors and editors, California Quarterly; William S. Peters, Sr., CEO of Inner Child Enterprises, ltd., Managing Director of Inner Child Press, Executive Producer of Inner Child Radio and Executive Editor of Inner Child Magazine; Helene Cardona, member of editorial board, Levure Litteraire; Kalpna Singh-Chitnis, Editor-in-Chief at Life and Legends
Elaine Equi, author of 13 poetry books.
Poets from other countries include: Candice James, Poet Laureate of New Westminster (Canada), Niels Hav (Denmark), Gene Barry: (Ireland), Mario Rigli (Italy), Fahredin Shehu, Bedri Zyberaj, and Sali Sali Bytyqi (Kosovo), Zohra Saed (Afghanistan:), Rosa Jamali (Iran), Santiago Villafania, and Virginia Jasmin Passalo (The Philippines), and Taro Aizu (Japan).
In addition to these I translated poetry by Palestinian poets in the diaspora, who write in English, including Nathalie Handal, Fadi Joudah, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha.
ICM: Has any of these translations been published?
Nizar: Yes, three books: Fragments of the Moon, selected poems by Mario Rigli; The Soul Dances in its Cradle, selected poems by Niels Hav; and, The Prayers of the Nightingale, selected poems by Indian poet Sarojini Naidu.
ICM: What about translating Arabic poetry into English?
Nizar: That effort is going in parallel with translations from English. I have translated poets from many Arab countries, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. Many of the poems were published in literary journals in the U.S., Canada, the Philippines, and India. In addition, an anthology of Jordanian Contemporary Poets containing translations of 16 poets was published in Jordan in 2013. Also I am working on “Contemporary Arab Poets Series,” a bilingual project. So far 13 books/booklets have already been published.
ICM: Any new books coming soon?
Nizar: Yes, five books, two of which will be published by Inner Child Press: The first is The Birth of a Poet by Lebanese poet and novelist, Mohammad Ikbal Harb. It is a collection of poetry that I translated into English. I think it is being printed now, and will soon be released.
The second is a collection of poetry combining the poems I have written in English and the ones I have written in Arabic and translated into English. I am putting the book together, hoping to be able to send it to Inner Child Press before the end of the year.
The third is a collection of my poetry in Arabic. Most probably this will printed in Jordan.
The other two are also translated poetry books: Talhamiyah, by Palestinian American poet, Nathalie Handal, and Finding Bridges by American poet Margaret Saine.
And talking of new books, I would like to thank Inner Child Press for the excellent production of the poetry book that I translated into English, Haifa and Other Poems, by Palestinian author Samih Masoud. The book was released last May. I was jubilant to receive a few copies that brother Bill sent me as a gift.
ICM: Nizar, we would like to thank you for this opportunity to shine some light on your wonderful literary efforts and your gracious soul. Do you have any closing words ?
Nizar: I would like to express my deep gratitude to ICM for this opportunity to be featured here. In particular, I would like to thank my brother and inspirer Williams, S. Peters, aka 'Just Bill', whose big heart accepts and embraces all of us unconditionally.
And most certainly, I’d like to utter a big THANK YOU. It is a great honor to be featured here – to be one of this great star trek, Posse poets from different parts of the world, poets by whom I am, and I am sure so many are, inspired.
Kimberly Burnham, Ph.D.
Using Poetry as a Healing Modality
In addition to writing poetry, Kimberly Burnham, PhD, known as "The Nerve Whisperer" is passionate about changing the face of brain health worldwide. Through her poetry, writing, and clinical practice she shares a message of hope, practical solutions, and self-care exercises for conditions from sleep disturbances, chronic pain, migraines, and memory loss to traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, autism, and more.
Her message is supported by a PhD in Integrative Medicine (2006) with the dissertation topic, The Effect of Integrative Manual Therapy on Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Kimberly shares her own story of recovery from migraines and vision issues as well as the powerful examples of improved quality of life in the thousands of clients she has worked with over the past 20 years.
A skilled storyteller and social impact authority, Kimberly specializes in changing the healing story and finding physical solutions for people with a diagnosis of macular degeneration, diabetes, Huntington's ataxia, Lyme's disease, and more.
Learn how Kimberly can help you heal at . . .
Surrounding Yourself With Poetry as Parkinson's Therapy
through poetry can include rhyming words that tickle our sense of pattern, capture the colors of a rich and vibrant field full of wild flower, the smells and tastes of a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with those people we love the most, or an Ekphrastic poem written while looking at a particular picture and capturing in words the emotions and sensations of the view. The Roman poet, Horace said, "A picture is a poem without words." We could also say, a poem creates an image with words, perhaps even more beautifully because with our minds we create the image as we hear or read the words.
What are you surrounding yourself with as every cell in your body listens? Words, language, and poetry matter. What we experience through our ears and other senses matters. Each vibration changes us making us better, healthier, happier human beings or not.
There is Japanese saying, "There are many ways to get to the top of Mount Fuji."
Many practitioners, caregivers, and people with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease or other conditions have a common goal: Find a way to heal, eliminate, and recover from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. There are many ways to the "top" of this goal, including poetry. A journey through poetry can be to experience a guided imagery meditation created by the poet and can evoke a unique experience for each reader in their mind, body, and spirit.
Researchers explained a case study describing the "psychotherapy of an older woman who presented with anxiety and depression decades after a heartbreaking loss in childhood. Maggie's story recalls a lifetime of longing and searching for her father, whose death was denied by those closest to her. Religious proscriptions contravened the nine-year-old's accepting the reality of his death and understanding her own intense feelings. Masked, unresolved, complicated grieving punctuated her life. Maggie entered therapy as an adult confounded by death. "Creative integrationism" therapy included traditional grief work, guided imagery, journal writing, and poetry. As Maggie began to confront the deaths of loved ones, she explored the meaning of life and became more fully engaged in living." Edmands, M. S. and D. Marcellino-Boisvert (2002). "Reflections on a rose: a story of loss and longing." Issues Ment Health Nurs 23(2): 107-119.
Poetry can be part of a healing journey of the mind and spirit resulting in each of us "becoming more fully engaged in living" no matter how long we have been hurting..
In a later study researchers looked at increased levels of creativity in people with Parkinson's when they take dopamine related medications. Dopamine is that neurochemical that helps us feel the rewards of life as well as controls the smooth movements of muscles and animates our faces. There are psychological benefits of balanced dopamine as well as muscular or physical benefits of an appropriate amount of dopamine coursing through our brain.
Researchers noted, "A 55-year-old male with idiopathic [unknown cause] Parkinson's disease developed three behavioral changes under combination therapy with selegiline, cabergoline and levodopa [dopamine related medications]. Co-existent behaviors included severe pathological gambling, punding and novel skills in writing poetry (published poetry books). The case, supported by the results of the survey, adds to the cumulative evidence of the association between dopaminergic medication and enhanced creativity, and suggests a possible linkage between increased artistic creativity and impulsive-compulsive behaviors in Parkinson's disease." Joutsa, J., K. Martikainen, et al. (2012). "Parallel appearance of compulsive behaviors and artistic creativity in Parkinson's disease." Case Rep Neurol 4(1): 77-83.
This research establishes a link between rising levels of dopamine in people whose brains do not produce enough dopamine. What if enhancing creativity could raise dopamine levels? What if engaging in writing poetry could increase one's poetry writing skill and overall creativity as well as modulate dopamine and brain chemistry? The research suggests that if you have Parkinson's disease you could benefit from joining a poetry group
Further research links imagery or the ability to visualize a fictional scene or an experience from the past, with the mirror neuron system saying, "An important human capacity is the ability to imagine performing an action, and its consequences, without actually executing it. The present results are the first demonstration of action-specific representations that are similar irrespective of whether actions are actively performed or covertly imagined. Further, they demonstrate concretely how the apparent cross-modal visuo-motor coding of actions identified in studies of a human "mirror neuron system" could, at least partially, reflect imagery." Oosterhof, N. N., S. P. Tipper, et al. (2012). "Visuo-motor imagery of specific manual actions: a multi-variate pattern analysis fMRI study." Neuroimage 63(1): 262-271.
"Irrespective of whether actions are actively performed or covertly imagined," this phrase is the most interesting because it is saying that what happens in our brains and bodies is very similar whether we move our bodies to do an action or just imagine doing the action. The mirror neuron system in our brains helps us imaging what another person is feeling, thinking or doing when we see or read about their actions.
Poetry can create powerful images of abstract feelings like love and joy but also concrete actions like running, moving, hugging friends and family as well as engaging with the world around us. Reading poetry and stories can help us imagine being able to do things or experience things that maybe right now, due to health, finances, or other considerations we can't experience with our bodies directly. The impact of these images stimulates blood flow, connects the brain and the muscles, and activates the salivary glands.
Visualize for a moment
picking a fresh yellow lemon
feel the warmth of the sun
as you reach into the lemon tree
to pick the most beautiful one
Slice it open
squeeze the fresh tangy juice
into your mouth
feel the moisture strike your taste buds
imagine sucking on the lemon
just a little
And tell me you don't believe
the salivary glands
have not been activated
just from reading these words
mine are pumping just
from writing the words
As the writer of juicy sour tastes
I had to imagine the action
before I could write about it
my whole body joined my mind
creating a "real" experience
Reading poetry enables the reader to experience for a few moments what is inside of another's mind and how they look at life and the experiences they have. Writing your own poetry enables you to relive both mentally and physical, suggests the research. That reliving can be a happy experience or a cathartic one. It gives you the opportunity to feel what you would have done differently given another opportunity. It enables you to learn the lessons that perhaps were just out of grasp in the moment of the experience or too painful to learn at the time.
Physically injured basketball players who visualize themselves shooting a basketball and seeing the ball slip through the hoop, and hearing the swish of a perfectly completed shot for the duration of their recovery time lose less skill than a similarly injured player who does not visualize the actions needed to be a great basketball player. What if someone with Parkinson's disease could maintain function or even improve their function through imagining themselves walking quickly and smoothly with long strides as they move across a park to meet a loved one.
Our brains activate our bodies. Poetry can activate our minds, spirits, and bodies.
What are you reading these days?
a Q & A With Kimberly Burnham
Life spirals. As a 28-year-old photographer, Kimberly Burnham appreciated beauty. Then an ophthalmologist diagnosed her with a genetic eye condition saying, "Consider what your life will be like if you become blind." Devastating words trickling down into her soul, she discovered a healing path with insight, magnificence, and vision. Today, a poet and neurosciences expert with a PhD in Integrative Medicine, Kimberly's life mission is to change the face of global brain health. Using health coaching, poetry, Reiki, Matrix Energetics, craniosacral therapy, acupressure, and energy medicine, she supports people in their healing from brain, nervous system, chronic pain, and eyesight issues. Details about her latest project @ http://NerveWhisperer.Solutions
Inner Child Magazine: You have been published in over 30 poetry books, what are you working on now?
Kimberly Burnham: Yes, most of those 30 books are published by Inner Child Press and I feel so lucky to be a part of the Inner Child Press Poetry Posse, which creates a book of poetry each month called, The Year of The Poet. My latest project is a book entitled, Touched by Parkinson's Disease, A Healing Journey Through Poetry. In the past few years, I have participated in three Inner Child Press books: Healing Through Words; World Healing World Peace 2014; and most recently World Healing World Peace 2016. These books in particular got me thinking about the effect of reading, writing, and engaging with poetry on our mental and physical health. I started to look at how poetry affects the brain. When I started the project earlier this year I was planning to ask people with Parkinson's disease or family members and friends of people with Parkinson's to contribute poetry to an anthology. As I read the entries and did more research the project morphed into something I think will be even more powerful. The book is becoming a fictional story about a man with Parkinson's disease who as he goes through life comes across, reads and experiences poetry everywhere.
ICM: Can you give an example?
KB: The chapters are short with a few paragraphs of the story and then two or three poems. In one chapter the fictional main character comes across a crowd of people near a sidewalk repair site. As he gets closer, he notices that workers are laying fresh cement but also embedding letters into the concrete. One of the spectators tells him that the words are a poem from the winner of the Sidewalk Poetry Contest. She explains that Sue McClelland won the contest with a poem about her feeling and life through Parkinson's. The last line is "I am a uterus / trying to give birth to the last child / who is me / before life stops it's cycling." Sue McClelland is a real person. She is one of the poets who submitted her poetry to the original Touched by Parkinson's project. The chapter ends with a question from one of the spectators at the sidewalk: What would you write if you knew your words were going to be literally carved in stone or concrete? The books asks the reader to imagine someone else writing poetry and then asks them to imagine what message, story, idea do they want to share with the word. There is a health benefit whether the person actually write a poem or not.
ICM: So there is both fiction and non-fiction as well as poetry and prose in the book.
KB: Yes I think of it as having many intersections where the reader can choose what they want to think about. Where there is a choice, there is a chance for change and healing. In nature, the creatures that can survive at the intersections are the strongest. For example fish that live in an estuary have to be able to thrive in salt water and in fresh water. Not everyone can do it in life but we can each imagine a better life for ourselves. This book has so many intersections where readers can imagine themselves from different perspectives and in different situations and being able to imagine may find themselves stronger with an expanded sense of their place in the world, healing, and creativity. As you mentioned the book has both fiction and non-fiction parts. It includes the stories and poems of real people who are credited for their contribution. Research is shared in both the poetry and the prose and covers both placebo controlled studies done in big hospitals and universities as well as empirical wisdom from healing experiences. The cast of characters includes medical doctors as well as acupuncturists and craniosacral therapists.
ICM: Can people still contribute to the book?
KB: The official deadline has past but I imagine a second edition will include more poems from people who read the book and want to contribute their experiences, so any time until the first edition is published which should be summer, 2016, people with Parkinson's as well as family members and friends can email me their poems at TouchedbyPoetry@gmail.com and if they are too late for the 2016 edition, I will hold their pieces for the next edition.
ICM: This book focuses on helping people with Parkinson's disease. Are you considering any other communities?
KB: Absolutely. There is interesting research on the healing benefits of sharing your story, listening to other people with a similar condition and reading the images a writer can create with poetry. Other topics being considered for future books in the Touched by Poetry series include: Multiple Sclerosis, Macular Degeneration, Down Syndrome, Huntington's Ataxia, Diabetes, Arthritis / Joint Pain, Osteoporosis, Autism, High Blood Pressure, Breast Cancer, PTSD, Addictions, Joint Pain, Strokes / Heart Attack, Aids / HIV, and ... YOU can suggest a future topic if you would like. Please send your poems, comments, and suggestions to TouchedbyPoetry@gmail.com.
ICM: Good luck with this project.
KB: Thank you so much. It is such a pleasure to be a part of the Inner Child Press community and the Poetry Posse. You have enriched my life so much.
World Healing, World Peace
2016
celebrating International Poetry Month
an Inner Child exclusive
$ 8.00
Foreword
This vision of world healing and peace, if such a hope is going to come to fruition, it will take much struggle through effort in the human process of thinking. Firstly within reflective consciousness THE HUMAN-KIND will collectively have to change the way THE HUMAN RACE is perceived by all humans. Humanity as a whole must come to realize the benefit to all in creating a social environment that would decolorize the ideal of race to one race, THE HUMAN RACE regardless of skin color, sex, gender, nationality, ethnicity, culture, or belief. In so doing, humanity will be able to envision the wisdom of setting aside our differences and working together to heal and then preserve the human species transitionally into the future through a process of peaceful coexistence.
To even begin and then bring about such a global transformation in collective consciousness, it in my opinion must find its roots, its inspiration in the creative act. In where art is creatively used in a transitional manner exemplified in the poetic words of the artists found throughout the pages of this book. Art in its various forms creatively used through its powerful imagery to resurrect metaphorically from the darkness, the buried inhibitions and predispositions about the color of skin, sex, gender, nationality, ethnicity, culture, or belief that exacerbate societal ills. Socially embedded fear and bias stirred by genetic and environmental factors, how this all has a negative impact on the way fellow human beings are perceived by each other.
As a mystic and social activist performance artist, I fervently call out from a spiritual mindset to my fellow artists to use the creative act to bring these buried inhibitions and predispositions affecting humanity to the surface, to be aired out, and confronted in a way that will nurture the healing process of dialogue. If we as artists can initiate the process of open dialogue among We the people of planet earth, it could lead humanity to the acceptance of past transgressions, invoke a spirit to let go of the issues hindering human progression and then help We the people to move on as one.
How do we let go of the issues hindering human progression to develop a humanity that’s cooperatively engaged for the betterment of all THE HUMAN RACE? We the people of the planet earth will have to accept that our kind, our species is nothing more than simply human. We must accept ourselves, not necessarily forgive and forget the lessons taught during the human experience. Humanity should learn to no longer bear the weight of quilt or feel remorse for living our lives the best we can regardless of the mistakes we’ve made as individuals or as a whole. We must come to understand that no one gave us an all-encompassing guidebook on how to live and survive or how to bring about a healthy, joyful, prosperous and peaceful world. We must realize it is a waste of time and energy to cast blame or point a finger in an attempt to somehow rectify past transgressions against each other and other living creatures. If such a vision of world healing and then peace is to transpire, We the people will have to become perceptually more positive towards our kind. We’ll have to become more pro-human minded. If we want the intolerant to become more tolerant, we must lead the way by patiently demonstrating the behavior of tolerance towards them as they undergo the process of transformation.
If this transformation is going to happen we must take the lead by proactively exhibiting a pro-human mindset, not only through words, but through actions as well. Only then will our united vision for world healing to bring about peace make substantial headway along its transitional journey. To make progressive headway, We the people need to see the wisdom and then initiate the forming of a cooperative partnership with our servant(s) the government(s). Such a partnership will provide the necessary foundation and means to come up with flexible and transitional concepts that lead to valuable practices, implemented with the assistance of innovative technologies for the purpose of improving the overall well-being of humanity. In my first book in the series Nature ~ IQ: Let’s Survive, Not Die!, I suggested for these concepts and practices to be of benefit to humanity, they need to be centered ideologically around 5 freely accessible and affordable services: energy, information/education, transportation, health care and housing. Freely accessible and affordable services such as these will uplift the spirit of humanity making us all overtime more positive and productive contributors and less of a burden on society. This will not only bless us with the ability to help ourselves, but give us the time and resources to help others. In turn as we help others, they will help others help themselves, on and on through a reciprocal process of healing. Therein this process of healing keeps building in momentum and transitioning until the transformation of We the people becomes healthy, joyful and prosperous. Ultimately creating an environment of well-being that’s void of the trials and tribulations which held the world captive to anger, hatred, strive, illness and pain. At such a time, the wind then will howl no more due to the storm; ‘cause the wind will be saturated with the sweet music of peace.
~ * ~
I end this foreword with the following poetic words ….. see Book for balance of dialogue and Poem
~ Keith Alan Hamilton ~
Preface
It is not just because i have children and i have concerns for their safety and welfare, but the fact of the matter is you may have children too. Actually we are all children of this wonder filled Creation who inhabit this Awe Inspiring Planet we call Earth.
When i think in terms of World Healing ~ World Peace, like most of us there is much about us that needs our attention, adjustment and resolution. I like most of us could sit and complain the remainder of our lives away about all that is wrong. The predominant aspect of what i would like to ultimately transfer in the way of energy to every on i can, is that we have the ability to effectuate the changes we desire. We have the power to reconcile our existence to that of our Dreams of Utopia. “Our World” is inherently one of abundance and i believe there is enough for all of us to coexist in a peaceful, loving manner. For too long we have allowed the few to control the many. This would include most of our institutions from Religion, Politics, Education, Business, Food, Medicine, Media and Finance.
Our desires for “Things” along with the rampant Greed we witness has gone just about as far as we should allow. However, in order to make the much needed equitable adjustments for parity, we must first examine and correct the archaic consciousness’ we hold to unwittingly. The depth of our indoctrination fed to us by the controlling class is a tangled web filled with deceits and ulterior motives and agendas that do not serve the masses of people who have need for such basic things as Drinking Water, Food, Medical Attention and the lack of War and Strife.
Many may ask, “How can we achieve this end?” . . . well, i have always been told that “every journey begins with the first step”. Many have already taken that initial step, while some are waiting for the right motivation.
We have chosen the medium of Poetry and Prose to relay our messages from around the world. In this our second effort to evoke a higher level of participatory consciousness we hope that you find the words that moves you to care enough to be moved to a certifiable action that contributes to the good of us all.
Our aspiration here with this effort of World Healing ~ World Peace Poetry 2016, is not only to just produce a book, but to distribute the book globally. We have made the book available as a FREE Download. We will also make it available in any country as well.
For more information write us at :
worldhealingworldpeace@gmail.com
World Healing ~ World Peace Now
William S. Peters, Sr.
Inner Child Enterprises, ltd.
L. Michelle Odom
L. Michelle Odom is a seasoned professional in nonprofit administration where she has designed and managed many programs in the areas of workforce / economic development and social services. She is especially skilled in the areas of nonprofit fund development and public relations, and has used those skills in her work as a management consultant to startup and small organizations and churches. Currently, she is working toward founding a nonprofit focused on promoting a culture of reading – Reading For Change: A Collective Journey. An experienced freelance writer, Odom uses her considerable talent and curiosity to explore the pressing political, social and economic issues of our time, from a humanistic perspective. Her family includes one son and daughter-in-law, and one grandson.
She currently hosts two online book groups – The Global Black Feminist Reading Circle – which explores topics about Black women and men; and the Revolutionary Love Leadership Series – which considers the ways in which human beings are loving and not loving each other, and what needs to happen to create a more loving world. Both groups stream live via Google+/YouTube.
a Q & A with L. Michelle Odom
L. Michelle Odom is Reading for Change
We’ve been getting a lot of invitations lately from our friend, Loga Michelle Odom, to attend online reading events, and decided it was time to catch up with her to find out what’s going on. Here’s what she had to say.
Inner Child Magazine : Our mailbox is full with invitations to your reading events. What’s going on? What have you been up to lately? What projects are you working on currently?
“Reading for Change: A Collective Journey,” is my current passion. This is a not-for-profit organization I’ve been working on establishing for about two years now. It’s taking longer than I would like, because life keeps getting in the way, but also because I don’t feel like I’m in a hurry. I want to take my time and do things the right way, which is always what I counsel others to do when I’m wearing the hat of a management consultant. Also, it feels like the right path for me, and likely to be a part of my life for a very long time, so I’m pacing myself so that I don’t get either burned out or bored – two of my biggest pitfalls.
ICM : What do you see the organization accomplishing, once it’s established?
Well, the mission of “Reading for Change” is to promote spaces where everyday people are able to collectively read, analyze and relate written materials to the stories of our lives. We are primarily focused on the experiences of Black people, but actually looking at our relationship to all humanity and life. I want to encourage reading as a vehicle to deeper self-reflection and consciousness or awareness of our connection to the whole – the whole community, the whole of humanity, the whole of life. I want to combat the anti-intellectualism prevalent in American culture that seems to be a huge factor in keeping us trapped in vicious cycles, rather than advancing and evolving and developing in positive ways. I want to help more people see the value of reading and learning from the experiences of others and using this knowledge to improve ourselves and our world. I want to help people see that the revolution we dream of must begin with our own beliefs and practices, and that reading is a potent tool for stimulating internal change, which ultimately, we will manifest outwardly.
ICM : OK, but what are you actually doing or planning to do?
More practically speaking, I see this organization setting up reading groups in places where we find “everyday” or average people – places like homeless shelters, prisons, senior citizens homes, after-school programs, and community agencies, etc. I see us using technology in ways that build on the oral tradition of the Black community and use of story-telling as a means of transmitting key ideas, while also giving us an easy means of reliving and reinforcing these experiences and ideas. Documenting these collective reading experiences with video production is an important element of the work.
ICM : What led you to or motivates you to do this work?
I’m specifically using the term and focus on “everyday” people, because this is the group, I believe, that actually causes real and lasting change to occur in the human family. What we do as individuals matters, and the more of us doing it, the more we see shifts occurring. So I think it’s great that we have among us, dynamic, powerful, well-educated and influential personalities, but unless their messages translate into actual changes by the masses of people, no real change occurs.
So in terms of what motivates me to do this work, I suppose there are several things which have been striking to me over the course of my lifetime. One thing is that in the Black community, I have often hear people lamenting the fact that we don’t have enough leaders. This always strikes me as a bit odd, in that I believe we are called to be leaders in our own lives; and more significantly, I don’t really see us following to a large extent, the leaders we do have. So I’m curious about this, I am curious about why we don’t listen to all the brilliant voices who share their wisdom, insight and plans through books. I’m curious about why it seems we don’t hear them or see them, or much less follow their lead. I am also struck, by what is, in my view, the utter failure of patriarchal, hierarchal models of leadership where one person at the top is supposed to lay down the commands, and all below are expected to fall in line and follow. When it comes to social change, this model just doesn’t work, because what people believe matters, what people think matters, and what people do with their individual lives matters. Like so many people, I want to see real progress in the Black community – and yes, I know there’s no such thing as race – but I think as long as we’re waiting on a messiah or a perfect leader, we are trapped. We have to help everyday people see that what they do with their lives – the educational paths they pursue, the career choices they make, the music they allow to infuse their spirit, the television shows they watch, the choices they make as consumers, and the way they raise their children, matters. It all matters. It all adds to the whole. So while I think there’s a lot of emphasis on leadership in a patriarchal culture, I believe it’s vital that we get inside the heads of average people and help them see their relationship to the whole.
ICM : You said there were several things that motivate you to do this work. What’s another source of motivation?
Loneliness and boredom also motivate me to do this work. I am the type of person who can feel lonely in a crowd, and loneliness has been an excruciatingly painful emotional experience for me at different points in my life. Two things occurred to me about this. First, my loneliness was related to feeling like I was not in the company of people who saw what I saw – so we couldn’t relate. Secondly, I knew from my reading that loneliness was a huge problem in American culture; and intuitively, I felt that if I was feeling some kind of way, there are probably others who feel the same way. In terms of boredom, I am astounded by the shallowness and monotony of popular culture. It’s actually shocking to me that we can have such richness in culture, for example, yet are fed the same death-promoting music and television programs, on hundreds of channels! I do believe this is by design. Still, it captures a lot of people, and when they finish feeding back to me what they have absorbed from popular culture, I find myself bored to death. So I’m motivated to develop a community of people who can satisfy my own need for stimulating companionship; and I want to help other lonely people find the companionship they need.
Related to the loneliness – or not being able to find people I could relate to – is the realization that much of what interests me is a product of the books I have consumed over the years. It was something of a lightbulb moment for me when I realized that if we’re not reading the same books, not only are we not going to have much to talk about, we’re also not going to share many of the same beliefs, or move in a common direction. In my 20s and 30s, I was fascinated by how difficult it is for black and white people to communicate with and understand each other. Our points of view are so different because our experiences and our realities, are so different; and when we try to talk about it, emotions get in the way. Black folks start screaming and white folks start crying, and communication shuts down, and opportunities for progress go down the drain! So I wondered what would happen if we were reading the same books. I wondered if books could be a tool to diffuse some of the emotion, and move conversations from the personal to the political. Toward this end, I hope to find some brave white people who will read with me, as we grapple with the racism that poisons our world and stops us from moving forward in a healthy, life-sustaining way.
ICM : What else?
Another motivation for me is my love of writing. I love reading too, but it’s actually secondary to my love of writing. As much as loneliness has been an issue for me, reading and writing have been the salves. I can get into a writing mode (or a reading mode), and be lost for days. I used to do a lot of freelance journalism in my 20s and 30s, always focused on what was happening in our world politically, economically and socially, and I was sure I would write the books Bill Peters is always telling me now I need to write. The desire is still there, but not quite as strong as it used to be. Perhaps the biggest thing that dampens the desire for me, is knowing that reading is not as popular as it used to be. If I write, will there be anyone to read it? If no one reads it, will my writing make any difference in the world? If my writing makes no difference in the world, what’s the point of doing it? I know, this is a negative train of thought, and I’m working on it, but I also want to be honest about what’s going on in my head. It was a powerful moment for me, several years ago, when Bill said “It’s not your business to worry about who reads your work. It’s your business to write.” I’ll never forget that, and it serves as a deep source of inspiration for me. Nevertheless, one minor motive of mine in nurturing a community of readers, is so that someone will be likely to read my work and the works of the many brilliant souls I have encountered through books over the years.
ICM : Anything else?
Well yes, finally, I want to use “Reading for Change” as a model of civil dialogue. I am very concerned about the images we’re getting from popular culture. The ascent of reality TV or even a scene from Congressional proceedings, is often a shouting match where no one is heard and no good is accomplished. People talk to each other in such vile ways. This kind of TV may get good ratings, but I think it’s bad for humanity. I think we’re losing the ability to engage in meaningful conversation, and ultimately, to solve problems that effect the whole of us. I am concerned that our children are growing up in a world where they won’t even know that it’s possible to speak to people with tenderness, compassion and love, and that even when we disagree, we can still be civil and not exacerbate our differences simply because we’ve unnecessarily hurt someone’s feelings. I’m a feeler. I believe feelings matter. I am aware we live in a culture where feelings are easily dismissed as insignificant, but I think that’s wrong. How I feel, for example, determines whether I want to move toward you or away from you. If being around someone is going to be a hurtful experience for me, I want to move away from that person. I think how we talk to each other is a big problem in American culture, but a special concern for me as a member of the Black community where we often cite the need to unify as a key to solving our problems. How can we possibly have unity if we’re constantly hurting each other’s feelings and seeking to get as far away from each other as we possibly can? We can’t. Feelings matter.
The short answer is I wasn’t getting what I needed in terms of social relations or social progress, and I was not happy about that. I decided to give the world what I wanted to see – more humane behavior among human beings, better communication among human beings, more self-reflection and care for the whole of humanity, more appreciation of differences, more reading and thinking, and less uninformed and irrational reactions. In other words, I decided to BE the change I wanted to see. The sort of glorious part about it, is that this work is a real cure for my loneliness, and reminds me how connected we are as human beings, and how much we need each other – even when the temptation to walk alone, is great.
ICM : I know you’re already hosting an online book group. How is that related to “Reading for Change” or is it related?
Actually, I’m hosting two – The Global Black Feminist Reading Circle and the Revolutionary Love Leadership Series. These are sort of my prototypes for building online reading communities – and I like that description better than “book group” for some reason.
ICM : How do you see this work helping humanity?
Well, The Global Black Feminist Reading Circle really wants to get at the issues that are separating, especially, Black men and women. I want us to unravel these conflicts, shine some light on them, and figure out what needs to happen for healing to occur. I think we need a deeper consciousness about our commonalities as well as our differences. At 56 years old, I’ve lived through, I believe, the most rapid period of change known to humanity. My head spins when I stop to think about the amount of change I’ve had to cope with in my own life (which I think is above average), and I don’t know how any of us do it. Actually, I think we’re not doing it very well. We’re falling apart, and cracking up, and acting out, really, probably, exorcising our pain in ways that are needed, but I’m afraid that Black men and women, historic partners, lovers and friends, are losing each other in the process. I think it’s a much bigger problem facing humanity – losing our connections to each other, losing our recognition of the humanity in each other, losing our connections to the earth that sustains us, even losing awareness of our own needs. Losing. As far as Black men and women go, and the issue of feminism, I feel a part of (connected to) the generation of women who actually implemented a lot of the ideas advanced by women a decade or so older than me. It seems in many cases, they “talked the talk,” but many women in my generation “walked the walk” and thus incurred the wrath of men who didn’t want to see women’s equality as a step toward progress. I know it’s a painful subject, but I think we have to figure out how to keep loving each other, or the agenda to destroy us will be complete.
ICM : What about revolutionary love?
In a way, my agenda with the Revolutionary Love Leadership Series is much the same, from a slightly different vantage point. First, I really am concerned that there needs to be more love-as-practice (“love, sweet love”) in the world today. Corny as that sounds, my intuition tells me we are hemorrhaging from the lovelessness that consumes our lives – and causing the earth and all its inhabitants to suffer as a result of our unmet needs and self-inflicted wounds. So I want this reading series to encourage more love in the world, from a general perspective.
From the perspective of social change, I think a lot about the way MLK encouraged us to love our enemies. I think that’s a lofty and worthy goal, but beyond the capacity of people who are in need of so much love ourselves. The capacity of Black people to love ourselves has been severely constrained by living conditions in this part of the world. I think it’s not realistic to start this group of people off by insisting they love others, when our own cups are so empty. There are signs, too, that white people have not had enough love in their lives. I don’t know what has stopped them from learning to treat each other with more love, but it’s clear there is a problem. It is probably not reasonable to expect that people who have not gotten the love they need, would somehow, in large numbers, find the capacity to be loving toward others. I think that until more of us are in touch with our humanity, aware of our needs, knowledgeable about how to fill them, and generally satisfied with ourselves, we will not be able to forge the sort of policy outcomes that are reflective of a humane culture. Love is important.
Finally, Black people as a whole need more love. Black men need it. Black children need it. Black women need it. All genders need it. All age groups need it. All classes need it. Regardless of how our relationship to the dominant society changes over time, we won’t survive it without amping up significantly, the amount and quality of love we show one another and to ourselves. Period.
ICM : Where is your work located?
The two groups I’m currently hosting, The Global Black Feminist Reading Circle and the Revolutionary Love Leadership Series, are weekly broadcasts via Google + Hangouts on Air and YouTube, and found at the attached links. We have viewers located in many other countries, but most participants are east coast residents. I anticipate future groups will be conducted locally in whatever venue the population inhabits and sessions captured via camcorder. I live in New York City and plan to start here.
ICM : Are there other subjects you would like to focus on in your reading communities?
Yes. I’m a strong believer in democratic practice and consensus-building strategies, so I don’t want to dictate everything we will do as an organization. Still, I know I’d like to see women and men in prisons reading about the prison industrial complex. I’d like to see people trapped in poverty reading about income inequality and business development. I’d like to know that every young child goes to sleep on a good bedtime story. I’d like to see older people reading about issues related to ageing. The field is wide open.
ICM : So are you working on Reading for Change alone, or are other people involved?
I do have an old friend who’s working with me on developing the organization, Venita Goines Walker. We are both at the stage of life where our children are grown, we believe we did a good job in raising them, and we want to share some of our mothering skills with the world. Beyond that, we’re keeping our eyes open for people who are genuinely interested in this kind of work. Those people might come from the group of leaders who have served as co-hosts or participants in our model groups. For instance, in the Global Black Feminist Reading Circle, a young woman, Randie Danyell Henderson, has served as the co-host since we started that group in June, 2014. We are starting on our sixth book together this February. Her participation has been important in lending an intergenerational perspective to that group. This group also has a regular group of participants – Georgette Moses, Kim Brandon, and Joel Jones – who have been critical in modeling good conversational practices. The Revolutionary Love Leadership Series, which launched in October, 2015, is now into its second book. For the first book, my son, Din Goldson, served as the co-host. The current series is co-hosted by your own William S. Peters, Sr., and we’re reading a book published by Inner Child Press, “Black Male~D.”
ICM : We first met you through social media. It sounds like this is a new way for you to use social media. Is that right?
Yes, absolutely. I think we have this wonderful opportunity presented by the Internet, to spread ideas, and we should use it to the best of our ability, as long as we can. I’ve been active on social media (primarily Facebook) since the beginning of 2010, and I’ve used it to find and commune with like minds and spirits, and to share information and ideas that are in my view, worth spreading. Given my age, I’ve grown up along with the growth of television, and I’m very concerned about the limited messages we receive from mass media, and its power to shape, condition and otherwise influence what we believe, and consequently, how we act. I think we have a choice to make about whether to use this medium of the web to expand awareness of reality for the masses of people, or to reinforce and exacerbate the misconceptions presented by mass media. I choose the former.
ICM : Let’s bring this interview to a close with a bit of your personal history. What sort of influences were present in your life to lead you to this work you are now pursuing through Reading for Change, or is there a connection?
Yes, I do see my life as a sort of thread that just goes on and on. For starters, I was born in Los Angeles, CA, to an African Methodist Episcopal minister, L. Sylvester Odom, Sr., and a music teacher, Loga B. Odom, both of whom are now deceased. My dad was very active in the community around civil rights, and I am deeply influenced by his model of community engagement. As a teacher and musician, my mother was a transmitter of culture, and I see her influence in my work. Both of them were great lovers of books who instilled a love of reading in their four children, as well as development of critical thinking skills. As I said earlier, it’s an experience I think every child should have. My parents were very social people (especially my dad), and our home was filled with friends and conversation on a near constant basis as I was growing up. Eventually I realized many of these dialogues were related to civil rights and these were some of the people who were actually changing the world. I learned early that connections matter – we have to be in relationship with one another if we want to gain the advantage of our collective strength. There was much less of this kind of community in my adult life, and I miss it. So family background definitely serves as an influence on the work of Reading for Change.
Also, as a young woman, I majored in political science and public administration, both of which focus on shaping our world. Political science gets at questions of what people want, while public administration gets at how to bring those desires into reality. In a sense, Reading for Change brings together these two schools of thought, by helping people figure out what they want and offering tools to articulate and pursue those ideas.
Finally, I think my employment experiences are another key influence in leading me to Reading for Change. Most of my work experience is in the area of nonprofit management, especially in the areas of social services and community development. I was fortunate to work in agencies that liked to experiment with different program models, and I have a lot of experience designing programs. Also, though, I’ve seen how the sector has changed over the years, becoming more profit-driven (or business-minded) and less tolerant of the time-consuming and real work involved in human development. The influence of our fast-paced, quick-fix culture is far reaching, but I think whether we like it or not, changing what people believe and how they act, is internal work and it can take quite a large amount of time. Some of this work I believe we can do together, and perhaps shorten the learning curve, and that’s some of what we’re exploring in our Reading for Change model.
ICM : How can we learn more about your reading circles? Is there a website?
I have not launched our website yet, but hope to do so later this year. In the meantime, people may contact me at ReadingForChange2015@gmail.com, follow our pages or join one of our communities on Google+ and/or Facebook where we post event invitations and related information. We also have loads of video archives available on YouTube. Here are links to the two communities:
The Global Black Feminist Reading Circle (Community) :
The Revolutionary Love Leadership Series (Community) :
Jennifer Render
Jennifer Render is a Certified Life Coach specializing in Stress Management and the founder of Tejomaya Wellness. After struggling with a chronic illness compounded by extreme stress, her purpose and passion came to her as a result of seeking alternative therapies and stress management techniques. After devoting every spare second to learning how to be well, she certified in a variety of alternative therapies and her practice was born. It is now her whole-heart mission to help others be well in mind, body and spirit by offering personalized coaching sessions for her clients. She is a Contributing Editor for Inner Child Magazine and loves sharing her knowledge about health and well-being with readers there and on her blog. In her spare time, she loves reading, singing and nature photography.
a Q & A with Jennifer Render
Inner Child Magazine : What made you decide to become a Stress Management Coach?
Jennifer : Back in (year), I was working an especially challenging job in customer service in the financial sector. It wasn’t uncommon for me to spend all day speaking with angry customers and it didn’t take long for it to take a massive toll on my health. I developed a drug resistant type of pneumonia that was made much worse due to the amount of stress I was under and I had no choice but to take a six month sabbatical and recover my health. I made use of this time by teaching myself about holistic health and stress-relieving techniques like meditation and yoga and not only did I recover my health, but I discovered my passion. I firmly believe we are put here to teach the thing we most need to learn, and this is that for me.
Inner Child Magazine : So, what does a Stress Management Coach do, exactly?
Jennifer : Simply? We teach our clients how to implement special tools and techniques to allow them to better manage and respond to the stress in their daily lives. With me as a coach, no two sessions will ever look the same, even if I have clients with identical reasons for coming to me. I believe each person’s journey to overcome stress is deeply personal and I take that into account by tailoring the techniques I use to each client’s individual needs and personalities. One person’s thirty minutes of meditation is another person’s crocheting or needlepoint. What works for one may not be a good fit for someone else.
Inner Child Magazine : Tell me about how to decided on the name for your practice?
Jennifer : I get this question a lot. Tejomaya is a Sanskrit word, meaning Full of Light. I’m a big fan of an entire thought being expressed in one word, and this one absolutely lit me up when I discovered it, if you’ll pardon the pun. I sort of jokingly call the time before I discovered my purpose “the Dark Ages”, because they were dark. I worked dead-end jobs I didn’t like, I sought comfort by stress-eating or drinking, and I was depressed and anxious throughout most of it. Once I found answers to the questions I had about how to overcome these obstacles, it was like a light switched on. One I never thought I’d see again, in fact. Once that happens, you have no choice but to become a lightworker, really. That joy continues when you help other restore the light they thought they’d lost, too.
Inner Child Magazine : I’ve heard the term before. What is a lightworker?
Jennifer : I think a lightworker is anyone who has dedicated their life to helping others with the overall goal of helping the planet and the universe be more loving and peaceful place. It’s certainly a popular word in spiritual circles, but I don’t think you necessarily have to be called in some extraordinary way or even be especially spiritual or religious to be a lightworker. Everyone is a lightworker if they want to be. All you have to do is use that great big heart you were born with.
Inner Child Magazine : What do you wish other people knew about stress?
Jennifer : That even the most put together person on the outside, can be absolutely unraveling on the inside. I think with social media being the standard for how we share our lives with others, it’s not at all uncommon to see only the best of someone’s day-to-day existence, and to look at that and say “Wow, that person’s life looks nothing like mine. They have so much going for them”, and then feel bad about ourselves for having snapped at the kids for leaving their toys out or having a meltdown when we spill coffee on the way out the door in the morning. Don’t get me wrong, social media is a wonderful tool! I’m grateful for it and I utilize it every day. Comparison really is the thief of joy though, and it’s absolutely okay to seek help when we are struggling with stress. It’s not a weakness at all. It’s a humanness. We all have stress. Some of us are just better equipped with ways of handling it.
Inner Child Magazine : What do you do when you aren’t coaching?
Jennifer : Writing, for one. Aside from being blessed to contribute a health and wellness article for Inner Child Magazine each month, I am in the process of writing a few different books! Whether it’s educational or just for fun, writing has always been a huge passion and I look forward to publishing one in the next year. Aside from that I enjoy art, music and photography very much. If I’m not typing or talking to clients, I probably have a painbrush, camera or microphone in my hands!
Inner Child Magazine : Anything else you want to share with us?
Jennifer : One of my absolute favorite tips for quickly relieving stress is a technique I learned from Gabby Bernstein’s book, Miracles Now. It’s so simple, I’ve seen it taught to children and I use it all the time when I feel my blood-pressure on the rise. You gently and deliberately press your thumb and index finger together, then your thumb and middle finger, thumb and ring finger, then thumb and pinkie. As you move through your fingers, starting with the index finger say the following words as you change fingers: Peace Begins With Me. Then start over again with the index finger, repeating the simple mantra as many times as you need to feel that peace sweep over you. It couldn’t be easier and its effects are so profound.
Letting the Light In
A Journey Out of Darkness
Jennifer Render was born in a small town in Iowa, and after the loss of her father and a handful of moves, she was blessed to do the majority of her growing up in Boulder, CO. Aside from being surrounded by gorgeous landscapes, Jennifer was exposed to diverse and interesting people from all walks of life and credits this experience with her love of Psychology and the human mind. She would take this love with her to Oklahoma, where she attended college and graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. It was during this time that she discovered an intense passion for Aromatherapy and would write her thesis on the benefits of combining essential oils with modern talk therapy for a more complete therapeutic method of treatment. “Oh, it was everything. I actually wanted to leave school and devote my entire life to Aromatherapy, but almost no one had heard of it at the time and it really wasn’t a practical career choice, so I just finished my degree and took a job at the first place that would hire me,” she recounted.
Like most people do after college, Jennifer spent a lot of time searching. She began work in retail cosmetics and discovered a passion for make-up artistry that she still treasures to this day. “I love painting faces. For some of my clients, we explore the art of confidence through fashion and make-up as a means of putting your best-self forward, so I’m happy to be able to incorporate that love into what I’m doing now,” Jennifer explains. Continuing to search for a deeper sense of purpose however, she tried her hand at a number of other career paths, hoping to find a place to belong. During this time, heavy grief set in after the loss of several family members in a short period of time and Jennifer fell into a period of darkness, depression and anxiety which she attempted to treat with unhealthy habits and coping techniques that just didn’t work. “There was a lot of drinking and half-hearted attempts at whatever was trendy at the time, but nothing really worked for me and I was so heartbroken, it was hard to keep up with much of anything. Mostly I just did a lot of crying,” Jennifer recalls.
After working a difficult job in banking and being under constant stress, Jennifer developed a type of pneumonia that wouldn’t respond to treatment and it forced her to take a 6 month break from work to re-evaluate all of the things that lead up to her illness. Bed-ridden but not ready to give up and let the illness take her out, she picked up her Aromatherapy books again and re-read each one of them, reigniting the flame she thought had long since burned out. It would lead her to various forms of meditation, Kundalini yoga, Reiki, Craniosacral Therapy, Pranayama, Herbal and Naturopathic Medicine and continues to inspire her to learn everything she possibly can. “I’ll probably be a student of something for the rest of my life,” she says with a laugh.
After recovering her own health and having the light return to her own life, Jennifer set out to complete a certification in Life Coaching so she could create a practice devoted to helping others find health, happiness and safe-harbor from the darkness that can steal the vibrance from people. It is something she does with her whole-heart and firmly believes she was put on this planet to do. “It is my hope that no one should ever have to feel there’s no passion or purpose in their being here. If I can help one person let the light in, that will have made it all worth it,” says Jennifer with a warm smile. Maybe it’s the apparent love for what she does, but I tend to believe her. J
For Pete’s Sake
A Journey of Spiritual Liberation
a Q & A with
ICM: Inner Child Magazine would like to thank you for taking the time to provide us with a feature interview.
Dr. Peter: As always, I’m humbled to contribute to the magazine with my monthly articles let alone being able to write a feature piece. The honor is mine.
ICM: Well, we’ve come to know and love you over the years through your talks and column and we’re extremely happy to have you back again for an exclusive. Our listeners and the Inner Child family are always excited to hear what you have to say, especially when it’s about your own personal journey.
Dr. Peter: Well thank god that I lived to tell it.
ICM: Of course. So, when we last interviewed with you, you were just finishing up with your new book 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness: A Conclusive Synopsis on Spiritual Principles. Tell us how that’s been working out for you?
Dr. Peter: Well, I’m still seeking publication for the book. As you know, I already have two other books published; Ultimate Truth: Book I, and Universal Truth: Thinking outside the Box: Book II both of which are self-published through Author House Publishing. At the time I wrote those books, I didn’t know much about the publishing world and I was so eager just to get those books into print. Now, I’ve come to learn the difference between self-publishing and traditional-publishing so I’ve decided to take the more traditional route with 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness. I’m more interested in seeking the traditional route because I feel it would be a huge injustice not to have world-wide distribution, and global marketing, not to mention the financial support and backing of one of the larger publishing houses.
ICM: I understand your point although vanity publishing has changed quite a bit and many of the smaller independent self-publishers can do many if not all of the things that a traditional publisher can do.
Dr. Peter: In some cases yes. However, a vanity publisher can only do so much in terms of marketing and publicizing a book. Most of the marketing, publicizing, and distribution would have to come from the authors efforts and word-of-mouth. Also with self-publishing, most if not all of the costs to publish and market the book has to come from the author, while a traditional publisher typically absorbs all of the expenses to publicize the book because they have a huge stake in the books success. Not to mention there are certain up front incentives and author bonuses to sign with a major publishing house.
ICM: Okay, well enough about the publishing side of things. Tell us about your newest project, For Pete’s Sake: A Journey of Spiritual Liberation. Is this a story about your memoirs and your own personal journey hence the title: For Pete’s Sake?
Dr. Peter: Yes it is. I’ve finally come to a point in my consciousness where I’m willing to put my life in a book. I speak to crowds regularly about my life and how it has allowed me to evolve into the man I am today through adversity. It entails all the many processes I’ve had to undergo just to find freedom from the bondage of my own self. It just so happens that the title of the book is: For Pete’s Sake: A journey of Spiritual Liberation. I think it’s a very clever title that depicts the many facets of my journey for the sake of my development. But it’s not only for my sake. People from all walks of life will be able to relate to the many challenges and struggles I’ve personally had to endure to get to this place in my spiritual journey. Suffice it to say, but I’m sure thousands of people will be very surprised to learn that I’ve had to overcome some very grave life threatening and debilitating situations to get to this point in my life.
ICM: That’s interesting to know. I’m sure I’ll readers will be delighted to hear the “gory behind your story,” as one would put it.
Dr. Peter: Oh trust me, there is definitely much to know about me and the things I’ve had to in order to up where I am today.
continued . . . . . .
continued . . . . .
ICM: Can you give us a sneak preview into some of the things you’ve had to overcome in order to get to where you are now?
Dr. Peter: Well I don’t want to spoil the intrigue or ruin the plot of the book but I can certainly guaranty that people will be surprised to discover all the many intricacies of my life’s journey. I’m not suggesting that my experiences are any different from the next person’s, it’s just that people often look at me and find it hard to believe the experiences I’ve had to endure. It’s because I’ve been able to reinvent myself like the proverbial Phoenix who remerges out of the fires of purification anew once every five hundred year.
ICM: Wow! I’m sure many people can hardly wait to read about your life and the places you’ve been thus far in order to become such a beacon of hope.
Dr. Peter: Someone once said that, H.O.P.E. comes from Hearing Other People’s Experiences if I can borrow that saying. Sometimes it helps to hear that other people, especially people in leadership roles have had to overcome certain traumatic situations in order to get to where they are in life. It allows for a person in the midst of a situation to draw strength from someone such as myself or anyone else for that matter that has chosen to openly discuss the trials and tribulations we’ve had to undergo before reaching the other side. I always like to speak on how the Universe has allowed me to turn my life which was a mess in into a message, and even what I thought was sh*t turned into sugar.
ICM: I can certainly attest to the fact that you’re a great messenger of light. Tell us what else we can expect from you in the coming days.
Dr. Peter: Let’s see, I haven’t been doing much coaching lately because I want to build my practice around teaching the 100 Disciplines from the book. I’m sure you remember my teachings from The Master Key System by Charles Haanel which is a magnificent body of work. However, I would like to focus my energies on establishing my own curriculum based teachings derived from my 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness and the spiritual lessons they entail.
ICM: That’s understandable. Every teacher strives to have their own curriculum and foundation to wrest upon.
Dr. Peter: Absolutely, which is exactly why I’m developing my own platform of lecture series that will center on the 100 Disciplines which will allow me to grow and build upon my own work and not the work of someone else.
ICM: It’s good that we had the privilege of you teaching The Master Key System here on our blog talk radio forum. You even gifted us with the Power Point Presentation for anyone that might be interested in learning more about The Master Key System.
Dr. Peter: Yes, I remember that very well. It was a great opportunity to present the teachings of Charles Haanel and The Master Key System which I highly recommend to anyone seeking to understand higher consciousness and the Law of Attraction (LOA), and how it supports us in our manifesting abilities.
ICM: I can certainly attest to that having read The Master Key System myself. Aside from Charles Haanel, who else do you gain insight and inspiration from?
Dr. Peter: Well first and foremost, I seek my own answers from within through silence of mind techniques and meditative practices. Otherwise, I’m a huge fan of many of the early turn of the century, new thought proponents such as Charles Haanel, Robert Collier, Wallace Wattles, and Napoleon Hill. They had such a regal way of expressing ideas with their word choice. But I also enjoy reading some of the more modern authors such as; Dr. Wayne Dyer, David Icke, Eckhart Tolle, Stuart Wilde, and Greg Braden among countless others. Many of these great authors understood the power of word choice and the subtleties of mental vibrations and how the utilization of certain mental techniques and practices can help bring about certain things into existence.
ICM: You’re right about that. You and I had this very conversation as we walked down the streets of Hollywood during my trip to LA a few years back. Since then, we’ve had numerous conversations on the power of word choice and how the subtleties of words can help bring things into reality.
Dr. Peter: Haha. Yes. I remember your trip here to Los Angeles as we walked down Sunset Blvd. with the Sun to our backs discussing the importance of word choice and the power they can possess. That’s why I cherish your book of poetry, The Vine Keeper: Messages in Poetry & Prose simply because I felt that each word was delicately selected and ripened to perfection. I would also like to thank you for your huge contribution by adding your prose to 100 Disciplines.
ICM: It’s my pleasure and you too have helped out tremendously by contributing prose for many other projects here at ICM. We’ll have to meet again sometime soon to break bread and mince words.
Dr. Peter: I agree. Maybe this time I can come to you and you can show me around your neck of the woods. Just as long as it’s not in the winter. Ha.
ICM: Well my dear friend the Innerchild Family would like to thank you once again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to heed the call once more by sharing of your time and wisdom with our readers. You are truly a scholar among men and we wish the best for you in all your future endeavors.
Dr. Peter: I’m always available to contribute my time and energy to help others especially as it pertain to the folks over at Innerchild Magazine. I appreciate the medium you have established at Innerchild Press and it’s always a pleasure to heed the call. Peace and Blessings my dear friend and all the readers at Innerchild Magazine. Be well.
John McLaughlin
about John
John was born in Cold Lake, Alberta the eldest of three. His father was a Master Corporal in the Canadian Airforce and therefore John and his family moved around from Chatham, New Brunswick, to Germany and back to Cold Lake. No matter where he lived though he always maintained a connection with nature. As a child you would find John camping in a tent all summer long. By age 14 he was not only living in his tent for the summer but had moved it to the woods where he would hunt and fish for his own food. By age 16 he had successfully completed a two-week long solo wilderness survival exercise, in which he trekked on many rivers lakes and mountain trails throughout his life. John’s favorite past times have always had to do with nature, and he has developed a deep understanding and appreciation because of this.
Now in John’s adult life he has continued this connection. He has lived in several remote locations due to his pervious careers in the oil field. He participated in these communities as a volunteer Firefighter, First Aid & CPR trainer, Victim Services, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, and in Search and Rescue. He was a hunter and a fisherman but eventually, his compassion for his fellow creatures led him to become vegetarian and therefore only observes.
John’s spiritual journey deepened through Buddhist meditation at the Truc-Lam Monastery in Edmonton where he was renamed Chan Dac (True Attainment). This awoken a hunger to explore himself spiritually, so in 2010 John embarked on an intense three-year Shamanic training with The Four Winds Society in Utah and California. He learned many healing processes in the Q’ero Indians tradition of Peru, which integrated modern techniques. He became immersed in The ManKind Project. He has had the opportunity to learn/participate with native elders in sweat lodges and other First Nation’s ceremonies. He has received basic instruction in Craniosacral Therapy, The Flower of Life Meditation and Komyo Reiki Kai Master. Finally, in 2012 John’s journey led him to Gobind Sadan Ashram in New Delhi, India for four months. Where he continued to explore himself spiritually alongside people from all around the world.
John currently resides in Edmonton, Alberta, but is hoping to find an eco-community to live in. He is father of three girls and grandfather to two. You will find him sharing his knowledge and love for nature with his family and friends, meditating, participating in ceremony, and continuing to work towards deepening his understanding of his higher self. Hungry for knowledge, John continues to learn from the people around him and continues training. He just received a certificate in Emotional Frequency Technique (EFT), which is unique empirically-based approach, based on methods designed to help people accept, express, regulate, make sense of and transform emotion. John’s deep connection with nature has seamlessly brought him too Shamanic Healing. He is a strong intuitive person, who is a creative artist, with highly sensitive healing hands; this all contributes to making him a powerful shamanic practitioner.
a Q & A with John
What is Shamanic Healing?
Shamanism is among the oldest forms of healing in the world, with a history stretching back at least 40,000 years. It appears in many cultures all over the world and works on the premise of benevolent Spirit Allies working through an intermediary (the Shaman) to offer healing energy, guidance, and wisdom for the benefit of the patient. The Shamanic practitioner travels to the spirit world to meet with their Spirit Allies to consult with them on the best way to help the patient. This process is called “journeying.”
Shamanic healing is beautifully tailored to the specific needs of each patient, offering them highly personalized help and guidance. When connecting to the soul and consciousness of another, we enter a very sacred and intimate space within which it is a privilege and an honor to share and heal. The human energy field or the Luminous Energy Field (LEF) surrounds each one of us. Our LEF has existed since before the beginning of time. It was one with the unmanifest light of Creation and it will endure throughout infinity. Every living thing on Earth is composed of light. We are light bound into living matter. The LEF corresponds to our physical body, emotions, mind, soul, and connection to Source (Great Spirit, God, etc.). This spirit-led healing modality reaches right into the core of the person to clear those imprints that cause us to repeat destructive emotional patterns in our lives. It goes directly to the root of the problem without the person necessarily having to re-experience any original trauma.
As we go about our daily lives we can gather debris in our field from all the events, feelings and beliefs we hold onto. As a result of traumas, environmental pollution (physical and psychic) and various stresses, the movement of energy around and through the energy centers (chakras) can become blocked, distorted, torn or otherwise damaged. When we suffer traumas, stress or illness, it becomes stored in our LEF as distortions. We can experience these imprints in all kinds of symptoms that may not appear to have a medical cause: mysterious aches and pains, feelings of restlessness, not belonging or feeling empty, lack of energy and enthusiasm, constantly living in the past, having groundless fears, obsessions and emotional outbursts, recurring negative life situations and so on.
What is the ManKind Project?
The ManKind Project is a group of men building and supporting emotionally mature, powerful, accountable, and compassionate male leaders and role models. Growing the men of our community starts with the New Warrior Training Adventure, which is a male initiation and self-examination. It is a modern ‘hero’s journey’ and the challenge of a lifetime for many men. It’s safe, supportive and cutting edge. It is not a retreat, a conference or a workshop. Many men say that this experience is second only to seeing and supporting the birth of their children. It’s a 48 hours experience that can change your life.The New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) is a singular type of life affirming event, honouring the best in what men have to offer the planet. We are only able to recognize the powerful brilliance of men because we are willing to take full responsibility for the pain we are also capable of creating and suffering. This is the paradox of modern masculinity, and it is a lesson we are dedicated to learning and teaching.
To learn more about the ManKind Project please refer to their websites:
How has the ManKind Project affected your life?
I have learned so much from this group and continue to. A major lesson that MKP has taught me is to be accountable for my actions and my life, not to blame others for my misfortunes. I now look for and understand my role and try to only hold myself accountable. This in turn has made me a more responsible man and one that understands the impact I have on others and myself. Furthermore, I have dealt with two major issues that have plagued me, anger and trust. I have learned how to handle anger in a safe way and have begun to trust other men. I can honestly say I have become a better man, thanks to the opportunities given to me through MKP.
Why do you think it's beneficial for people to try shamanic healing?
Shamanic practitioners work in the realm of spirits. They do not call themselves shamans; if one achieves success in shamanic healing, the community may name him or her a shaman. The basic worldview is that there is not just one reality; there is the generally agreed-upon physical reality we inhabit, but there are other invisible realms. Those are different for every visitor, filled with animated human, plant, and animal spirits. Shamans summon these to help heal people's souls.
Shamans journey to these other worlds by going into a trancelike state, most often with the sounds of drumming. For some shamans, the journeys to other worlds are very visual—they wander through a landscape of beings—and others hear distinct sounds and voices from spirits. The closest the rest of us come to visiting the other realities is through our dreams, which shamans believe are full of information from the spirits. It all sounds a little far-fetched, a little woo-woo. But the shamanic practitioners I spoke with are serious professionals who describe their experiences with other realities very matter-of-factly. It's like they're describing another culture they've seen that I've never visited. It's simply beyond my experience.
This experience and healing experienced through shamanic practices addresses an aspect of our health often forgotten- our souls health. Through shamanic healing we can begin to heal an incredibly paramount select of ourselves!
Who has influenced you the most along your spiritual journey and how?
Gandhi was the biggest influence for me starting this journey and still is. His lessons of living better and simpler have inspired me. He taught me to live closer to our mother earth, to be of service to others and ourselves and to look deeply inward to find the creator in us.
What led you to Buddhism and Shamanism?
I still practice a lot of the Buddha teachings and find similarities in shamanic ways. Buddhism describes a nonmaterial spiritual reality (perhaps the realer reality not the matrix we are living) and addresses what happens after we die (reincarnation). But at the same time, it is down to earth and practical. It is about us, our minds, our suffering, it's about being fully and deeply human. This is what attracted me to Buddhism. As time moved on I found that I did not need to follow any religion to be connected to the source and that is what has drawn me to the more natural ways of the Shamanism (being connected intimately to our Mother Earth and all living things). I believe we are to be of service to others, nothing is more important. All religions are rooted in love which I can admire and draw inspiration. However, I do not feel the need for “a” religion but instead believe in the universal law- to not bring harm to anyone.
Why did you chose to leave the oilfield?
The reason I left the oil and gas industry was a greater calling to do something to help others and the oil and gas industry could not fulfill that need. I feel like my vocation finally became clear and I need to grow into the person that could fit this vocation. As well, my calling and growth have led me to an even deeper connection to with nature and the oil and gas industry contradicted that connection. I realized how detrimental that industry is and therefore could not continue, as my values and beliefs no longer aligned with that industry.
What drives you to learn and grow spiritually?
I am driven to be a better person and to reflect on the man I am. My mission through self reflection is to turn inward and look at all of the things that keep me away from unconditional love and break them down. The emptiness that I feel is not a void of everything but rather everything that keeps me away from the goal of unconditional love - my goal and thus need to continue to learn and grow is to achieve and accept unconditional love.
How do you feel supported in your journey?
I am supported in so many ways and blessed by beautiful people in my life. My daughters support me and are my biggest inspiration to be a better person. I have so many friends, men from The ManKind Project, and from the Goddess Lair that support me and offer me guidance. I cannot begin to explain how supported and blessed I am.
What is the biggest impact that changing your life path has had? On yourself, and on others?
There is no way to limit the changes to just one big impact for me. To separate any part of it would not give it any real meaning or substance. It would be like asking someone what makes a tree by only talking about a branch. It’s an understanding of who I am, what is my purpose, and an understanding that we are all one with everything. It is all connected much like we are all connected.
As the impact on others, I’m not sure but I sure have attracted some amazingly beautiful people in my life.
What is your ideal goal or what do you want to ultimately accomplish with your spiritual path?
It all comes down to how and what I feel in my heart. Having all the money in the world will not buy me happiness. When I’m on my death bed I want to be thinking “wow what a ride, I’m proud of who I am and that I did good in this life.” My goal is simple: be happy and be of service to others, that is all that matters.
What where the hardest obstacles to overcome on this journey?
The feeling of being a failure because I did not have traditional career or job, home or large bank account. I have had these things in the past but they did not bring any happiness and in fact limited my ability to grow. I’m in a place now where it is a blessing to not be tied down with material possessions. I feel freer because of this but because I am human and am part of a materialistic society, slip into that matrix but only briefly.
What gave you the strength to overcome them?
Knowing in my heart that I have a vocation that will make me much happier and able to fulfill a calling to serve others.
What would you say to someone that doesn’t believe in this technique for healing?
I hold no judgements about others that do not believe in energy healing. It is not for me to judge another person’s path for we are all on a different one but our goal is to the same place - unconditional love.
Since the beginning of your spiritual journey to now, do you feel more complete?
Absolutely. I have a clearer vision of the person and man I would like to be and have come into a more calming, compassionate place in my life.
What is Goddess Lair Community?
The goddess lair council is a group of volunteer leaders and facilitators. A tribe brought together by Spirit/Source/ Divine inner guidance, impassioned about helping each other in our spiritual, and conscious evolution. We commit to serve our fellow man/woman in attaining sovereignty, free will, unconditional love, creativity, integrity, and connection with all beings & universal laws. With our diverse gifts, knowledge, and experiences, we take responsibility to master our limited human selves and illusions, and use all of our tools to serve and lead those who are also seeking their truths and authentic infinite power. We choose to be the change, and make it exponential.
How has this community affected you?
A better understanding of living from an open heart. As well, I am more able to see the goddess in women and more apt to support, respect and honor that inner goddess in a spiritual way.
Peter Egler
aka
SiNeh~
Peter Egler was born in Switzerland 1991 as eight child in a Family of eleven. ( nine children). It was a time where also in Switzerland people lived in scarcity and suffered from the short before ended WW II. Peter to describe isn't easy because he does never talk a lot about himself and prefer others to build a “picture” of what he does and how he act (interact) with those that come in contact with him wherever this may be. He didn't made a “degree” in an University to BE someone and only visited eight years School. The 9th year he avoided to take because he found already then, that most what we learn in the schools is not serving the good of all but indoctrinate us to be servants to the “almighty” World governing system. With other words, he was born to be a rebel against the oppressors in any shape they appear. If someone ask him today what he does as profession, he smiles and say: “I'm a humanitarian”
Personal Thoughts
Life brought many lessons to me to learn and some were very hard while others where full of pleasure. Most frustrated me always when I had to follow some rules of the “law” which my heart told me that those “laws” serve nothing else as those that wrote them and those that implement it. This regardless those “laws” where written by the State or laws that my parents invented and forced me to follow.
Then there where those lessons that were really exiting for me to learn. This were lessons of how to build something without having much (material) available, how to survive when life goes rough, how can I help others to come successful in what they wish to accomplish in their lives.
One of those lessons was leading me to a wonderful job I had in a multinational corporation for many years. I was chosen by the corporation to be one out of many to EDUCATE adult persons how to come successful in the profession they had in that corporation. I gave lessons not only to salesmen but directors of that corporation as well. Isn't that interesting? Me as NON-UNIVERSITY studied chap, could give lessons to such people.
What happen in my life that was most rewarding.
1995 I visited the Philippines for my first time in my life and what I have seen there has “hit me” like nothing before. I have seen that there people lived with a HAPPY FACE despite that 80% of the population have not much to smile about when we talk about having more than need to survive and even some don't have that and hunger.
This visit caused me to rethink my life complete and caused that 1996 I left the corporate world, my WONderFUL income I had, sent my boss a letter to tell him I leave Switzerland and his big business for I want to go to the Philippines, build there something (didn't know what then) for I can give some people there work and an income.
There I learned from an at the time 86 year old grandpa how to RECYCLE and build new car batteries. So I built a small factory and did just that. Employed two helpers which could then feed their own family better as before. With this experience I felt very much rewarded. Helping not only one person to have enough food on their table but many of their family members as well.
Then following has happen which you can see in one of the two videos I provide.
Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k16pFmJbR3k
This “experience” lead me to the conclusion that I can't live there any longer and have to search for another “adventure”. I asked the universe for showing me “the way” and what has happen will make anyone smile that read it. I met (on the internet) the women I was searching for so long. Catya stepped into my life and said: “Peter, we need you here where I live to be the light you are and I LOVE YOU”
I lost everything (materiel) I had in the Philippines (you may can imagine when you have seen above Video) I left the country, only had the money to pay the airplane from the Philippines back to Europe. This was in the year 2009.
Since then, I have NO income, no benefits from a government that cares but my lovely wife Catya that earn a minimal wage as a carer for her hard work as a carer in a home for people with dementia. Without her, I wouldn't even have a roof over my head and probably would live homeless on a the streets of nowhere.
What is so REWARDING on that you may ask.
It's quite simple. If those heavy typhoons hadn't stroke me there and got everything I had, I hadn't met my wonderful wife Catya because I had be to busy with something else as being on some really good social networks present like (for example) the INNERCHILD network and the network I met Catya back then 2009.
I hadn't thought to build an own social network that give a home to others that are searching for truth and some “enlightening”. Both of that, I find rewarding more a any reward money could provide.
THE B.O.L.E
The Blend Of Loving Energies Network http://lovingenergies.net/ is the Network I founded soon after I arrived in the United Kingdom and had an internet connection again. The best way to know what we do there and the purpose it serves you will faster know by watching THIS VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PutJ_mr6Y6Y or get you a bit time to surf the network instead I explain it with much “bla bla bla” to you. :-) Please feel free to sign up and be a member as the loving energy you are!!!
Questions and Answers
Why do you do what you do?
For that I have no answer but answer what I feel is purpose related. I do always what my heart tells me to do from mOMent to mOMent I breath consciously and not sleep.
Have you regrets for what you did along your lifespan until now.?
How can someone regret something done in his/her lifespan considering that everything done has lead to what we experience at the mOMent we call the present?
With other words, NO, I don't regret something. Everything had a good purpose even those “things” I did which were painful experiences. Forgiveness and gratitude work hand in hand and beside we never know for sure whether or not what we do will later backfire badly or rewarded and seen as positive. People tend to judge things out of their own perception that would lead us astray when we would listen to.
Do you have a wish that you would like to be fulfilled?
Sure I have (still) some wishes and one of them I wish badly. I wish I can witness before I leave my body and travel into noTHINGness, - that the wars are over which are NOT only fought between countries and nations but IN our own selves between heart and mind which is the cause of all problems we have here on PLAN-ET Earth.
Something else to say?
Nothing more I have to say or I would say may say something which probably hurt some readers and search the problems to solve that exist in my own shadow instead.
Oh, wait, I do have to say something more after above statement. Let me add something beautiful in words which are written in ancient leMUrian language......
“La mor eckta ma laya ya” (English translation “I love you beloved”)
which the beloved is meant to be YOU beloved reader of my words.
SiNeh~
legal name Peter Egler
Links
FACEBOOK Profile
https://www.facebook.com/SinehFepetopia
FACEBOOK BOLE
https://www.facebook.com/groups/161269623895299/
Profile @ the BOLE
http://lovingenergies.net/profile/SiNeh/
(only for members visible)
Profile @ innerchild
http://innerchild.ning.com/profile/SiNeh
World Healing World Peace 2016
now open for Submissions
World Healing
World Peace
2016
a Poetry Anthology that makes a difference !!!
World Healing, World Peace
We live in a world that appears to be losing its grasp on its culture as Humane Beings. I say appears, for the struggles we now face truly is nothing new. Since the beginning i suppose, there are the few who sought to rule the many. They have been able to do so, and continue to do so with our quiet consent. We the “people” truly just vie for a simple life of Food, Shelter, Healthiness and Love. Though a little reward for our efforts now and then would not hurt. We pride ourselves on our Families, our Communities and our Nations.
In this age of Info-Technology led by the internet, we find ourselves more connected than we have ever been. There is s plethora of knowledge and news almost instantly available to us. We have the ability to see what is going on with our other family members in other lands on a “real time basis”. With this advantage of communication we find ourselves appalled at the conditions other must endure. There is famine, disease, economic strife and so much more. Yet remains that same few who has prospered by way of this “strife” of the people. Now i am not writing this article to suggest we should go out and take up arms and rebel against now what exhibits itself to be “status quo” . . . no i am not. But what i am suggesting is that we consider, ponder and awaken and realize that still the masses are the power that fuels the engines of oppression. There is no escaping our individual responsibilities for the circumstances of disenfranchisement that so many, too many must endure. The politics employed in mastering the human race must cease . . . or at least change its direction. . . . ergo World Healing, World Peace. It is time for us to not only awaken, but to remain vigilant in our consciousness to love and embrace our Sisters and Brothers from all over the globe as that of our own. We need to come together for the common cause, which is our survival as a species . . . the Human Being !!!
As a good Friend / Brother of mine, Keith Alan Hamilton says “let’s Survive Not Die”
Thank You
Bless Up
Just Bill
William S. Peters, Sr.
Inner Child
Attention . . .
opened September 1st
Once again we are opening up for submissions globally for the next installment of World Healing, World Peace
World Healing, World Peace 2016
Please lend your voice via your Poetry
to the effort of Healing Our World
To Submit we will need the following . . .
1 Picture of Poet
1 Poem on theme of World Healing, World Peace
Bio of 100 words or less
Submissions MUST be and Attachment to your E-Mail
NO PDF Files will be accepted
Submissions must be sent to : worldhealingworldpeace@gmail.com
ONLY Complete submissions will be considered.
Submissions that DO NOT adhere to guidelines will be discarded.
Submissions will be confirmed by automated response only from the Email.
Sorry, we will not be addressing personal messages.
Open to Everyone . . . Poets and all of Humanity Globally . . .
just write a poem !!!
Let us raise our voices and make a difference once again !!!
Check out World Healing World Peace 2012 and 2014 here :
www.worldhealingworldpeacepoetry.com
Submission Guidelines
To Submit we will need the following . . .
1 Picture of Poet
1 Poem
Bio of 100 words or less
Only Complete submissions will be considered.
Submissions that do not adhere to guidelines will be discarded.
Submissions will be confirmed by automated response only from the Email.
Sorry, we will not/cannot address personal messages.
Send to : worldhealingworldpeace@gmail.com
2012 & 2014
$10.00
per set of 2
Pamela Nine, Ph.D.
One of the most gifted Psychic Mediums in America!
Pamela Nine is a natural-born psychic, intuitive and medium. She inherited her unique gifts from her Maternal Grandmother and several past generations thereof. Her gifts were discovered at the very young age of five. Since then, Pamela has dedicated more than thirty years to the profession of wellness, service and helping others.
Pamela is an internationally recognized professional intuitive counselor, educator, author and speaker. She is the owner of Nine Wellness International, located in Knoxville, Tennessee USA. Pamela provides service to people all over the world through her counseling, publications, spiritual apprenticeship program, classes and workshops.
When Pamela began doing this type of work professionally many years ago, she was guided to use the term “intuitive counseling” rather than the term “psychic reading” which is more commonly associated with psychic and medium work. She views her intuitive counseling work as being “in-service” and along with accurate detailed information; she also provides spiritual guidance and support to those who come to her for assistance. Pamela is actively involved in the spiritual community and has helped many to discover and develop their own personal spiritual gifts.
Pamela offers telephone, personal and group intuitive counseling session appointments. She has an international following, and over the course of her professional career, she has provided thousands of counseling sessions for people all over the world and from all walks of life. Those who come to her for intuitive counseling include individuals, couples, teens, other psychics and mediums, professional musicians, artists, authors, athletes, high profile corporations, executives and celebrities.
Missing children is also an area of personal significance for Pamela. She is very dedicated to the delicate and confidential nature of these types of cases. She uses her gifts to work as a psychic investigator with families and law enforcement officials on current and cold missing child cases nationwide.
Pamela's Gifts
During childhood, Pamela was fascinated by the colors she saw around and within people. In later years, she learned these colors are known as auras and chakras. Over time and with immense study, she began to differentiate the color energies and associate them with personality traits and health issues. Through the ability to perceive these types of energies, Pamela is able to convey beneficial and even life-saving, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health related information to others.
Pamela’s psychic and intuitive abilities enable her to see, hear and feel Spirit, both physically and empathically. She also receives precognitive information through dreams and visions. She uses her gifts to receive and convey messages and insights about a person’s life which are associated with their aura colors, chakra balance, personality traits, issues of mental, emotional and physical health, relationships, career, goals, talents, life lessons, life purpose, spiritual path guidance, and their past, present and future soul experiences. An Intuitive counseling Session with Pamela, also provide a means of teaching that each soul exists for the purpose of learning, growing and attaining further consciousness and spiritual advancement through love.
Pamela’s gift of mediumship enables her to share information about the presence of angels, spirit guides, spirit guardians, and loved ones in the spirit world. Through her ability to communicate messages of love and hope, to and from souls who have crossed over, she often brings peace and comfort to families suffering grief. Pamela sees the loss of a loved one, as one of the hardest lessons of the life journey, and considers mediumship work one of the most rewarding forms of grief counseling available.
Pamela credits all of her gifts to the grace of God and uses her special gifts as a “Messenger of Spirit” to receive and express spiritual messages through love and in-service. She welcomes all religions, traditions, spiritual paths and expressions. Her dedication and commitment is unparalleled in bringing forth spiritual and divine wisdom within her practices and teachings. Pamela often says, “My work in-service is very rewarding because those led to me for guidance, often discover a new understanding of the spiritual and divine gifts we have all been given, and the eternal life therein."
continued . . . . . .
Personal Background
Pamela was born in Knoxville, Tennessee and raised on what was once her grandparents’ 92-acre farm in Knox County, Tennessee. She still lives in Knoxville with her two "miracle" sons, Andrew and Nicholas. Her two “miracle” sons were predicted by Pamela's dear friend and well known psychic, Bobby Drinnon, years after medical doctors diagnosed her unable to have biological children.
The unconditional love of Pamela’s late Maternal Grandmother and the exposure to her traditional Cherokee heritage played a major role in her spiritual path and desire to find truth beyond conventional teachings of religion and science. During this search for knowledge and truth, a mirage of life-changing events occurred. Through each process and lesson thereof, Pamela experienced countless miracles in her life and was spiritually guided to the knowledge that her true life purpose is to help and teach others through her spiritual gifts and love.
Professional Achievements
All throughout Pamela’s life, she has felt helping others is her purpose. In 1984, her professional career officially began as a surgical assistant to physicians of Ophthalmology, Facial Cosmetic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery. In 1986, following extensive medical training, Pamela entered the comprehensive field of Permanent Cosmetics Dermapigmentation and became a Licensed, Board Certified Dermapigmentologist, Instructor, and Fellow of the American Academy of Micropigmentation. She also founded “Permanent Cosmetics Derma Centre” and “Permanent Cosmetics International Training Institute.”
As time went on Pamela realized, she was being guided through her work to help others discover their “inner” beauty, along with their “outer” beauty, and opened her “Inner Vision Wellness Centre” business in 2001. Pamela became a Certified Reiki Master, Teacher and Practitioner, in 2003. She was also ordained as a Non-Denominational Minister and continued her studies online of world religions to receive a Doctorate of Philosophy Degree in Religious studies, in 2004.
In 2005, Pamela restructured her businesses to form “Nine Wellness Centre” with a Cosmetic Division and a Holistic Health Care Division, and more recently has changed the business name to "Nine Wellness International."
Pamela is an accredited and published writer with articles and writings featured in multiple media venues. And she has also had both the honor and privilege of studying and working with a number of very gifted and highly respected individuals and spiritual teachers in her personal and professional life.
Press and Media
Throughout her professional career, Pamela has received extensive exposure in the press and media. She received the "Extraordinary Woman" award from the Knoxville News Sentinel, in 2002. She is publicized as a “Messenger of Spirit” and "One of the most gifted Psychics and Mediums in America.”
Pamela has made appearances on a number of television shows including, WBIR Channel 10: Style, and Live at Five, and CTV Channel 12: New Age Paradigm, and Health, Energy and Awareness, and Spiritual Broadcasting Network via the internet.
She has been featured on radio shows nationwide including, Horne Radio Network, Think Again Radio, WIVK 107.7, WIMZ 103.5, Internet Radio, BlogTalk Radio, Psychic Access Talk Radio, Psychic Radio, CBS Radio, Inner Child Radio, 12 Radio, GHTalk Radio and Mike Spirit FM (UK) Radio.
She has also been interviewed and featured in the press by, Elle Magazine, CityView Magazine, The Associated Press, Examiner, Knoxville News Sentinel, Knoxville Journal, Oak Ridger, Farragut Press, Metro Pulse, Perspectives, Bountiful Health, Natural Awakenings, and many other publications.
Onward Focus
While Pamela continues fulfilling her vision and life purpose, she is also in the process of developing a series of meditation CDs, and currently has three book writing projects in the works. One of her books is the story of her "Spiritual Awakening Journey” which will share her amazing personal journey and divine spiritual revelations. Another of Pamela’s books is designed and being written to serve as a guide to others for becoming closer to Spirit and for discovering their own personal, divine and spiritual gifts of inner awareness, truth, healing, and unconditional love. This book will also include a meditation CD specifically for raising awareness and advancing spiritual development.
Contact Information
Additional information about Pamela and her work can be obtained by visiting her website at, http://www.pamelanine.com. To follow Pamela’s Business Page on Facebook, go to the link, https://www.facebook.com/pn.nwi. To contact Pamela directly, email, pamela@pamelanine.com or call Nine Wellness International at, 865-531-9086.
a Q & A with Pamela Nine
A Question and Answer interview was conducted with Pamela to gain answers about her psychic and mediumship abilities, wellness career and her personal beliefs and insights on popular main stream topics.
Q. When did you discover you had psychic and mediumship abilities?
A. I am a “natural-born” psychic, intuitive and medium. My gifts were inherited from my maternal grandmother and several past generations thereof. My earliest recollection of discovering my gifts was at the age of five. My life changed forevermore at that point. I guess you could say, I am like a lot of people who have these gifts – it took me a while to embrace them. Also in that same context, I realized many years ago I am here to use my gifts to help and teach others. As I look back on my life now, I know I have dedicated the greater part of my life to developing my gifts and being in service. I feel very blessed that I have welcomed this path as my life’s purpose and work.
Q. Why do you call yourself an “Intuitive counselor” instead of the more commonly used “Psychic” term?
A. When I started doing this type of work professionally, I was guided to use the term “counseling” rather than the term “reading” which is more commonly associated with psychic and medium work. For me, it just seemed to fit because I view my counseling work as being in-service. I also know that my purpose here is to provide spiritual guidance and support for the wisdom, insight and knowledge that can improve life situations and further personal and spiritual growth of those who come to me for assistance. My methods are based on personal transformation through self and inner awareness.
Q. How would you describe the benefits of having an Intuitive Counseling Session?
A. It is my opinion that the experience of having an Intuitive Counseling Session truly is a positive and productive method of promoting comfort, inspiration and spiritual growth in anyone's life. The counseling sessions I provide are also a means of teaching that each soul exists for the purpose of learning, growing and attaining further consciousness and spiritual advancement through love.
Q. What types of intuitive counseling sessions do you offer?
A. I offer telephone, personal and group intuitive counseling session appointments. I have provided thousands of counseling sessions for people all over the world, and from all walks of life. Those who come for intuitive counseling include individuals, couples, teens, other psychics and mediums, professional musicians, artists, authors, athletes, celebrities, executives and high profile corporations.
Q. Is intuitive counseling for professional corporate companies available and how does that work?
A. Professional and corporate counseling is available as a session series. An in-depth profile is performed and then a series of sessions is scheduled to provide detailed information about the current and future status of the business. Specific areas of inquiry or concern relating to the business or corporation may also be addressed during the sessions.
Q. Do you provide relationship intuitive counseling for couples?
A. One of my areas of specialization is working with couples who are either married, in a committed relationship or are just starting a new relationship. I find this type of work to be very rewarding and thoroughly enjoy the benefits of helping couples develop a happy, healthy and lasting relationship through learning how to communicate lovingly and effectively, speak their truth, express their love, and create a promising future together.
Q. Do you work with children and teens that are experiencing psychic and mediumship issues?
A. I have worked with children and teens for many years that come into this world highly attuned or are keenly sensitive to their psychic and mediumship abilities and the spirit world. I find this area of my work to be very special to me because I was like this too as a child and had no teacher to help me other than spirit. That’s why I have devoted my life’s work to helping others.
Q. How do your psychic intuitive gifts work?
A. As a Psychic and Intuitive, I use my gifts to work as a “Messenger of Spirit.” I have always had a knowing about things, people and events, either currently taking place or ones that have yet to happen. My abilities enable me to receive and convey messages and insights which relate to the aura colors and energy I see around and within people, and aspects of their personality traits, issues of mental, emotional and physical health, relationships, career, goals, talents, life lessons, life purpose, spiritual path guidance, and past, present and future life experiences.
Q. How does your mediumship gifts work?
A. My gift of mediumship enables me to have the ability to see, hear and feel Spirit. I share information about the presence of angels, spirit guides, spirit guardians, and crossed over loved ones who bring forth messages from the spirit world. And through the ability to communicate messages of love and hope, to and from souls who have crossed over, I often bring peace and comfort to grieving families. I see the loss of a loved one, as one of the hardest lessons of the life journey, and consider mediumship work one of the most rewarding forms of grief counseling available.
Q. What is the difference between a psychic and a medium?
A. One of the most common questions asked to anyone who works in the paranormal field, is what is the difference between being a psychic and a medium. The term “psychic” and “intuitive” is basically the same. It is also commonly known that our five senses are: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell. But we have another sense that is equally as real as the other five. This is often referred to as our sixth sense, intuition or psychic ability.
Intuition is the inner knowing or guts instinct that is felt without being able to logically explain why.
Everyone is also psychic to some degree, but not everyone can become a medium. In other words, a medium has psychic and intuitive abilities, but not all who are intuitive or psychic have mediumship abilities.
A medium serves as a channel between Heaven and Earth and possesses intuitive and psychic abilities, and also has the ability to raise their vibrational energy level to a frequency in other dimensions that enables communication through feelings, hearing, thoughts, voices or mental impressions from spirit guides, guardians and crossed over loved ones in the spirit world. A
Q. Does everyone have psychic and mediumship abilities?
A. We are all born with intuitive and psychic abilities, and we all have the capability of improving and developing our awareness. Some individuals display more developed extrasensory perceptions, while others may experience an occasional sense of knowing without any actual proof of knowing why.
Everyone also has the ability to connect with crossed over loved ones through the power of thought and within dream states. By learning methods to increase and raise our energies, we can also assist our loved ones in communicating more easily with us.
Q. Are there programs available to develop psychic and mediumship abilities?
A. I offer a Spiritual Apprenticeship Program in a 3 and 6 month term which provides a personalized and one-on-one learning experience. It is for those on the spiritual path seeking ways to further awaken and advance their psychic and mediumship abilities, and the overall spiritual evolution process. The program is also available for anyone who just simply wants to add more elements of spirituality to their way of life. The Spiritual Apprenticeship Program is taught on a one-on-one basis either by telephone or in person by me. The program is designed much like a spiritual mentor or life coach program along with an added emphasis on learning how to advance spiritually, promote healing and develop intuitive awareness within oneself.
Q. What are energetic connections between people?
A. We are all energetic beings. We also have an energetic system within and around us. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been able to see forms of energy as colors around people (which are known as auras) and energy that is transferred between people. I can also see what I call energetic “soul threads” that connects people who share a special friendship or love connection Currently, I am in the process of writing a book and designing workshops to teach others about this energetic phenomenon subject, which I call, “Connecting The Threads.”
Q. Are you an energy worker and what exactly does the term energy work mean?
A. As I have discussed in many interviews and articles, we all have special gifts and are energetic beings. We all also have the ability to heal ourselves and others through the energy we have been created in. This source of energy is by and from our creator. I began studying this type of healing many years ago and became a Certified Reiki Practitioner and Master. I offer Reiki Natural Energy Healing sessions as part of my alternative wellness practice. Reiki provides non-invasive natural energy healing to all levels of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual body.
Q. Do you work as a Life Coach and have a Life Coaching Program?
A. My personal intuitive counseling and apprenticeship program work intricately together and serve as a basis for life coaching. The teachings that come through from spirit in this particular area are used to both comfort and to also help direct individuals here on their life journey.
Q. How does someone become more spiritual?
A. Being spiritual is more than just reading a book or taking a spiritually related workshop. It is truly a state of mind. How we live, what and how we think, and helping others in need is all part of being spiritual. We’re always given the opportunity to raise our vibration to a higher level simply by our actions. Acts in which unconditional love and compassion are displayed is the highest form of becoming a more spiritual person.
Q. Do you believe in affirmation, what is an affirmation, and how are they beneficial?
A. An affirmation is a positive and solemn declaration. It is also that which is put into place with the understanding and faith that it is already a reality. It is the belief that we are continuously surrounded by God, The Universal Consciousness, which receives the direct impressions of our thoughts and acts upon them in the manner in which they are believed. Through the actual process of an affirmation, we essentially “act as if” our highest aspirations have already manifested.
Q. What are your views on meditation?
A. It is through the age-old practice of meditation that one receives divine guidance, wisdom, and knowledge. During meditation one reaches the “higher self” and the indwelling God within each of us. It is also through meditation that we can become at peace with ourselves and through growth, become more spiritually evolved.
I also provide teaching for meditation through personal sessions and my Spiritual Apprenticeship Program.
Q. What are your views on prayer?
A. I believe in, endorse and honor all forms of sincere prayer. Through my work and service, I teach that the truest form of prayer is affirmative prayer performed as an “embodiment treatment.” This method is a process of creating a combined body, mind and soul union of life itself, in which we sustain our faith and belief of the indwelling God. Within this union, we are to pray for truth, grace and guidance, and to believe that God will provide for and bless us abundantly. We are to believe God’s presence is sufficient for all our needs, and that all will be sustained in the divine order in which it is to be received.
Q. Are you a Christian, and what is your religious background and philosophy?
A. First and foremost, yes, I am a Christian. My religious background is somewhat diversified. I have a Cherokee heritage, I was raised Baptist as a child, and then I married into the Catholic Religion. All of which left me with many unanswered questions and then I was finally led me into the study of religion.
The exposure to my Cherokee heritage and traditions, and unconditional love and teachings from my late maternal Grandmother played a major role in my spiritual path and desire to ultimately find truth beyond the conventional teachings of religion and science.
Within my beliefs is the truth and teaching that we are all children of God and as such good and loving people of all cultures and faiths of the world, we will all stand together in Heaven.
Ultimately, the goal of my work in service is to satisfy the needs of all who seek spiritual truth in a universal setting. My religious practice and philosophy honors all religions, faiths, spiritual traditions and practices as long as it seeks to establish a Divine and spiritual relationship with God and other human beings.
Our Humanity
When we consider the current state of our humanity, we can not help but acknowledge the many challenges that face us as a Human Race. They come from within, and without as well. There are such things as Global Warming, Famine, Water Resources, Disease and other Natural Disasters. These are the things, perhaps we have contributed to, but have spiraled beyond our immediate control. Then there are the things we do have direct influence over that begs for the best of what we, humankind can be. Some of these challenges are War, Politics, Greed, Indifference and a plethora of other avarices and behaviours we evoke and / or act out upon each other. We cannot speak upon any of these things without mentioning the darkest of all human behaviours found in Bias; Religiously, Culturally and Geographically which includes Racism.
This month we have dedicated our magazine to the awakening of our humanity. We are sounding the clarion call to all souls asking that we come together and collectively begin to embrace our one destiny, our one race, our one world and congruously work towards the good and betterment of us all.
Each of us have a core, soulful ability to ascend to a higher vibration of being through our attitudes and our actions. Don’t you think it is about time . . . before all is lost ? With the proliferation of “Instant News” and connectivity via the internet, there is no longer any valid reasoning as to why, we as a human race cannot be more responsive to the needs of our world and the people and other life form who cohabit with us!
Following you will find Videos and Links that may assist you in becoming in tune to your better self, your higher self, that Inner Child who is begging for release.
Celebrating the Spirit of Fathers
of the World
Honoring & Celebrating Fathers
Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June, though it is also celebrated widely on other days by many other countries. Father's Day was inaugurated in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting.
First Observance
Grace Golden Clayton may have been inspired by Anna Jarvis' crusade to establish Mother's Day; two months prior, Jarvis had held a celebration for her dead mother in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles (24km) away from Fairmont, West Virginia.
After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother's Day in Grafton, West Virginia, the first observance of a "Father's Day" was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia, in the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton was mourning the loss of her father when, on December 1907, the Monongah Mining Disaster in nearby Monongah killed 361 men, 250 of them fathers, leaving around a thousand fatherless children. Clayton suggested her pastor Robert Thomas Webb to honor all those fathers.
Clayton's event did not have repercussions outside of Fairmont for several reasons, among them: the city was overwhelmed by other events, the celebration was never promoted outside of the town itself and no proclamation was made in the City Council. Also two events overshadowed this event: the celebration of Independence Day July 4, 1908, with 12,000 attendants and several shows including a hot air balloon event, which took over the headlines in the following days, and the death of a 16-year-old girl on July 4. The local church and Council were overwhelmed and they did not even think of promoting the event, and it was not celebrated again for many years. The original sermon was not reproduced in press and it was lost. Finally, Clayton was a quiet person, who never promoted the event or even talked to other persons about it.
Establishment of Holiday
In 1910, a Father's Day celebration was held in Spokane, Washington, at the YMCA by Sonora Smart Dodd, who was born in Arkansas. Its first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Jarvis' Mother's Day in 1909 at Central Methodist Episcopal Church, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. Several local clergymen accepted the idea, and on 19 June 1910, the first Father's Day, "sermons honoring fathers were presented throughout the city."
However, in the 1920s, Dodd stopped promoting the celebration because she was studying in the Art Institute of Chicago, and it faded into relative obscurity, even in Spokane. In the 1930s, Dodd returned to Spokane and started promoting the celebration again, raising awareness at a national level. She had the help of those trade groups that would benefit most from the holiday, for example the manufacturers of ties, tobacco pipes, and any traditional present to fathers. By 1938 she had the help of the Father's Day Council, founded by the New York Associated Men's Wear Retailers to consolidate and systematize the commercial promotion. Americans resisted the holiday for its first few decades, viewing it as nothing more than an attempt by merchants to replicate the commercial success of Mother's Day, and newspapers frequently featured cynical and sarcastic attacks and jokes. However, said merchants remained resilient and even incorporated these attacks into their advertisements. By the mid-1980s, the Father's Council wrote that "(...) [Father's Day] has become a Second Christmas for all the men's gift-oriented industries."
A bill to accord national recognition of the holiday was introduced in Congress in 1913. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson went to Spokane to speak in a Father's Day celebration and wanted to make it official, but Congress resisted, fearing that it would become commercialized. US President Calvin Coolidge recommended in 1924 that the day be observed by the nation, but stopped short of issuing a national proclamation. Two earlier attempts to formally recognize the holiday had been defeated by Congress. In 1957, Maine Senator Margaret Chase Smith wrote a proposal accusing Congress of ignoring fathers for 40 years while honoring mothers, thus "[singling] out just one of our two parents". In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers, designating the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Six years later, the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972.
In addition to Father's Day, International Men's Day is celebrated in many countries on November 19 for men and boys who are not fathers.
Happy
Father's Day !!!
Janet P. Caldwell
Source: wikipedia
Everyday is Mother's Day
Mother's Day is a modern celebration honoring one's own mother, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in the months of March or May. It complements similar celebrations honoring family members, such as Father's Day and Siblings Day.
The celebration of Mother's Day began in the United States in the early 20th century; it is not related to the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration (originally a celebration of the mother church, not motherhood). Despite this, in some countries Mother's Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.
The modern American holiday of Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in Grafton, West Virginia. Her campaign to make "Mother's Day" a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her beloved mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Anna’s mission was to honor her own mother by continuing work she started and to set aside a day to honor mothers, "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world". Anna's mother, Ann Jarvis, was a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the Civil War and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues.
Due to the campaign efforts of Anna Jarvis, several states officially recognized Mother's Day, the first in 1910 being West Virginia, Jarvis’ home state. In 1914 Woodrow Wilson signed the proclamation creating Mother’s Day, the second Sunday in May, as a national holiday to honor mothers.
Although Jarvis was successful in founding Mother's Day she soon became resentful of the commercialization and was angry that companies would profit from the holiday. By the early 1920s, Hallmark and other companies started selling Mother's Day cards. Jarvis became so embittered by what she saw as misinterpretation and exploitation that she protested and even tried to rescind Mother's Day. The holiday that she worked so hard for was supposed to be about sentiment, not about profit. Jarvis's intention for the holiday had been for people to appreciate and honor mothers by writing a personal letter, by hand, expressing love and gratitude, rather than buying gifts and pre-made cards. Jarvis organized boycotts and threatened lawsuits to try to stop the commercialization. She crashed a candy-makers' convention in Philadelphia in 1923. Two years later she protested at a confab of the American War Mothers, which raised money by selling carnations, the flower associated with Mother’s Day, and was arrested for disturbing the peace.
Jarvis's holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.
Inner Child the Magazine, wishes you all a very Happy, Mother's Day !
Celebrating International
Poetry Month
What is Poetry
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Poetry
Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose.
It may use condensed or compressed form to convey emotion or ideas to the reader's or listener's mind or ear; it may also use devices such as assonance and repetition to achieve musical or incantatory effects. Poems frequently rely for their effect on imagery, word association, and the musical qualities of the language used. The interactive layering of all these effects to generate meaning is what marks poetry.
Because of its nature of emphasising linguistic form rather than using language purely for its content, poetry is notoriously difficult to translate from one language into another: a possible exception to this might be the Hebrew Psalms, where the beauty is found more in the balance of ideas than in specific vocabulary. In most poetry, it is the connotations and the "baggage" that words carry (the weight of words) that are most important. These shades and nuances of meaning can be difficult to interpret and can cause different readers to "hear" a particular piece of poetry differently. While there are reasonable interpretations, there can never be a definitive interpretation.
Nature of poetry
Poetry can be differentiated most of the time from prose, which is language meant to convey meaning in a more expansive and less condensed way, frequently using more complete logical or narrative structures than poetry does. This does not necessarily imply that poetry is illogical, but rather that poetry is often created from the need to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and other expressions in a tight, condensed manner. English Romantic poet John Keats termed this escape from logic Negative Capability. A further complication is that prose poetry combines the characteristics of poetry with the superficial appearance of prose, such as in Robert Frost's poem, "Home Burial." Other forms include narrative poetry and dramatic poetry, both of which are used to tell stories and so resemble novels and plays. However, both these forms of poetry use the specific features of verse composition to make these stories more memorable or to enhance them in some way.
What is generally accepted as "great" poetry is debatable in many cases. "Great" poetry usually follows the characteristics listed above, but it is also set apart by its complexity and sophistication. "Great" poetry generally captures images vividly and in an original, refreshing way, while weaving together an intricate combination of elements like theme tension, complex emotion, and profound reflective thought. For examples of what is considered "great" poetry, visit the Pulitzer prize and Nobel prize sections for poetry.
The Greek verb ποιεω [poiéo (= I make or create)], gave rise to three words: ποιητης [poiet?s (= the one who creates)], ποιησις [poíesis (= the act of creation)] and ποιημα [poíema (= the thing created)]. From these we get three English words: poet (the creator), poesy (the creation) and poem (the created). A poet is therefore one who creates and poetry is what the poet creates. The underlying concept of the poet as creator is not uncommon. For example, in Anglo-Saxon a poet is a scop (shaper or maker) and in Scots makar.
Sound in poetry
Perhaps the most vital element of sound in poetry is rhythm. Often the rhythm of each line is arranged in a particular meter. Different types of meter played key roles in Classical, Early European, Eastern and Modern poetry. In the case of free verse, the rhythm of lines is often organized into looser units of cadence.
Poetry in English and other modern European languages often uses rhyme. Rhyme at the end of lines is the basis of a number of common poetic forms, such as ballads, sonnets and rhyming couplets. However, the use of rhyme is not universal. Much modern poetry, for example, avoids traditional rhyme schemes. Furthermore, Classical Greek and Latin poetry did not use rhyme. In fact, rhyme did not enter European poetry at all until the High Middle Ages, when it was adopted from the Arabic language. The Arabs have always used rhymes extensively, most notably in their long, rhyming qasidas. Some classical poetry forms, such as Venpa of the Tamil language, had rigid grammars (to the point that they could be expressed as a context-free grammar), which ensured a rhythm.
Alliteration played a key role in structuring early Germanic and English forms of poetry (called alliterative verse), akin to the role of rhyme in later European poetry. The alliterative patterns of early Germanic poetry and the rhyme schemes of Modern European poetry alike both include meter as a key part of their structure, which determines when the listener expects instances of rhyme or alliteration to occur. In this sense, both alliteration and rhyme, when used in poetic structures, help to emphasise and define a rhythmic pattern. By contrast, the chief device of Biblical poetry in ancient Hebrew was parallelism, a rhetorical structure in which successive lines reflected each other in grammatical structure, sound structure, notional content, or all three; a verse form that lent itself to antiphonal or call- and-response performance.
In addition to the forms of rhyme, alliteration and rhythm that structure much poetry, sound plays a more subtle role in even free verse poetry in creating pleasing, varied patterns and emphasising or sometimes even illustrating semantic elements of the poem. Devices such as alliteration, assonance, consonance, dissonance and internal rhyme are among the ways poets use sound. Euphony refers to the musical, flowing quality of words arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way.
Poetry and form
Compared with prose, poetry depends less on the linguistic units of sentences and paragraphs, and more on units of organisation that are purely poetic. The typical structural elements are the line, couplet, strophe, stanza, and verse paragraph.
Lines may be self-contained units of sense, as in the well-known lines from William Shakespeare's Hamlet:
To be, or not to be: that is the question.
Alternatively a line may end in mid-phrase or sentence:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
this linguistic unit is completed in the next line,
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
This technique is called enjambment, and is used to create a sense of expectation in the reader and/or to add a dynamic to the movement of the verse.
In many instances, the effectiveness of a poem derives from the tension between the use of linguistic and formal units. With the advent of printing, poets gained greater control over the visual presentation of their work. As a result, the use of these formal elements, and of the white space they help create, became an important part of the poet's toolbox. Modernist poetry tends to take this to an extreme, with the placement of individual lines or groups of lines on the page forming an integral part of the poem's composition. In its most extreme form, this leads to the writing of concrete poetry.
Poetry and rhetoric
Rhetorical devices such as simile and metaphor are frequently used in poetry. Indeed, Aristotle wrote in his Poetics that "the greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor". However, particularly since the rise of Modernism, some poets have opted for reduced use of these devices, preferring rather to attempt the direct presentation of things and experiences. Other 20th-century poets, however, particularly the surrealists, have pushed rhetorical devices to their limits, making frequent use of catachresis.
History of poetry
Poetry as an art form predates literacy. In preliterate societies, poetry was frequently employed as a means of recording oral history, storytelling (epic poetry), genealogy, law and other forms of expression or knowledge that modern societies might expect to be handled in prose. The Ramayana, a Sanskrit epic which includes poetry, was probably written in the 3rd century BCE in a language described by William Jones as "more perfect than Latin, more copious than Greek and more exquisitely refined than either." Poetry is also often closely identified with liturgy in these societies, as the formal nature of poetry makes it easier to remember priestly incantations or prophecies. The greater part of the world's sacred scriptures are made up of poetry rather than prose.
The use of verse to transmit cultural information continues today. Many English speaking–Americans know that "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue". An alphabet song teaches the names and order of the letters of the alphabet; another jingle states the lengths and names of the months in the Gregorian calendar. Preliterate societies, lacking the means to write down important cultural information, use similar methods to preserve it.
Some writers believe that poetry has its origins in song. Most of the characteristics that distinguish it from other forms of utterance—rhythm, rhyme, compression, intensity of feeling, the use of refrains—appear to have come about from efforts to fit words to musical forms. However, in the European tradition the earliest surviving poems, the Homeric and Hesiodic epics, identify themselves as poems to be recited or chanted to a musical accompaniment rather than as pure song. Another interpretation, developed from 20th-century studies of living Montenegran epic reciters by Milman Parry and others, is that rhythm, refrains, and kennings are essentially paratactic devices that enable the reciter to reconstruct the poem from memory.
In preliterate societies, all these forms of poetry were composed for, and sometimes during, performance. As such, there was a certain degree of fluidity to the exact wording of poems, given this could change from one performance or performer to another. The introduction of writing tended to fix the content of a poem to the version that happened to be written down and survive. Written composition also meant that poets began to compose not for an audience that was sitting in front of them but for an absent reader. Later, the invention of printing tended to accelerate these trends. Poets were now writing more for the eye than for the ear.
The development of literacy gave rise to more personal, shorter poems intended to be sung. These are called lyrics, which derives from the Greek lura or lyre, the instrument that was used to accompany the performance of Greek lyrics from about the seventh century BCE onward. The Greek's practice of singing hymns in large choruses gave rise in the sixth century BCE to dramatic verse, and to the practice of writing poetic plays for performance in their theatres.
In more recent times, the introduction of electronic media and the rise of the poetry reading have led to a resurgence of performance poetry and have resulted in a situation where poetry for the eye and poetry for the ear coexist, sometimes in the same poem. The late 20th-century rise of the singer-songwriter and Rap culture and the increase in popularity of Slam poetry have led to a renewed debate as to the nature of poetry that can be crudely characterised as a split between the academic and popular views. As of 2005, this debate is ongoing with no immediate prospect of a resolution.
Love poems proliferate now, in weblogs and personal pages, as a new way of expression and liberty of hearts, "I have won many female relations with this valid resource", has said a contemporaneus writer called Federic P. Sabeloteur.
Year of the Poet 2015
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Year of the Poet 2014
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Some Cool Poetry Groups
Inner Child Facebook Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/100158846740099/
This is an open group where we come together to celebrate the Divine inner
child, sharing our poetry, prose and the arts.
'inner child' is a space . . . 'inner child' is a place . . . inner child is a
time . . .
'inner child' is the divine you seeking the truth of who you are that
you may live authentically in love. we celebrate you, the cosmic creative
child.
Poets. Writers, Photographers, Musicians, Artists ~ Networking Group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/167184609976620/
This is an open group where the community comes together to
share their art and to be supportive of other artists.
The Artist Lounge ™
https://www.facebook.com/groups/theartistlounge/
This is an open group to share your art and support your fellow artist.
Starving Artists Tour
https://www.facebook.com/groups/starvingpoetstour/
This is a group specifically designed for the promotion of poets who have
little or no money to invest in the promotion of their books.. feel free to
share links, pages, and a brief bio.. also invite any friends and or colleagues
who you think would like to join.
Unmuted Ink
https://www.facebook.com/groups/unmutedink/
UnMuted Ink is a poetic movement!
We ask all members to be unmuted with your ink and to share so that you can be heard!
Women’s History Month
Celebrating Women and their Contributions to History
by
Janet P. Caldwell
The public celebration of women's history in this country began in 1978 as "Women's History Week" in Sonoma County, California. The week including March 8, International Women's Day, was selected. In 1981, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Rep. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) co-sponsored a joint Congressional resolution proclaiming a national Women's History Week. In 1987, Congress expanded the celebration to a month, and March was declared Women's History Month.
Before 1970, Women's history was rarely the subject of serious study. As historian Mary Beth Norton who was the Finalist, for the Pulitzer Prize in History, 1997, recalls, "only one or two scholars would have identified themselves as Women's historians, and no formal doctoral training in the subject was available anywhere in the country." Since then, however, the field has undergone a metamorphosis. Today almost every college offers Women's history courses and most major graduate programs offer doctoral degrees in the field.
Historian Mary Beth Norton, of Cornell University, specializes in early American and Women's history. Norton has written The British-Americans: The Loyalist Exiles in England, 1774-1789 (1972); Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 (1980; 1996); and Founding Mothers & Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society (1996), which was one of three finalists for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in History. She has coauthored a widely used introductory college American history text, A People and a Nation, and has edited a number of anthologies on early US and Women's history.
Two significant factors contributed to the emergence of Women's history. The Women's movement of the sixties caused women to question their invisibility in traditional American history texts. The movement also raised the aspirations as well as the opportunities of women, and produced a growing number of female historians.
Women's history was also part of a larger movement that transformed the study of history in the United States. "History" had traditionally meant political history—a chronicle of the key political events and of the leaders, primarily men, who influenced them. But by the 1970s "the new social history" began replacing the older style. Emphasis shifted to a broader spectrum of American life, including such topics as the history of urban life, public health, ethnicity, the media, and poverty.
Let us take a look at a few of the Women and their contributions, both, past and present. The Women who dared to be pioneers and to excel in the face of great and terrible adversity, oppression and opposition including The United States, Presidential wives. Bravely these women became a conduit for successful American change. All of the women featured here have contributed and even though some are deceased, as we look at their history, we see the furthering of change addressed and applied.
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is an American lawyer and writer. She is the wife of the 44th and current President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States. Raised on the South Side of Chicago, she is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, and spent the early part of her legal career working at the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met Obama. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid. She delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention and also spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. She and her husband have two daughters together. As the wife of a senator, and later the first lady, she has become a fashion icon and role model for women, and an advocate for poverty awareness, nutrition, and healthy eating by planting the first vegetable garden since Eleanor Roosevelt served as First Lady.
Other initiatives of First Lady Michelle Obama include advocating on behalf of military families, helping working women balance career and family, encouraging national service, and promoting the arts and arts education. Michelle has made supporting military families and spouses a personal mission and has been increasingly bonding with military families and more. According to her aides, stories of the sacrifice these families make move her to tears.
Shirley Chisholm, was the 1st African American Congresswoman in 1968. She used her time in Congress to campaign for women and civil rights. Chisholm was assigned to the House Agricultural Committee. Given her urban district, she felt the placement was irrelevant to her constituents. When Chisholm confided to Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson that she was upset and insulted by her assignment, Schneerson suggested that she use the surplus food to help the poor and hungry. Chisholm subsequently met Robert Dole, and worked to expand the food stamp program.
She later played a critical role in the creation of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. Chisholm would credit Schneerson for the fact that so many "poor babies [now] have milk and poor children have food." Chisholm was then also placed on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. Soon after, she voted for Hale Boggs as House Majority Leader over John Conyers. As a reward for her support, Boggs assigned her to the much-prized Education and Labor Committee, which was her preferred committee. She was the third highest-ranking member of this committee when she retired from Congress. All those Chisholm hired for her office were women; half of these were African-American. Chisholm said that she had faced much more discrimination during her New York legislative career because she was a woman than because of her race.
Chisholm joined the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 as one of its founding members. In the same year, she was also a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus.
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age. As one of the world's most famous film stars, Taylor was recognized for her acting ability and for her glamorous lifestyle, beauty, and distinctive dark blue eyes, which famously appeared to be violet.
Her much-publicized personal life included eight marriages and several life-threatening illnesses. From the mid-1980s, Taylor championed HIV and AIDS programs; she co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985, and The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation where you can still find the quote “It is bad enough that people are dying of AIDS, but no one should die of ignorance” in 1991. She received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Legion of Honour, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, who named her seventh on their list of the "Greatest American Screen Legends". Taylor died of congestive heart failure in March 2011 at the age of 79, having suffered many years of ill health.
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton born October 26, 1947) is a former United States Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady of the United States. From 2009 to 2013, she was the 67th Secretary of State, serving under President Barack Obama. She previously represented New York in the U.S. Senate (2001 to 2009). Before that, as the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was First Lady from 1993 to 2001.
A native of Illinois, Hillary Rodham was the first student commencement speaker at Wellesley College in 1969 and earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1973. After a brief stint as a Congressional legal counsel, she moved to Arkansas and married Bill Clinton in 1975. Rodham cofounded Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families in 1977. In 1978, she became the first female chair of the Legal Services Corporation, and in 1979, the first female partner at Rose Law Firm. The National Law Journal twice listed her as one of the hundred most influential lawyers in America. As First Lady of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992 with her husband as Governor, she led a task force that reformed Arkansas's education system.
In the 2008 election, Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination and may be in the next run for presidential nomination in 2016.
Madam C. J. Walker, entrepreneur, philanthropist, activist, patron of the arts—was born Sarah Breedlove in 1867 on the same Delta, Louisiana plantation where her parents had been enslaved. Orphaned at seven, married at 14 and widowed at 20 with a two-year-old daughter, she moved to St. Louis where three older brothers owned a barbershop. Throughout the 1890s—in the neighborhood where ragtime music was born—she worked as a laundress, sang in her church choir and began to aspire to a better life as she observed the educated, civic-minded women at St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Around 1900, necessity became the mother of invention as she began to go bald. Stress, poor diet and hygiene-related scalp disease—in an era when most Americans lacked indoor plumbing and electricity in their homes—contributed to her hair loss. She consulted her barber brothers, experimented with home remedies and briefly sold hair care products made by Annie Turnbo Malone, who would become her fiercest competitor. Through trial and error—and with the aid of a Denver pharmacist—she developed her own curative shampoo and ointment and founded the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company in 1906 soon after marrying her third husband, Charles Joseph Walker. By the time she died on May 25, 1919, she had become a millionaire, trained thousands of women in the Walker System of Hair Culture, involved herself in the political debates of her day and bequeathed tens of thousands of dollars to charitable organizations, educational institutions and political causes.
Whenever she was asked the secret to her success, she would say, “There is no royal flower strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for whatever success I have attained has been the result of much hard work and many sleepless nights.” And yet, there are certain tenets that were key to achieving her goals. Today she continues to inspire entrepreneurs and anyone who faces obstacles. Here are a few secrets to Madam C.J. Walker's astonishing success: Take the initiative, be ahead of the curve, let your Light shine, Empower others, be generous, be open to new ideas and unexplored territory, be bold and courageous and finally, invest in future generations.
Most of the children in the country grow up not knowing that women were at the forefront of the anti-slavery, civil right, social reform, suffrage, and gay rights movements. They stood up for others, but few have stood up for them. It is my opinion that we as a People, both female and male stand up and acknowledge this atrocity that still plagues These United States of America. For more information on women who have made a difference, visit
http://www.clevelandwomen.com/people/march2007.htm
In closing, Education is one of the most important ways celebrate and to ensure women empowerment because it develops the knowledge, skills and self-esteem necessary to fully participate in the development process. Promoting women empowerment through education, capacities development and work, gives a strong importance to the elimination of poverty, illiteracy and health problems among women.
Edie Weinstein
Edie Weinstein, MSW, LSW is a colorfully creative journalist, dynamic and empowering transformational speaker, radio host of It’s All About Relationships on www.vividlife.me, licensed social worker, interfaith minister, Reiki master, PR Goddess and BLISS Coach. She is also the author of The Bliss Mistress Guide To Transforming The Ordinary Into The Extraordinary. Edie is overjoyed to be a regular columnist for Inner Child Magazine- Vitamin B for Bliss through which she offers mental meanderings and from the heart insights. www.liveinjoy.org
Opti-Mystic Bliss Mistress
An interview with Edie Weinstein
Where did those titles Opti-Mystic and Bliss Mistress come from?
Both were inspired by messages that arrived when in the midst of deep emotional and spiritual growth. The first is, by my definition, someone who views the world and life through the eyes of possibility. The second one is connected to the concept embraced by philosopher and author Joseph Campbell who encouraged people to “follow your bliss.” At the time, I was beginning to teach a class called BYOB-Be Your Own Bliss, which invited folks to be the mistress or master of their own bliss. While walking into the room, one of the participants remarked “Oh, you’re the Bliss Master who will show us to how live blissfully!” I thought that was a pretty cool idea. Later in the day, as I was speaking with a friend on the phone, and shared the story, he remarked, with a twinkle in his eye, that I could ‘see’ through the phone, “Oh no, not Bliss Master ….Bliss Mistress,” with emphasis on the double entendre’ meaning behind it. He went on to remind me that if I was going to call myself that, I had better be living it. And so I do.
Is it possible to live in bliss when there are so many challenges in life?
Absolutely! That is all the more reason to do so. While we experience swirls of emotion as part of this human incarnation and may have no choice about some of the circumstances we encounter, we always have a choice about our ongoing response to them. Keep in mind that bliss isn’t always jumping up and down like a kid on a pogo stick, licking an ice cream cone, anticipating going to the carnival. It can also be stillness and silence while lying on a blanket in a grove of trees. It may be singing along to your favorite song while driving on a back road with the windows rolled down on a beautiful spring day. Name YOUR bliss. We are magnets. When you can focus on what you enjoy, you bring in more joy. When you focus on what limits you, that remains an ‘in your face’ gremlin. Which would you rather experience? Instead of arguing for your limitations, welcome a conversation with your strengths. How does being unhappy if things aren’t going the way you would prefer, serve anyone? It has been my experience that happy people are a greater force for good in the world. Those I know who have survived trauma and tragedy and have become resilient thrivers, live as inspiration for all of us.
What are some of the roadblocks you have encountered on your journey that have led you to this conclusion?
Roll back the clock to 1992 and I was living in Homestead, Florida which is a suburb of Miami. My husband Michael and I had moved there from our home near Philadelphia. We were the publishers of a magazine called Visions which focused on wellness, spirituality and peace and social justice; similar in many ways to Inner Child. Thinking that a tropical paradise would do us good, we headed south. In March of that year, after adopting our then four year old son, I had an ectopic pregnancy and nearly hemorrhaged to death. Two months after that, Michael was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. In August, Hurricane Andrew roared through, taking our house with it.
In January of 1993, we moved back up to Pennsylvania and continued publishing for another five years as Michael’s conditioned worsened. We moved through the revolving doors of hospital emergency rooms multiple times, I was his caregiver and partner in all things, even in the midst of what I call a ‘paradoxical marriage,’ that had nearly equal amounts of love and dysfunction. He took his final breath on December 21, 1998, surrounded by family and friends in the ICU of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. I will forever consider the staff that cared for him ‘angels in scrubs’.
When Michael passed, our son Adam was 11 and I was faced with being a single parent; something I hadn’t anticipated. Blessedly, I had a village of family and friends who helped me to raise him and he is now 27. We have grown up together, in many ways. When he was 14, he informed me that he was “an undercover angel, sent to teach you patience.” Clearly, I am a lifelong learner.
Through the past 16 years since Michael died, I was able to support my son and myself, keeping us in the same house, primarily through exercising my strong work ethic that tumbled into my addiction of workaholism. As what I call a ‘conscious entrepreneur,’ I had several overlapping sources of income. My professional background is in psychology and social work, so much of what I did involved counseling in various settings. In addition, I exercised my journalism muscles as a free-lance writer, my ordination as an interfaith minister to officiate ceremonies, my public speaking chops to offer workshops and presentations, and my inherent gift of gab to connect people with each other as a PR Goddess. As much as I loved all of those endeavors, they kept me tethered to the belief that if I didn’t simultaneously do them, I couldn’t keep up financially. What that led to was years of poor self-care, working twice as many hours a day as I was sleeping each night, near obsessive thoughts about how I could stretch farther, leap higher and dig deeper in all areas of my personal and professional life. On the surface, I made it look easy. My friends and family would marvel at how I did it all, even while cautioning me to slow my pace.
I gave it lip service, until I had no choice, but to come to a complete halt. On June 12, 2014, I was on my way home from the gym, after a ‘normal’ workout when I experienced severe and sudden symptoms that signaled a heart attack. They included jaw tightness and pain, torrential sweats and searing heartburn. Even in the midst of them, I calmly drove home, called to cancel an appointment with a client, and then drove myself to the hospital, rather than calling 911. What was I thinking? Clearly, I wasn’t ready to surrender, still needing to be in control. I stumbled into the ER and in a matter of fact tone, informed the woman behind the desk that I was having a heart attack. Immediately, I was swooped into a wheelchair and into the cardiac cath lab where a stent was inserted, to prop up a fully occluded artery.
What followed was months of what I now call a whole life makeover. I had been living in denial for so many years that I wasn’t invulnerable and invincible. I had been ‘burning the candle at both ends until there was no more wax left,’ even as I had been teaching others about preventing burnout. I had been ‘running on adrenalin and fumes,’ and according to a doc I saw recently, was depleting my adrenals. When I look back, I take notice of the symptoms that could have alerted me to the impending cardiac event. Extreme fatigue that I pushed through, light headedness and dizziness, heart palpitations and anxiety, sleeplessness; some of which I had attributed to menopause.
In the wee hours of the morning, while lying in a hospital bed, with wires and beeps around me, I made a commitment to a nurse who was caring for me, that when I was well enough, I would do self-care education for women in particular, from my own experience and lessons learned. I am embarking on that now. February is American Heart Month and I will be offering a few learning opportunities. I call my presentations From Wonder Woman to the Bionic Woman, since there was a time that I perceived myself as Master of Saving the World who could heal, cure and kiss all the boo boos to make them better, and am now a human with a bionic body part.
What gets you through these life events?
The three F’s of faith, family and friends are the primary tools that keep me (relatively) sane and vertical. I have a deep spiritual faith that really isn’t tied to one religious belief. Although I was raised Jewish, I say that love is my religion and that God is too big to put in a box. I refer to that source energy as God/Goddess/All That Is of which I am a part. It guides my life. At times when I experience spiritual amnesia, forgetting that all works for the Highest Good, I engage in conversation with that Voice who reminds me that I have never been dropped, always held and supported. I have survived everything that has ever happened in my life and so have you. I set intention each day to connect with amazing people and have extraordinary experiences. At the end of each day, I have found that it is true. My family and friends; some I consider family of choice, are my treasures. Overlapping soul circles, they are.
My parents who passed in the last few years, were my teachers of lifelong love and resilience. One of the greatest gifts they offered, was how to live without them. They remain daily companions with whom I am on ongoing conversation. Love never dies, even when the body does.
I have come to trust in Divine Timing and the best possible outcome, even if it didn’t much look like it at the time. Two weeks prior to the heart attack, I was offered a full time writing job which enables me to work from home, doing what I love. As a result, I create my own schedule, allowing me to be productive, go to cardiac rehab AND take time for naps if needed.
I have an attytood of grattytood (said in a Philly accent) that nourishes me. I have found that the more I am grateful, the more I have to be grateful for. Although it might seem hard to believe, I truly am thankful for the lessons that arrived in weird packaging, as I described earlier. They make for good stories and teaching tools …as Ram Dass refers to them ‘grist for the mill.’
What are some Bliss Kisses you want to share with the readers?
Know that you are love incarnate and as such, ask yourself WWLD? What would love do in any situation? Go do that.
Treat yourself the way you would, someone you treasure.
Immerse yourself in love soup, by being with people and in circumstances that nourish you.
Trust that the Universe is conspiring in your favor, not working against you.
Accept that everyone in your life is on loan to you, and as such, treasure them and your relationship.
Love with abandon, without fear of being abandoned.
Plant seeds for your beautiful garden of dreams to blossom.
Leave the campground better than you found it, both on the planet and in your relationships. If you make a mess, clean it up.
“Walk in like you own the joint,” as was advised by my mother. Know that when you own the joint, you are responsible for the upkeep of the joint.
“Your life is in the hands of anyone who makes you lose your temper,” as offered by my father. What angers you, controls you.
Utilize ‘classy persistence,’ as a friend encouraged, in order to reap the rewards of your desired outcome.
Be ‘unreasonably happy’. We need not have a reason to feel the emotion. Let it arise and flow as it does.
Reveal the real. Peeling off the layers of who we think we are supposed to be, allows people to know who we truly are.
Dance, sing, hug, heal, mend rifts, make amends, laugh, be peace, cry, create, revel in life’s gifts, spend time in nature, tell those in your life what they mean to you, nourish yourself with healthy food and habits, learn to forgive what you may never be able to change, take your own inventory and change what you can, live in each precious present moment.
As I say when I close out my radio show each week: I thank you, I bless you, I love you. Namaste.
William S. Peters, Sr.
Bill is an avid Writer / Poet who has been committed to this path since 1966. He currently has to his credit over 30 Published Books as well as a myriad of Newspaper and Magazine Articles. Bill supports the venue of Creative Expression regardless of form and supports the progression of Humanity and Love of each other.
Bill currently serves as the CEO of Inner Child Enterprises, ltd., Managing Director of Inner Child Press, Executive Producer of Inner Child Radio and Executive Editor of Inner Child Magazine.
For more of Bill, visit his personal web Site at :
for Inner Child . . .
WILLIAM S. PETERS, SR.
IŞIK VE AŞIK : LOVE AND THE LOVER
by
hülya n. yılmaz, Ph.D.
There is a mystical tradition in Turkish love poetry that yields a unique beauty to the reader only after s/he begins to live the written lyrical word. Thus is the claim of dedicated scholars: the poems may only be conceived, and not understood in conventional terms. For the poet’s soul has been caught by the fire of love through which transformation her/his poetic compositions become exceedingly intricate, being enwrapped by a symbolism of complicated calibre. And – as it is argued with conviction, there is a person or a phenomenon, a teacher, transferring the poet in question to a different existential state on a higher level of consciousness. Love captivates the spirit of the lover who then may also become a teacher – also to be understood within an unconventional scope. Hence, the terms “ışık” and “aşık”: the first, literally means “the light” and the latter “lover” in any Turkish context, while “ışık” – within the framework of this genre assumes the meaning of “love.” I can’t stress it enough how different the love in question here is from what we tend to generalize in our times: one of physical, sexual, desirous nature, and so on. In the said poetry tradition, the love of mutual conception is a phenomenon between a Pir, a human teacher and a disciple: the teacher has already achieved the higher level of consciousness by having followed the light, leading now the disciple to a spiritually elevated state of being.
It is from the above described existential point that I am presenting you my text today. As for the fire lit inside me, I can only hope to be capable of introducing its source, William S. Peters, Sr. to you under the light of love that has captivated him to spread to others.
“Love is the Power of Creation”
In her article, Cheryl Faison avows with eloquence the arrival of William S. Peters, Sr. in the world:
[I]n the quiet, lush spring air one day in April was born yet another visionary who presently impresses upon this world the blueprint of his legacy.
The life of “just bill” was not only ushered in at a time when Americans and others around the world were realizing the power of [their] own capabilities, it seems almost by virtue [to be] a world created for a man who has become one of the world’s most prolific creative contributors in many of the same categories popular at the time of his birth, such as philosophy, art, education, literature, music, enlightenment, social activism and humanitarianism (“Bill’s Bio by Me”).
Taking the years back to that date translates to me the simultaneous birthday of love and the lover within the context of the dynamics I together with you have re-visited briefly in my introduction.
I met William S. Peters, Sr. – whose words adorn this section’s title, father of much loved eleven children and grandfather of their equally loved eight offsprings, through his beloved, Janet P. Caldwell, the Chief Administrator of Inner Child Enterprises. It was a time when Janet, an accomplished writer and editor – among her other achievements of signification, had been running her Essay and Poetry Contest last year. My meeting with her better half on air on IC Blog Radio’s show on the contest results was a mere confirmation of how well I knew Bill. At the core of my being, I had, in fact, known him all along. He was the light to shine into my long-neglected spirit – among those of countless others, as I was then and am now acutely aware. The fact that he was chosen by BIG The Magazine for the esteemed “Person of the Year Award” for the year 2009 – 2010 speaks for itself: “BIG The Magazine's Person of the Year is the person who most affected the events of the year, in their community, work and beyond
(https://www.facebook.com/events/185082588801/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular).”
Other magazines have also featured Bill, including Pen Strokes, Spoken Visions, Cattura, We Are Creative People, Om Times and countless others (http://www.innerchildpress.com/william-s-peters-sr.php). Tantra Zawadi of Spoken Vizions Magazine who is yet another individual to recognize Bill’s unique glow records his insight into the concept of my focus in his own words:
[W]e should allow Love to define us as opposed to our ludicrous and preposterous ways of attempting to define love...and to all the writers and poets out there...believe in the power of the Word...its spiritual resonance created a world with the three simple words of “Let there Be”...so I say “Be the Light of your World” and lastly...poets...know that we are the enchanting magicians that nourish the seeds of dreams and thoughts...it is our words that entice the hearts and minds of others to believe there is something grand about the possibilities that life has to offer and our words tease it forth into action...for you are the poet, the writer to whom the gift of words has been entrusted...wsp [sic].
The entity Bill embraces in his every step of the way, having evidently wedded the personal, the professional and the spiritual into his being and teachings of and on the light/love, is – as his words of dedication of The Vine Keeper unveil, “The Community of Humanity.” One critical aspect about the term “teachings” I use here needs stressing: he teaches without having to teach. Without having to preach. In the sense of a Pir. Once again, his own words from an interview by Tantra Zawadi attest to his gift as one such giver, an inspirer and guide of the spirit:
I was fortunate to spend my early years of life in the South (Savannah Georgia) with my mother Pauline (r.i.p.), grandparents and several aunts and cousins who were involved in the education community at a school in college level. [...] The nurturing qualities they provided me with helped me develop a love for language and the various forms of expression, specifically the beauty of poetry and short story/fable. Also being raised in the church, I had a deep respect and love for specific books of the Bible, such as psalms, the Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and a few others whose written word I found to be spiritually empowering. With that, I strongly desired to be able to connect in that way through language and make my words live, touch souls, minds and perhaps, move a few mountains. At the age of fifteen, I committed myself to writing and I found that poetry was the perfect venue to express my thoughts and spirituality without becoming overbearing or preachy (Spoken Vizions Magazine).
In none of his poetic or short prose works I had the rare fortune to become familiar with does Bill ever come across as “overbearing or preachy.” He is as silent of an observer he turns us, his readers, into, as were he not the one who guides the way through “those ‘just bill’ moments [that] always serve to help [him] appreciate the beauty of Poetry and Prose [sic] at a deeper level...‘just bill’ (The Vine Keeper, author’s note on the back cover).”
The Beauty “just bill” Lends to the Written Word
It is impossible for me to do any justice to the person William S. Peters, Sr. alone. As for his poetic and prose compositions, I take comfort in his exquisite modesty to believe to near their essence only by embracing the “deeper level” at which Bill reaches to us with his alluring language. And I don’t mean us here as the readers but rather as members of a ‘community of humanity’ at large – of his all-uniting and time and place-surpassing vision and practice. How he instinctively subjects the language of his own making to a multi-tiered storytelling of all-inclusive calibre is, thankfully, available to us in his published spoken and written word. On the issue of his exceptional lack of conventional application of language to the written word, Bill’s exquisite soul match, author Janet P. Caldwell, who dons the foreword of his latest book, has the following insight to provide for the unaware reader:
I must address bill’s style of writing. In keeping with tradition, I will use a lowercase b as well. bill uses a lowercase b for his name and at times refers to himself as ‘just bill’. Bill uses a lowercase i, when referring to himself and a capital I as he refers to, Creator, Source, God and the many names / titles that people have ‘assigned’ to the ONE. At times, bill uses uppercase letters, mid-sentence to accentuate a particular word and he is not a fan of compound words. Bill has also created many words that you will not find in any dictionary, to date. All done knowingly and thoughtfully for an effect that will not soon escape one’s mind (Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales, vii).
A visit to his literary writings as well as their preceding or ensuing oral history, by him or another passionate observer – in which act we have already engaged ourselves, reveals that Bill, is a not only a giver of the light/love of my claim but also a seeker of it. In his most recent book, we find him stating the following on this matter:
As I was searching my soul, asking those questions we all have asked at some time or another, there were many other insights I was afforded in the process of seeking. Many of the stories are allegorical in nature and somehow reflect on my own existentialisms. Others are simply a product or fruit of ‘need,’ beckoning the universe for answers (Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales, author’s note on the back cover).
If you would now kindly scroll back to my opening lines about the light and the lover (of the light), you will find Bill’s contemplation below reassuring us about my initial assertion:
Throughout
my life of wonder and discovery, my chief gripe perhaps would have been this:
we are not taught to think creatively or independently of the machine. In the Vine
Keeper I try. I hope that this offering does justice to that dynamic which
spawns you, the reader to look beyond the containment and remove the surreal
lines in the sand we think corral
us
(william s. peters, sr. [sic], The Vine Keeper).
And “try” William S. Peters, Sr., does – with utmost effectiveness, at that. Not merely within the contexts of the books cited in my text but rather in the far-reaching capacity of creative and independent thinking, a “dynamic” that we all need to take us over our seemingly disparate and indestructible realms of existence. For almost each word in his writings adds to “that dynamic” he envisions in others – as shown in the quote above, demonstrating for us ways to begin to see beyond the restrictions we place for and to ourselves. Thus, helping us to transform a dynamic that in reality has been for extended periods of time stagnant for us (a stagnant dynamic, being my intended oxymoron).
It appears to be most appropriate at this conjunction to listen to Bill’s own words yet once again. This time, to hear his reply to a question in Tantra Zawadi’s interview with him, namely, regarding the origin of the “[…] distinctive flow in [his] writing that is loving, compassionate and spiritual”:
[T]his is not something I can take credit for other than being a willing vessel. I do make it a point to listen and be obedient to that spirit that calls to me to speak what it is giving and entrusting me to give out. Gifts are for giving…the gift is given and I am but a steward ~ (Spoken Vizions Magazine).
The same sentiment and conviction are what we find in another book by Bill:
Notes from the Coffee Table appeared at my doorstep of consciousness unexpectantly. Being a Writer / Poet, i pride myself on my listening abilities. I love being observant, hoping to gather some inspiration to continue expressing, not only myself from my experiential perspectives, but in hopes to write something that is more far reaching than the “Me”. I believe Notes from the Coffee Table is just that type of Creative Offering.
Everyone experiences Change. Some changes are prolific and some are subtle. When life calls for us to experience more dramatic changes such as exemplified by way of Relationship, Death and a few other potential Life Altering situations, we become introspective. In Notes from the Coffee Table i was able to tap into my own experiences of having a Life Mate / Wife transition as well as having to go through the ending of other meaningful relationships. Every time i have found myself surrounded with a myriad of Questions, Thoughts and Emotions. Here in Notes from the Coffee Table, i am sharing such introspective, retrospective and circumspective pondering. Most of us either have or will experience this at times in our life.
My objective and intent is but to perhaps touch something in the reader that is common to us all. In that, hopefully someone will be able to take the short cut toward self-reconciliation
(Preface, Notes from the Coffee Table).
Whether the reader touched by William S. Peters, Sr. will “take the short cut toward self reconciliation” is a fact that only his other readers can determine for themselves. The “Life Altering” ‘situation’, however that prompted Bill to experience the ‘dramatic’ “Change” of his talk above is something he makes available to all of us. Before I try to ease us into that ‘prolific’ time of “a myriad of Questions, Thoughts and Emotions” for Bill, I have a few words needing a brief moment of attention.
You will have noticed quite a while ago that my account of William S. Peters Sr.’s life and work denies the impersonality of a chronological order. The urge to digress to a nonlinear narrative style is, first of all, most authentic to me as a writer due to my initial non-western schooling. Under analytical deliberation, however, it is the only way for me to near closest to the core self of my uniquely loved and respected subject of today’s writing, “just bill.”
Transformation in the Self and Others: The Year 2006
With absolutely nothing ‘mere’ (a.k.a. “just”) about Bill whatsoever, this true essence of a human being offers us a frank glimpse into his transformational state of the self upon his loss of his “wife of 24 years, Virisa, to cancer in July of 2006”:
As i was searching my soul, asking those
questions we all have asked at some time or another, there were many other
insights i was afforded in the process of seeking. Many of the stories are allegorical in nature and
somehow reflect on my own existentialisms. Others are simply a byproduct or
fruit of ‘need’ beckoning the universe for answers
(Stories and Fables, author’s note on the back cover).
When asked in his interview with Spoken Vizions Magazine whether he has “ever experienced a transformation in someone’s life through the art form, Bill reflects on the death of his wife yet once again, along with it, how such sharing could be transformational for not the self alone but for others as well:
I remember when I first started sharing on a “wholesale level” on MySpace in 2006, I was in a place of grieving. Most of my work was centered around the questions and the loss of a loved one. Little did I know at that time there were so many other souls who have yet to reconcile their loss and grief as well. The irony of it all is that I shared in poetic form my personal examinations, it spoke to a plethora of souls who were reading me. It was as if the universe had selected me to be that voice of service to the emotional, intellectual and spiritual disconnectedness of others. With that we all were spiritually enriched to embrace each other and enjoy a higher level of peace within due to the common aspects of experience. Many writers often look for and seek instant gratification for their work, but I have had gifts of acknowledgment show up many years after a particular poem was shared. What a gift...and it always comes right when I need that confirmation of purpose and service.
In another part of the same interview, Bill speaks more of the impact his wife’s death had on him and how his ensuing transformation birthed that with which we all are blessed today:
Inner Child Enterprises began in 2006 after my mate of 25 years crossing over. At that time I realized that I had the opportunity in past life to be more authentic. Of course like many of us I was caught up in my journey through the wilderness and my “Me-ness”. It was in 2006 I lost everything in my life that I thought defined who I was. I lost my wife, my children, my home, my business and my way. In my search of self, again that small voice spoke to me of the service I was always called to do in my small way for “The Community of Humanity”, and that quite succinctly transferred into “Inner Child” empowering, embracing and enlightening the Divine Inner Child, which is perhaps unknown but resonating quality that dwells and calls to the souls of all men. I die daily that I may answer that call.
Our vision is simple...Love, and as we know, love shows up in so many forms to include the dark ways of men. That is another metaphysical discussion, that perhaps we may get into another time. But as James said...”Count it all Joy”...and I do
(Tantra Zawadi, Spoken Vizions Magazine).
Today, Inner Child Press, Ltd., a core branch of Inner Child Enterprises is rapidly flourishing along with Inner Child Radio as well as any of the other Inner Child undertakings, and Bill expresses that success in his unique enthusiasm and excitement:
My daily and immediate focus is always service through my work. Whether it be through our publications, workshops, books, counseling or conversation in person, by telephone or on radio. We are aggressively networking our credo and the empowerment of other who bring message is integrally important. This meaning our published authors who we believe have something worthwhile reading. I have just come off a tour in Southern California where I had the opportunity to carry the Inner Child brand west...also looking to develop a more poignant presence in New York, Chicago and the South as well as the opportunities that are presenting themselves in the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Romania, Egypt, Lebanon and so many other places. Me, I just stand ready as a warrior should
(Tantra Zawadi, Spoken Vizions Magazine).
Offerings of the Gift of Self to Humanity
As we have just above heard from William S. Peters, Sr. himself, his “daily and immediate focus is always service through [his] work. Whether it be through our publications, workshops, books, counseling or conversation in person, by telephone or on radio.” His accomplishments in a short amount of time make up a saga already, into which I will attempt to offer a quick but by no means an exhaustive glimpse.
Having been first published in 1972 – a spoken word and recording artist, Bill has authored thirty books since; he has founded Inner Child Enterprises; he is the director of Inner Child Press, Ltd. under which honorable insignia he published books by seventy-three authors – most of them, with at least two book-length works intact; Inner Child Magazine prides in his presence as its executive editor, while Unique Publishing Concern enjoys his guidance as its managing director; The Inner Child Radio Network has the incomparable advantage of having him as its chief executive; Blog Talk Radio and TalkShoe have him as their producer and the Society Hill Music takes special comfort in that fact that he is its publicity director. Cheryl Faison from whom I had quoted in this article before gives a magnificent account of his life and work. Hers is a must-read presentation of the writer and poet and his leading power of the many other responsibilities (the article may be available from Janet P. Caldwell by special request). I owe Ms. Faison the following impeccable wording of our shared admiration for Bill:
Today the continued growth of success of Inner Child Press and the staggering amount of authors ICP has published in such a short time is not only a credit to his skillful writing but to his characteristics of loyalty, trust, integrity, professionalism and work ethic, the attributes which set him apart form other publishers in the industry. A clever business man with an extensive background in Corporate America where he worked for years to supporthis11 children and his adored late wife Virisa. He has taken those experiences from the workspace to the CEO desk of Inner Child Enterprises. His keen eye for talent and his shrewd approach to business has empowered him to surround himself with a team of loyal and dedicated contributors and staff who share the beauty of his vision, including his right arm Janet P. Caldwell, Chief Executive Administrative Officer, keeper of the gate and a literary powerhouse herself. Along with Janet’s guidance, vision and support they launched Inner Child Magazine, a monthly online publication to compliment and highlight Inner Child’s various artists, contributors, events, world news, and the everevolving services of Inner Child Enterprises (“Bill’s Bio by Me”).
Bill’s devotion and dedication to the numerous areas of our existence at large and – perhaps most diligently, to the raising of awareness for higher consciousness and peace are evident. Evident in his vision of “The Community of Humanity (The Vine Keeper)” to which we commits his life and work. Some examples of his self-imposed pledge include his participation in over twenty books and/or anthologies and in the twelve volumes of The Year of the Poet at the time of this article’s embodiment. His thoughts on at least one of these astounding collected works, A Gathering of Words, Poetry for Trayvon Martin, and its signifying value should not remain unmentioned here:
[…] I must first pay obeisance to all of those who joined us in the effort to share the consciousness that the “incident” Trayvon Martin spawned. I feel so blessed to be a part of this offering to humanity. As we well know there are distinctive plights and maladies that affect the African American community and other socio-economically disenfranchised communities for various pseudo-political reasons and agendas. This offering, A Gathering of Words, Poetry for Trayvon Martin for me is a statement. In all honesty, coming up in the era I had, I have heard the speeches of Stokely Carmichael, Angela Davis, Malcolm X and Dr. King, but the familiarity was amiss. I believe that not only every African American needs to first know they exist, but to know the content of the speeches aka messages. And I say this to the world. We do need to embrace our humanity. This is very evident in these days and times as we witness such atrocities across our globe showing up in so many ill ways such as greed, famine, war, injustice, bias, racism, and the major virus that infect the minds and souls of us all is indifference. This book perhaps does not directly address all of these issues, but it is a good start on the road to full consciousness without dependence on the Fox News networks and those who forward a propagandized agenda. If we are to build a solid house, we must have a solid foundation, and knowledge of self and those things which marginalize our communities, our families our children, our men and women, and our personal esteems is as good as any place to start.
This book , A Gathering of Words, Poetry for Trayvon Martin is such a thing, and quite frankly we need to have it in every home as a reference point. There is our poetry, commentary and as I said some prolific speeches from our history, humanity’s history . (Spoken Vizions Magazine).
William S. Peters, Sr. offers us – as members of humanity with the potential to become as passionate as he is not just one ‘reference point’ but countless others, which await to be conceived. At the beginning of his latest book, for instance, he announces his cherished contemplation: “Fairy tales are necessary...for me to believe in life (Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales, iv)!” His ‘stories and fables and quaint little tales’ constitute the invitation he extends to us all, leading the way to the numerous territories of the same conviction:
Life is a wonderful gift...of what significance is it if we do not unwrap it? ~ wsp [sic] (Stories and Fables, ‘The Gift,’ 182).
Bill ‘unwraps’ life in all its multitudes of aspects and facets on numerous platforms of human interaction but in his gift of giving and more giving, in particular.
The Inner Child Press web page displays another statement on life by William S. Peters, Sr. and I owe it to us all to share his sentiment expressed in it:
I have always likened life to that of a garden. So, for me, life is simply about the seeds we sow and nourish. All things we “think and do”, will “be” cause and eventually manifest itself to being an “effect” within our own personal “existences” and “experiences”...whether it be fruit, flowers, weeds or barren landscapes
(http://www.innerchildpress.com/william-s-peters-sr.php)!”
The Seeker and the Giver of the Light
In view of the utmost fruitful, flower-laden, nourished and nourishing garden-like life that has thus far been compiled in bits and pieces for William S. Peters, Sr. there can only be an open end to my attempt today to account for his selected written and spoken works. With my own love-adorned admiration, I join the loving respect Cheryl Faison possesses for Bill, expressing it in her following words the most (unlike she, however, I am a much older woman who unfortunately cannot be “adopted” by him):
Bill’s unwittingly internet sharing of his times in the abysmal moment would serve as a catalyst for sharing and healing among others and has led him into the path with many people who tarry along the same route providing spiritual and emotional support to each other. It is these moments of his unwitting sharing...his unintentional selflessness that have left an indelible mark in my life as a daughter he has adopted among many, a student he has eagerly guided and a writer who simply finds the task at hand...to write an unbiased expose on a man who means so much to me that it brings about the beauty of the sweet tears I shed as I type these words. There is so much more to William S. Peters, Sr., than being the man whom many know and love as “just bill”, it cannot be all catalogued in an internet article. If there is truly a life worthy of a biography, [bringing] his extraordinary life and journey into the light is one for the books (“Bill’s Bio by Me”).
The love of mutual conception is a phenomenon between a Pir, a human teacher and a disciple – a clause that appeared in my introduction. My Pir having been William S. Peters, Sr., the simultaneous seeker of the light/love and the teacher of higher consciousness, leading – among numerous other disciples – me to a spiritually elevated state of being. It is from such simple yet complicated point of inspiration that I have assembled my writing today. I would like to hope that I have been able to provide an opening for countless new discussions on Bill or “just bill”, a unique light whose love continues to serve as a source of light captivating others.
At this point, I find it most appropriate to leave you with Bill’s own words on love and the eternal process of its quest. I would like to do so in a virtual exchange between him and Rumi, the world-renowned Sufi poet whose teachings Bill holds in high esteem:
Rumi –
Someone asked: What is love?
I said: Don’t ask about this meaning.
You will see when you become like me.
William S. Peters, Sr. –
[...] Love is Oneness. Oneness with other...Oneness with Creation...Oneness with all things...but most importantly, Love is Oneness of Self! [...]
(Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales, 188).
hülya n. yılmaz (Ph.D., Humanities)
Faculty at The Pennsylvania State University
Author of Trance,
immensely proud for it being published by Inner Child Press, Ltd.
Freelance writer and editor
Selected Sources:
Arberry, Arthur John. Mystical Poems of Rumi 1st Selection. UNESCO Collection of Representative Works. Persian Heritage (Book 3), University of Chicago Press, 1974.
Caldwell, Janet P. Foreword. Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales. Inner Child Press, Ltd., 1st edition: 2014. Pp. vii
EPISODE 129 ON JERRY ROYCE LIVE! BOOK – STORIES AND FABLES (QUAINT LITTLE TALES) PUBLISHED BY INNER CHILD PRESS at
http://www.spreaker.com/user/positivepower21/replay-publisher-william-s-peters-srFaison, Cheryl. “Bill’s Bio” (personal copy, attained with appreciation from Janet P. Caldwell)
http://www.innerchildpress.com/william-s-peters-sr.php
Nicholson, Reynold Alleyne. Selected
Poems from the Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. IBEX Publishers, 2001
Peters, William S. Sr. This Too Shall Pass: A Spiritual Poetic Journey. Inner Child Press, 2011
Peters, William S. Sr. The Vine Keeper: Messages in Poetry and Prose. Inner Child Press, 2012
Peters, William S. Sr. Notes from the Coffee Table. Inner Child Press, 2013
Peters, William S. Sr. Stories and Fables and Quaint Little Tales. Inner Child Press, 2014
Schimmel, Annemarie. Mystical Dimensions of Islam. The University of North Carolina Press, 1st edition, 1978
Tantra Zawadi. “William S. Peters (AKA ‘Just Bill’): Poet, producer,
publisher and founder of Inner Child
Enterprises” in SpokenVizionsMagazine
(an electronic magazine)
Spreaker, Jerry Royce Live! “Publisher William S. Peters Sr.” at
YOU ARE
When I think of you I think of William, Bill, Father, and Daddy. My heart immediately thinks of a man whom I have always looked up to, someone who is just as you see him, no disguises but always true.
When I think of the heart of William :
I love the heart that you always have had not just for some but for anyone that comes into your life. People look to you as a Man of strength and they draw to you William.
When I think of you as Bill :
I think of your wife, siblings and many close friends. The ones that call on you because they need your attention, need you for just and ear or encouragement just by hearing your voice.
When I think of you as the Father :
First I think of the Heavenly Father and thought when He created you, He has given you to me on earth as an example as to what it is to be Fathered. God knew what He was doing when He created you for me.
When I think of you as Daddy :
I immediately go to this place as a little girl where I can just sit in your arms knowing that I had the best man in my life. I feel secure in that place and knowing that there is nothing by now means can touch me. I see me running into your arms and there is so much joy that comes from my heart because I am created from Love.
You are :
A man on earth given to me to represent what it means to be
A man of unconditional LOVE
A Protector, A Comforter, A man of Courage, A man of Strength, A man of Endurance , A man of Faith,
A man of Joy, A man of Hope, A man of Life and A man that you call… Just Bill
Your daughter,
What People are Saying
My Friend Bill
While affectionately known as “Just Bill” to many, William S. Peters, Sr. is so much more than that to me. In the short years we’ve worked together, Bill has adorned many hats. First and foremost, he has been a friend which transcends all other monikers. Bill is a multi-talented soul that willingly and graciously devotes his time to being the Founder of Inner Child Enterprises, a multi-faceted media source for conscious radio, spiritually uplifting publications and world peace. In this capacity alone he serves as producer, publisher, mentor, writer and coordinator just to name a few of his many hats. In the midst of juggling all these roles, Bill still finds the time to express his artistry through some of the most beautiful prose I have ever been privileged to read.
A few years ago, I learned that Bill would be visiting here in LA. I desperately wanted to meet the man that has been so instrumental in not only my exposure to the world but countless others. I quickly arranged a meeting and together we walked along the streets of Hollywood, CA with the Sun to our backs engaging in sincere and honest talk about the power of words and their vibratory efficacy. I will never forget that day. Together we sat down to break bread and connect on a level that transcends everyday interaction. That day, Bill became so much more than “Just Bill” to me.
No matter what I’m doing, whenever Bill calls, I heed the call. I will always be indebted to him for his gracious appraisal of me and his unwavering support. Whatever Bill needs from me, he can always get. And it is for this reason that I take this time to honor my dear friend and colleague Mr. William S Peter, Sr.
Dr. Peter C. Rogers
Author/Life Coach/Motivational Speaker
the vine keeper
(for William S. Peters, Sr.)
I am honored to write a few words on behalf of my friend, William S. Peters, Sr.. I pulled his book off my shelf, The Vine Keeper, just to remember our relationship. I thought about the metaphor of a vine keeper. I thought about him and how I know him. How he has this fervent need to allow others to have room for written expression. I pulled the book down and then I thought that I had been a part of his vine. He had roped me in like a wisteria. He had given me hope that some of my words would find their way into print. I even sent my mother a copy of the Mandela Anthology of which I wrote the preface. My mother was so proud that I had been a part of history. That I had the opportunity to give my interpretation of Nelson Mandela to the world. This gave me more power, more celebrity because I had been a part of his vine. The vine keeper is a wonderful way to allow the fertile to grow into full fruition. He keeps me near. He gives me opportunity when they arise. He came to New York City to be a part of a panel discussion. To lend his expertise to the novice writer with hope in their eyes. The vine keeper gathering the fruit of his labor only manicured by the sun. Because he has positioned himself in this place. The vine keeper should reap the benefit of his harvest. The vine keeper knows it is not ripe before its time. When I read his poem, “but a breath away,” I remember that before the words come there is this breath. There is this interaction between the breath and the written words. Then he goes on to say in the poem, “I hear voices whispering” and I say, “you do.” Then we are literally and figuratively on the same page because “I heard voices whispering.” Even as I write this the inner critic tried to block me from finishing. Then I said, the vine keeper. I said, the keeper of the holy writ. My words and my expression will find there way into the universal.
Robert Gibbons, New York City
Poet, Writer, Social Activist, Teacher
There are stars, and those who are able may read them. Astronomers study and observe them. A candid conversation with the Writer, Poet, Activist, Radio producer, personality, and creator of the Inner Child enterprise will give us all a glimpse into the phenomena which is Spirit. An easy orator who speaks fearlessly of Love, and Life, and Peace, and the consciousness residing in us all to give, and in so doing receive back exactly what it is you have put out in the universe. A man of consummate activity who’s creativity is boundless. An utterly efficient machine who’s focus and commitment to the poetic panorama from the musical to the written, and spoken word is intrepid. A 48 year veteran with over 30 works currently in print. His latest work is entitled Stories, Fables and Quaint Little Tales, along with others, The Vine Keeper, Messages in Poetry & Prose, Notes From the Coffee Table and more. Bill’s writing is the wonder of the rainbow, and the tranquility of the stars; A purposeful pronouncement of the power of love in all things big and small. More than any empty promise or possible solvable problem; William S. Peters is the embodiment of involvement, and absolutely a vessel that has taken root, grown, and bloomed powerfully for the love of his human family. A native born son of Philadelphia who now tarries out of the Garden state of New Jersey where he lives and works.
In having met, read, and been privy to the company of the one them call “Just Bill”, I am slowly beginning to let go of the idea that gentle, relaxed individuals cannot be super achievers! Bill is something of a sage with a very unassuming strength and candor that seem rehearsed in some, but is genuinely and sincerely on display for anyone anywhere who has had the opportunity to be in the company of the man. It seems he’s been adorned with a strange sort of force field that surrounds him and glows with the magnetism, and allure of one who provokes with kindness, incites with love, and moves the passionless pretending heart to a place of self realization and strength. Service is a very integral part of Bills very being. Unselfishly I have witnessed him on many a radio show gently mentor artists, poets, and orators with such kindness that the artist in question hardly noticed that they were being admonished. In personal conversation with Bill I have always found him to be funny, razor sharp smart, but most importantly impassioned about others; always insisting on service; always encouraging; always “Just Bill”.
June Barefield
Poet, Writer and Activist
http://www.innerchildpress.com/june-barefield.php
‘Just Bill’ is more than just Bill to me. He is foremost a trusted and respected friend. I am truly grateful for and cherish our friendship. Bill is also my publisher and was willing to work with me and accommodate my quirks as an artist. He is my fellow artist and he is a world-class poet in my opinion. Oh how I wish I had a voice like ‘Just Bill’ when reading a poem aloud. I often tease him about his smooth Colt 45 delivery seducing the listeners on his radio show.
“Just Bill” is genuinely the real deal. He is ‘The Man’ in my book, forever
passionate for the cause of humanity and the arts. He has published a whole
slew of work that will be his spiritual testament profoundly left for future
generations to digest, enjoy and be encouraged to create themselves.
However, Just Bill’s greatest legacy will be his spiritual love. Love in this
sense is what inspires him to help others get published and share their unique
voice with the mix. Inner Child is the mystic self of ‘Just Bill.’ His deep
spirituality understands how all of this creativity influences the collective
conscious realm. How creativity affects the positive, intelligent progression
of humanity along the road of enlightenment.
Thank you for this spiritual love, ‘Just Bill.’ You are far more than ‘Just
Bill’ to me. Bless Up, my Brother….. William S. Peters. Let your love continue
to shine and peace out. !
~Keith Alan Hamilton~
Poet, Writer and Activist
William writes from the heart of a seeker. The renderings in his work are both spiritual and philosophical at many levels and raw with life’s hardcore realities. They commit the reader to introspective considerations of our life cycles. William ponders the questions we all seek to answer and he takes us on walks through his landscape of words. We are educated through assimilation.
However, William goes beyond his words in his commitment to humanity. He thrives on helping others to get their writings out into the world. His legacy goes deep with his words but also with all the trees he has planted in each individual soul he has published. He is truly a blessing and is blessed on his journey this life cycle.
Teresa E. Gallion
Author of Chasing Light
Although I have never met Bill, I am honored to have him in my life. He is one of those cyber friends who I would love to see face to face and give him a big hug. His passion for his writing matches my own and he seems always to be coming up with ways of opening the door to his imagination and welcoming readers in to play. The vision that comes to mind at the moment, is a combination of the moment Dorothy steps out from her tornado tossed house into the Land of Oz- from black and white to Technicolor and the candy room in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the song "Pure Imagination" is playing. (can you do a hyperlink to the song?)
Writing for Inner Child Magazine is a true joy and I feel that when I hand my 'baby'- my article over each month, that it will find a good home.
Bill is a soul poet and true work of he(art).
With love and blessings,
Edie Weinstein
Minister, Writer
The words in a deeply resonant voice pour out of my computer. With music in the
background, there is an image of William S. Peters, "just bill" and
poetry on the screen. That's how we first met. It would be several months
before I knew how important he would be in my life, before I felt my heart
crack open at the sound of his voice-at his invitation to nourishing my inner
child with community. That first day when I wandered over to
InnerChildPress.com, it was as if Bill said personally to me, "Join us,
this loving community, for one book or hundreds of books. Share your creativity
or just enjoy the warmth of hot summer nights. Join us as you grow your poetic
gifts and see the growth in all of us. Heal through words or create world
healing and world peace. Create something special for Valentine's Day or ride
the wave of love poetry as it pours out of our community. Join the Poetry Posse
for years of the poet or just jump on board for a short ride. But whatever you
do join us." I am so glad I did.
Love,
Kim
Kimberly Burnham, PhD
(Integrative Medicine)
www.Amazon.com/Kimberly-Burnham/e/B0054RZ4
The moment you meet William Peters is the moment you feel a deeper genuineness within yourself. It is impossible not to, William Peters lives from there, shines that out, and gives that to you. Giving you a chance to give that to yourself which is the most precious gift you can give to anyone. I'd been living in Costa Rica for a while with my supposed "life partner" and things got really rough for us out there. Working and living together in paradise proved to not be paradise for us at all and we moved back to the states in a hope to make it work but the damage was already done. I was in a low point, knowing our relationship was over but not wanting it to be due to all the love and plans we once shared. Also she had started being very verbally abusive to me and I took it to heart, feeling real down on myself. That's when Bill called and told me to meet him in North Carolina. I was a little timid to go as I'd been keeping to myself and not wanting to be around people because i wasn't feeling like my loving self. But that didn't matter to Bill at all. We met up, he bought my dinner, and reminded me of who I was. We went to a lake and just watched the water, read poetry, and he gave me deep wisdom to help me overcome what I was going through. I left him, feeling a thousand times better then when I got there. That visit inspired me so much and really renewed me. The girl and I broke up and I am now in a healthy relationship, feeling better than ever. Thank you Bill. Also he published a book of poetry of mine and I am eternally grateful for him for that. What an amazing human being! Thank you for everything you do!
Justin Blackburn -
Poet, Writer, Healer, Comedian
'William S. Peters Sr. is a resilient poet... deep thinking, and self-accomplishing. Showered with blessed thoughts everyday, he collects them into beautiful bouquets of poetry, and recitations.'
Shamshir Rai Luthra
Teacher, Activist,
New Delhi, India
Bill is like a father to me, he is kind, and he is loving.. Bill is the epitome of a true friend.. In my eyes He is a step above the rest because truth lies within in voice and heart. He shows you that even when he is going through things he will still be there for you with a smile on his face and an open mind and heart and ear to lend...Peace lies within his soul and he shares that peace with anyone who is willing to part take in his LOVE AND LIGHT.....Bill I love you and I am honored to have you in my life as a dear friend....Blessings up...
Alfreda Ghee
Poet and Writer
Bill, I am so blessed to know you. You are an inspiration to me personally and with my writing. Though we have never met in person, I feel we have known each other for a very long time. Your poetry, the man you are, the visions you have, your openness to listen, and the love in your heart that emanates so brightly, make it an honor to call you " my brother." Bless you, Bill, and I can't thank you enough for all you have done for, not only me, but for others. Love you and keep the ink flowing.
Always, in gratitude, your brother
Tony Henninger
Poet and Writer
I first heard of William S. Peters Sr in 2009. It was the year I needed prayer and poetry in my life to combat severe depression.. Fore without the two I would have surely died. William S. Peters Sr. ie "Just Bill" provided the Poetic Platform (Inner Child Radio/Publications) that indeed saved my life! It would take me at least a book's chapter to say how appreciative and how thankful I am to "Just Bill".. for helping to save my life. I truly & sincerely thank you Sir William S. Peters, Sr.
William Washington
Poet, Writer and Spoken Word Artist
Bill: You are one of my heroes. Your kindness, support, generosity and beautiful attitude is only surpassed by your skills as a writer. I love you.
Martina Reisz Newberry
Poet and Writer
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more,
you are a leader. -John Quincy Adams
William S. Peter's, Sr. aka just bill, is just that, a Leader. He is an inspiration. He is untiring. He is dedicated, caring and fun. I am so very thankful to work with him and Inner Child Press.
Siddartha Beth Pierce
Poet, Writer and Multi-Media Artist
Allow me to start off with I've never met the man. So how can I possibly construct words to describe him. It's simple, "Poetry" Bill as he's commonly known William Peters expresses himself through his words Eloquence in tone and delivery, one is often taking on a journey He sees in us, we who write and express through words what we don't. He pushes with a gentle nudge Encourages without always liking what we do He knows prose and respects those who even pose in this art. That sets him apart. in love for the art of poetry. "That's a good Look", and you know you've hit the mark. We all love accolades and pretend we don't. But when Bill signs off on it, shoulders back and chest high we are head up at looking eye to eye we are, That's what a leader does A teacher does, A Man does..Lift up his brothers and sisters. But don't get it twisted to a behind kisser..He comes at you straight right out the gate, What more can I say other than Thank you Bill..You've placed each of us with greatness, showed even the most shy of us we are Poets. "Bless Up" to coin another phrase..
Much respect for all you do...Peace
Joe DaVerbal Minddancer
Poet and Writer
So what can one say about "just bill"...to start I find him to be a very spiritually evolved being which is evident in his artistic work as an author and poet. Often his poems take me to place of higher dimensions and I am convinced he is a divine channel of love and light. No doubt Bill is a visionary and a seeker of truth, and always thinking out of the box as a "Free Thinker" the very appropriate title of his CD. I've had the privilege of knowing and growing in spiritual enlightenment with him for a little over four years. Bill has been a steady force in my life enhancing my career aspirations as a brother, mentor, and my publisher. I am most grateful that Creator/God/Source saw fit to place his loving soul in my path. ~Namaste
~ Loving LaFaye ~
Author, Astrologer & Clairvoyant
When I was approached with an invite to write “a few words for Bill”…I emphatically answered how happy I would be to do so...then it hit me…what on Earth was I thinking...a FEW WORDS for Bill? Whew! How will I pull this off, such a daunting task, a mission impossible, perhaps the oxymoron’s of oxymoron’s because how does anyone who knows and truly loves our beloved “just bill” get away with a few words about him? I must admit after that small panic I did the traditional “LOL” at myself and the task before me. I pulled up my bootstraps and ole’ shucks…here is my best effort…
It’s funny the first time I came across William S. Peters, Sr., The Poet, I was on one of those super large poetry groups on Facebook, where literally hundreds of Poets from around the World post within an hour or so. Somehow my good fortune placed one of Bill’s more Spiritually Loving pieces before my eyes. I remember thinking…WOW! If I could meet someone like that on this Planet, who actually lives what they believe about Life and Love as expressed in this Poem, it would be truly an amazing experience.
I instantly became a fan and began to follow his work; I even built up enough courage that day to make a comment among the several other comments already posted beneath. I am not sure what I had written however I got tagged with the most personalized and gracious response from him “just bill” that day, and I was happy to be acknowledged. A day or so later I posted some of my own work in the same group and others little did I know that this amazing, clearly well versed poet “just bill” would read some of my own poetry and leave me some inspiring commentary as well. I was deeply moved and impressed that someone I admired so much along with some of my favorites like Emily Dickinson, Lord Byron-George Gordon or Robert Frost would even read my little poems. Over time we continued our mutual admiration of each others work and we kept aware of the others creative interest.
Soon, Bill became for me a Mentor, Manager, Creative Director, Radio Producer, Friend, Fan, Father Figure, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor as he invested so much time and effort to guide me to expand my creative efforts beyond Poetry, moving into Creative and Freelance Writing Projects, Radio Host and Talk Show Interviewing, Publishing and Editing, even entrusting me to Co-Edit and Co-Produce a Poetic Anthology as my first major publishing effort with Inner Child. I was blessed with an almost overwhelming and daunting opportunity to go full steam ahead with all things Inner Child however my own personal circumstances brought these wonderful yet impressionable experiences to an abrupt end, but not before “just bill” had made his indelible imprint of Wisdom and Business Savvy upon me.
Even despite my errors, my mistakes due to either ignorance or belligerence, “just bill” always did and always does respond with the Greatest Divine Love I have ever experienced from a Father on Earth. I can truly say that “just bill”…the Poet that created in me a desire to meet someone that really believes in Life and Love as they create with their own words is truly a Man of his word. Bill is a Divinely Beautiful Soul sent to awaken the Divine Inner Child within each of us, one magnificent word at a time, be it through a Spoken or Written Word, Poetry, Prose, Short Story, or Social Commentary, “just bill” has given us a plethora of Words to Live by…for Generations to come.
I Love You so very much, William S. Peters, Sr., you are so much more to me than I can ever express in this language or this lifetime. I am grateful for your grace, your guidance, your forgiveness, your contributions to my creative spirit, your unwavering faith in my talent and gifts and for showing me the way of true, unconditional divine love.
Cheryl D. Faison
Poet and Writer
I don’t know bill, i LOVE bill! Back in the MySpace, Ning days, before Facebook, before smart phones, I met him. When I was down, coming into my own, weeding through the great confusion that had thrust itself upon my life, he was there with a hello, with a smile, with heart to connect. He helped me when none else could be found. And with that helping hand came an abounding, living love. With billy came inspiration, warmth, belly laughs, and the sexiest vocabulary I've ever read. His mind is sharp, complimented by a most compassionate bed side manor. He's a hoot! He's a father, a poet, a widow, a visionary! … He's my friend.
xo Chrissy xo's!
Poet and Writer
A poet, an author, a visionary, a friend...there is so much to this man that is yet to be discovered. Bill invites you in for a dream-chat and gives you not only his best chair, but also a piece of his mind. We are lucky to have him in our midst. I would not be where I am now without his uncompromising support and I know I speak for many when I say "thanks" for just being, just bill.
Gail Weston Shazor
Poet and Writer
Bill and I hit it off the first time we met in Brooklyn New York. That's not where his support started. He always acknowledge my work on social media with encouraging critique. He devotes time to help others grow. Not only is he a gentleman, he's a motivator. With bill's help I got to live my dream, that was to speak to kids in schools. Since then I've been asked to speak to students from intermediate to colleges all over, especially in urban areas. He's a door opener. When bill has an event, I'm there. Listening to this man speak is an opportunity, its amazing how smart and well spoken he is. We all learn a lot from his writings. He's not only an author, he's a well known publisher. I'm so happy to have met this great man and to be able to call him a friend.. Thank you Bill for all you do.
Infinite the poet
Albert Carrasco
infinite poetry
What defines a man? Not the sum in coin, or the lot he resides, but the depth he shares with others. Not the man he was, but the person he became through life’s trials. This individual gives unselfishly from the soul, and distinguishes truth with which he speaks in prose and poetry. A man we are proud to call a friend. We all know him as Just Bill.
Diane Sismour
Writer and Entrepreneur
Poetry was my outlet during a time of most intense healing and transformation. Bill encouraged not only the expansion and sharing of my poetry but the expansion and sharing of my self. He is my brother of love. It was Bill who encouraged me to birth two new books and encourages me continuously through his prayers, words, and actions just as he does countless others.
Bill has been there for me many times since first we met. Often, listening to the prompting of spirit, he will reach out or share with me exactly what my soul needs at the perfect moment. It is quite simply Bill being Bill.
In those moments where I am so busy doing that I ignore my inner desire to be, I hear Bill’s voice saying to me “just be (and in being you will do exactly what is best and it will be enough).” “Just Be” has been my mantra for years now thanks to Bill. With this mantra harmony, peace, and love are restored in my being. He has taught me that there are no small acts of loving kindness for each contains infinite potentiality.
~*~ Namaste Bill ~ In La’kech (I am the other you)
Regina Ann
Writer, Poet and Healer
A leather bound book with blank pages and a title page with one singular word scripted, notes. That was how my friendship with William S. Peters, Sr. began. I was for all intense and purpose the blank pages and William, the binding that protected the blank pages within. I always tease my dear brother Bill about me taking notes and following his lead, his knowledge, his poetic grace, his spiritual oneness and unity, his charming big brotherly confidence and willingness to help fill the blank pages of a book needing knowledge.
Yes, we share a love for all things real, genuine. Yes, we share a love for music that flows like life itself, jazz and beyond. Yes, we strive to spread love to one and all who cross our paths. Yes, we come from different places, different situations, different spaces but the unity that binds our friendship/kinship is unbreakable and solidified by mutual respect. I often think of Bill as someone I'm grateful for. Someone who is and has always been one of the most genuine and positive influences in my life as an adult.
Bill has my endless gratitude, admiration and respect as a friend, an adviser, and as extended family! Props to Mr. William S. Peters, Sr. (K.A.D.G.) ~ <3
BTW...Keep teaching, big brotha... I'm taking notes! :-)
~ Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important ~
Dale Anthony Williams
Brother and Friend
Mr. William S. Peter, Sr., a man who writes from his soul, as the world whispers what will be next? Family life, hope, faith and inner thoughts from the Universal Spirit. He opens many doors and continues to do so. I have walked through them. I have such respect for him. You could call him your adopted Father or Uncle.
Mr. William S. Peters, Sr., soul reaches you in this universe. His pen speaks
volumes and has taught me how to love my pen. Reach and see the universe and
begin to write. It was blessing and honor to take this time to write about him
God bless you always. Thank you for being a Part of our life.
Rosalind Cherry
Poet and Talk Show Hostess
to Brother Bill,
You’re a true pioneer for poetry and a person that I very much admire & respect. Your words of wisdom have transcended all boundaries. Your a true a friend and through your visions, we all have been blessed to say, you’re a mentor, a visionary, and best of all a MAN WITH A PLAN.
Thank you,
Joski THEPOET
LOVE YA UNCLE BILL
Bill is a wonderful, thoughtful and supportive human being who i sincerely
value. He not only is a creative force but is that rare person who will go the
extra mile to help/support a fellow artist especially if he regards that
individual as genuine, honest, committed as i feel he is to truth, justice, conscious
raising in a time of systemic ignorance. Kudos to a rare brother. May the
creator continue to shower many blessings on him and his family. Keep on
keeping on ahkee.
Much love and respect.
your brother
Shareef, AKA Zakir Flo.
I will agree with the family about their feelings for Bill, and add that he is a Renaissance Man. He causes me to know, that his Wisdom comes through many life times experienced. Aeons of long ago. Though he stays in the present, the Now, he is an Old Soul. Bill's spirit resonates with mine. A Sage is the word that comes to mind often. He is wise and generous, giving to the point of his own lack and never seems to notice. The riches of life roll back in when you empty your hands from giving.
Bill is discreet and protective of his flock, and the flowers in his Garden. He is a loving friend to all. You know that when you have his attention, you are the only one that matters and are quite special to him. With his enlightening sword shining bright and cutting to the hidden truths, Bill has gently led me to know that it is a must to think for myself, question and yet accept all, as a thread interwoven in that great quilt, called ONE
Bill is a loving and kind man that belongs to no one and everyone. He is universal.
I have worked on many projects with Bill, traveled frequently throughout these United States and shared many thoughtful experiences with him. Last year we took a trip to Puerto Rico for 3 weeks, my 1st trip to Abroad. Thank you for the joy that you brought and bring to my life.
Though, I must admit that we challenge each other at times and once in awhile, one or the other concedes. (smiles) I know him on many levels, have felt his pain and joy, cried and laughed so hard that we shared tears and could barely breathe. At times, we simply agree to disagree. I personally believe that working through the challenges have brought us closer and allowed us to continue these last 3 years.
We are both what some call Dreamers, or that we have our heads are up in the clouds, and it works for us. He is the loud and quiet in my soul. In the final analysis, I will say, that I would not have missed it for the world. Bill, my Beloved you are simply a man that I adore, admire and respect deeply. I love you.
Janet P. Caldwell
COO – Inner Child
Author and More !!!
~ Keith Alan Hamilton ~
The true act of creating art, is for it to be used for the everlasting benefit of all humanity.
~ Keith Alan Hamilton ~
~Keith Alan Hamilton~ is an Author who writes a spiritually philosophical blend of poetry and prose that's often further pictorialized with his Smartphone photography. Keith is the online publisher/editor of three blogs which includes The Hamilton Gallery ~ Online.com Blog, the Keith Alan Hamilton.com Blog and the NatureIQ.com Blog. Keith is also a professional Information Investigator.
Keith recently published in print and Kindle through Inner Child Press the first book in his series Nature ~ IQ: Let's Survive, Not Die! Poems, Sayings and more….. used to address the most pressing issues on earth ~ facing humankind! Keith is currently writing the second book in the series Nature ~ IQ: Let’s Survive, Not Die! – Adaptive Transitioning. http://www.natureiq.com/blog/?page_id=221
After doing an Images & Words flip-book collaboration with NYC photographer/writer Regina Walker called Stuyvesant Town ~ NYC, Keith picked up the camera again. This time in the form of Smartphone Photography as found in his Smartphone Photography Portfolio. http://www.keithalanhamilton.com/blog/?p=766
Keith has recently said about his photography, “I’m firstly an artist with a Smartphone camera trying to create art by the way I capture images at a particular moment in time.”
Keith's experience as an artist, as manifested through his writing (prose/poems) and photography has led to his newest expression of creativity combining images with words as found in his Image with Words Portfolio. http://www.keithalanhamilton.com/blog/?p=783
Keith has been developing his spiritually philosophical style of writing (poetry, prose, sayings, etc.) and photography for many years. The artistry of his words and photos are rooted within the nurturing arms of his Polish/German mother (his first muse). Keith says his mother’s willpower and loving temperament is the spirit flowing in his words and photos. They are also deeply influenced with the character of his Scot grandfather (his second muse), who was a master storyteller and could hold his audience spellbound for hours on end. Keith’s words and photos not only reveal the cultural flavor representative of his heritage but also the area in the USA where he was born. He grew up in a small place called Freeland, Michigan. This is where one of Keith's most influential muses RLF grew up as well. Keith's children and grandchildren are continually powerful muses on the kind of art he creates; especially his son Jason, Keith's hero for his struggle to live each day the best he can while dealing with the effects resultant from being born hydrocephalic.
If Keith was asked to describe his spiritually philosophical style, he would say it embodies the everyday spirit of a Norman Rockwell illustration, a sort of raw Mark Twain individuality and the perfectionist mannerism captured in an Ansel Adams photo. Keith hopes his everyday style, that unique spiritually philosophical flavor tasted within the emergence of his words and photos, will appeal to a broad spectrum of people around the world.
continued . . . .
continued . . . .
All three of Keith’s blogs, as well as his other artistic creations through word, photography or a combination of the two are this evolving art process referred to by Keith as living documents (works of art in progress). Keith firmly believes these freely accessible and affordable online living documents, where people around the world on the internet can view the evolving creative process of his artwork, as well as other artists he has featured (extending to the Poets. Writers, Photographers, Musicians, Artists ~ Networking Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/167184609976620/ ) is of benefit. Why? He is a firm believer that creativity breeds creativity. The more creativity that is shared with others, where people observe and experience the entire creative process from start to finish, will be a true source of encouragement and motivation for humanity. When the whole spectrum of people from young to the old observe the struggle to bring forth works of art, they in turn will be inspired to be more creative themselves. Then those inspired in such a way will bring forth works of art in word and image to be shared with others, which will collectively provide positive change to the overall well-being of humanity (like Keith's muses have inspired him).
Keith says his recent inspiration to offer artists the opportunity to showcase their artwork at The Hamilton Gallery ~ Online.com Blog, free of charge helps to put into motion the vision brought forth in his online book series Nature ~ IQ: Let’s Survive, Not Die! Over a freely accessible and affordable medium like the internet, a larger audience of people can experience, view and read a person’s particular style of artwork. Many artists, Keith included can get published at a relatively moderate cost today; however, many artists are not promoted and distributed to the point of where their creations can be viewed and/or read by others on a large scale. Keith explains many artists are not as concerned with getting rich or being famous, but rather if their work, their creations are being widely viewed and/or read, shared and enjoyed by others. Keith’s heartfelt hope, his vision in forming a collaborative of the best artists in the world, is that they widely get more recognition, distribution and readership. Thus fulfilling the mission set forth by Keith's artwork and the ultimate purpose within the act of creating art, is it to be used for the everlasting benefit of all humanity.
Nothing illustrates this process better then the creativity inspired by Keith's most influential muse RLF and her heroic day to day struggle with the effects of MS.
The Muse Series for MS Research
(RLF: Images with Words) -
http://www.keithalanhamilton.com/blog/?p=793
A portion of the proceeds from this series of image with words is being donated to the RLF: The Muse Fund for MS Research:
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?pg=fund&fr_id=7540&pxfid=400707 , the American Diabetes Association and to Bipolar/Depression/Autism associations to help support promising research into the cause, treatment, and management of these conditions. The true act of creating art is it to be used for the everlasting benefit of all humanity. All this being brought forth from the inspiration provided by another human being; in like manner, a portion of the proceeds from everything sold at Keith's Art Store is donated to various causes.
Keith Alan Hamilton.com Blog : http://www.keithalanhamilton.com/blog/
The Hamilton Gallery ~
Online.com Blog:
http://www.thehamiltongalleryonline.com/blog/
Please Support My Vision $$$$$ !
Kimberly Burnham, Ph.D.
Kimberly Burnham, PhD
A published author, Kimberly Burnham, PhD (Integrative Medicine) is an alternative medicine specialist focused on supporting people with Parkinson's disease, Huntington's ataxia, cerebral palsy, seizure disorders, macular degeneration and other brain related issues. Her book, Parkinson's Alternatives is widely available. September, 2014, she presented on alternative medicine approaches to back and hip pain in Parkinson's disease at the Spokane Pain Conference. Kimberly is considered a world authority on Parkinson's disease treatments from the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. She offers natural approaches to eliminate Parkinson's and nervous system symptoms. Her publications empower both people with brain disorders and those who love and care about them.
Kimberly is also a poet and contributes monthly to a book series by Inner Child Press entitled, The Year of The Poet from the Poetry Posse. In 2013 Kimberly bicycled over 3000 miles from Seattle to Washington, DC on the Hazon Cross USA bicycle ride in support of sustainable agriculture and food justice. She is currently working on a book of poetry about the adventure, The Journey Home, which will be published with the Creating Calm Network Publishing Group. An active social media expert, she is happy to connect on LinkedIn and elsewhere. She lives in Spokane, Washington.
With her partner, Elizabeth W. Goldstein and Ann White, Kimberly is editing an anthology published Fall, 2014: Music, Carrier of Intention in 49 Jewish Prayers. Her essay focuses on her connection to the land and the natural environment. It looks at the song Adamah v'Shamayim (earth and sky).
Personal Thoughts
One of my favorite sayings is from Japan, where I lived for several years working as a photographer and teaching English. "There are many ways to get to the top of Mount Fuji." I look around myself and I see the diversity—the gift in being able to chose what to wear in the morning, who to talk to and learn from, what to listen to and see, how to be creative and contribute, and who to socialize with and enjoy this amazing world.
And I am reminded of a quote from Marshal Rosenberg, the developer of Non-Violent Communication who said, there is enough love and land for all of us but not if only a particular piece of land will do. He talks about how wars and fighting occur when two different people or groups claim one particular piece of land. There is enough land but two people can't occupy the same space. Physics teaches us that two particles, cells, or bodies can't occupy the same space but there is space enough, air enough, water enough if we are able to see the abundance around us.
Hillel in one of his most famous quotes found in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) said, "If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?" I ask myself these questions and do as much as I can today for myself and others. And I am grateful for the ability to see and hear and feel; for the ability to think and speak and write; and for the will to express and share myself out into the world; for this is how I can know who I am.
a Q & A with Kimberly
What gets you up in the morning?
I have very creative work available to me. It doesn't always pay that much but I have such amazing opportunities to work with people and share my ideas through my writing, speaking and poetry as well as the hands-on and coaching work.
How long have you been a poet?
Even five years ago I would not have called myself a poet. Today I have poems published in nearly 20 books. Most are available through Inner Child Press.com and on Amazon. I submitted a poem to Hot Summer Nights in 2012 and feel so grateful to Bill Peters and Janet Caldwell and the whole Poetry Posse at Inner Child Press for the opportunities that one door opened for me. As part of the Poetry Posse, I have published three poems a month this year and look forward to further crafting my art and developing my skills in poetry in 2015. Our book series, The Year of the Poet, has given me the chance to craft my words on a particular topic each month. It is a huge creative outlet for me.
Do you have a favorite poem?
It is not so much a favorite poem as a topic. In the March volume of The Year of the Poet, I wrote a series of poems about the future. Specifically, I asked people—friends and strangers to give me a list of things they wanted to have, do or be in the future and I wrote each list into a poem. Each poem was set in the future—a future where their desires had already been fulfilled. The experience of writing the poems and the response I got from the people who shared their hopes and dreams with me was transformative. Every so often I breathe new life into the project and write a few more.
You were also in World Healing ~ World Peace Volume II: a poetry anthology by Inner Child Press (Mar 28, 2014). How was that for you?
Yes, I loved being in World Healing - World Peace. I was invited to be on several radio shows as a result of my participation in that book. The most wonderful thing was being a part of something much greater than me. The book is still making its way out into the world but already it is impacting people. When a father reads the poetry to his children, it bonds them in a stronger way. When a mother reads a poem that resonates with her it gives her a brighter hope for her children and the poets are making this world a more peaceful place. When a teacher read a poem to her students and then asks them write the words that express their feelings about world healing or world peace, the children learn that someone values what they think. They go on to find those people who are like them in some way. When a politician looks away from all the bad news in the world and reads a poem written with the intention of healing the world, they become more able to see the ways they can use their power and influence for good.
What else have you been doing lately that contributes to healing and peace?
Recently, I took a course in Playback Theatre. Developed by Jonathan Fox in the 70's, Playback Theatre is a form of improvisation. In Playback, six or so actors, conductors and musicians ask audience members to tell a true story, an experience from their lives and then they play it back or improvise the story. One of the things I learned from our teacher, Penny Clayton is the importance of valuing and respecting the storyteller. We all have stories that we want to share and some that we don't want to share but it takes courage to tell your story when you know someone if really listening. The actors listen to the story with an ear for how we will honor the storyteller, how will we portray their story in such a way that they feel heard and seen and transformed in some way. Up until now I have always been on the storyteller's side, telling my story and watching it played back. Now I know the attention and consciousness that goes into holding and replaying someone else's story. I think the class made me a more compassionate listener in all aspects of my life.
How are you using your new found listening skills?
I am confident in my ability to help people with chronic pain, vision issues and brain related dysfunction. I am good at what I do, how I use my hands to gently shift how a muscle moves or how a joint works. I can use my words for good by talking to a person and find those subconscious layers where an energetic shift, a visualization or guided meditation can make all the difference but lately I have been thinking a lot about storytelling and how we each express ourselves. My hands and words can do a better job, if I can see and hear what is beyond the words and the feelings—what is at the core or root of what is going on or figure out what small shift will make all the difference.
You are known as The Nerve Whisperer. Why is that?
You have probably heard of the horse whisperer or the dog whisperer. What are they doing? They are using hand signals and voice commands to elicit better behavior from the horse or the dog. I use my hands—hands-on therapies and coaching, guided visualization and my writing to elicit better function from my client's nervous system. The brain and nervous system is fascinating and gone are the days when the medical system believes that our brain can't recover. I see things on a regular basis that 10 to 20 years ago would have been considered impossible. I see people improve after a serious car accident and spinal cord injury or after a diagnosis of macular degeneration or Parkinson's. We are each capable of so much healing. I help that happen.
What do you find rewarding about working with people with brain related issues?
Our brains are the place where we process a lot of our experience of the world. I grew my interest in brain work when I was working on my PhD in Integrative Medicine. My dissertation focused on using manual therapies like CranioSacral Therapy, acupressure, Osteopathic manual medicine and Integrative Manual Therapy to eliminate the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. By changing, encouraging better fluid flow, balancing joints or intersections in the body, I can help people to find a richer, more vibrant experience of life.
It seems magical that our brains, our pain, our clarity of mind can change through paying attention to the world around us. For example, the next time you walk somewhere or drive, notice everything that you see that is green. Notice all the shades of green around you. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, green is the color of liver and gallbladder health, a dissipater of anger and a way to increase muscle health. Find what changes when you notice the green in your clothes, in another person's eyes, or in a street light.
Can you give an example of how this worked with a particular person?
A couple of years ago I was working with a 79 year old woman with vision issues. I worked with her hands-on with techniques like cranial therapy, myofascial release, acupressure, integrative manual therapy, and Matrix Energetics. She would come back every few weeks and tell me how she saw the world. "This week I went to Elizabeth Park and the roses seem more colorful than last year." "I was looking at the painting we talked about and I noticed the texture of the fabric in more detail." She would come to me each time with something new she had notice about her world. One day, a few months before she turned 80, she said, "About the only thing on my bucket list is publishing a book. I have a book I wrote 20 years ago that I would love to get into print." With my background in writing and publishing, I said, "I can help you with that." So, we took her typed, literally typed on a typewriter manuscript, scanned it into a digital form, corrected all the scanning errors, and then edited it and within a few weeks I had it up on Amazon as an eBook. Her friends, many of whom are also in their 80s wanted copies so within a year we had found a few more corrections and I created a cover and printed for her. Being able to do that for her has brought me such joy. It is almost like magic, helping her see and see one of her dreams come true. You can find her book on Amazon: Love Among the Gods: Myths of Relationships by Shirley Kiefer.
continued . . . .Do you publish other people's work now?
Yes, I co-own the Creating Calm Network Publishing Group with Ann White. The next book we will publish is Music, Carrier of Intention in 49 Jewish Prayers, which is a beautiful book with 40 or so authors who have shared their hearts. Each story is about a particular Jewish prayer and what it means to the author. It is not just about the songs or prayers, it is about relationships and the intention that we bring to our connection with something greater than ourselves. There is huge diversity in this book in terms of belief systems, daily life, age, perception of the world, culture and musical ability. What has been so wonderful is to catch a glimpse in to what is often very personal for people—how they think about God and where they find strength and comfort. There is a word in Hebrew, Tikkun Olam, which means to heal the world. The book is about those places where our lives were broken or our world was damaged and how we each found our way to a place with more joy, more creativity, and more comfort.
What are some of the other experiences that have impacted your view of peace and comfort?
I was working in Tel Aviv, Israel on September 11, 2001. I was in a clinic working with children with autism and cerebral palsy, with a Rabbi with cancer tired of fighting terror with terror and with an injured solder, too young to be seeing what she was seeing. I was there working when someone opened the door and said, there has been a bombing in New York. I couldn't even imagine the devastation until I saw the images on the TV that night. My friends and family worried for me there in the Middle East but I believe: people, who feel good, make better choices for themselves and their family and their community. It is how I, one person, can make a difference in the world. So whether it is through my healing work, using my hands to decrease pain or through my spoken words to gently instill hope or a brighter perspective on the world or through health coaching or consulting focused on making changes in the way one person's life flows, that is how I can change the world and make it a more joyful and peaceful place.
You are also involved with a radio network, right?
Yes, and I am on the board of the Global Conservation Group, which supports both human rights and animal rights. We try to shine a light on organizations that are contributing to peace and supporting freedom for all people and compassion and caring for animals (wild animals, pets, and farm animals).
At the Creating Calm Network Broadcast Group, we help get the message of organizations—like the Global Conservation Group—out to a broader audience. At CCN we have educational and entertaining shows on how to live great lives, how to find fulfillment, dream bigger dreams and use your skills creatively. You can find one of my show series at http://ParkinsonsAlternatives.CreatingCalmNetwork.com
Ann White creates these great graphic for each of the shows and I make sure that readers, listeners and people active on a variety of social media networks know about the shows, like The Grammar of Grief with Uma Girish in Chicago or Healing from Harmony Hall and New Directions with Frances Micklem in Kilkenny, Ireland. I have learned so much about how to get your message out through my work with Creating Calm. On a daily basis, I post my work and the work of other on Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, WeHeartIt, Tumblr, YouTube, ISSUU' magazine platform, SlideShare, Behance and more. At age 57 I am having so much fun networking online.
That said what is your biggest goal?
I want to change the face of brain health. There is a saying, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." But do you know the second part of the saying? ... "The fastest way to become an old dog ... Stop learning new tricks." We can each learn better ways to communicate, find fulfillment and contribute to our community. I use my hands (manual therapy and alternative medicine), words (coaching, visualization, and writing) and my heart to make this place we all call home a little bit better.
How can someone join you in this work or work with you?
I live in Spokane, Washington and would love to work with anyone here in my office at New Moon Family Wellness, which is an acupuncture clinic run by my friend and acupuncturist, Rebekah Giangreco. By the way, Rebekah is also a contributor to Music, Carrier of Intention in 49 Jewish Prayers.
I do health coaching and guided visualization over the phone, skype, Google hangouts, etc and can be reached at 860-221-8510. Note that it is an East Coast number but I live in the West, so I am on Pacific Standard Time.
I am also expanding my social media platform building, anthology creating and publishing business. One of the things, CreatingCalmNetworkPublishingGroup.com offers is to create an anthology for schools, universities, companies or organizations with a bigger story to tell. We help set up a strong social media platform from which to launch the book and business.
Are there any closing remarks for your readers?
Learn something new. There is an easy relaxing exercise that improves your brain health. Pick up an item. Describe it in sensory detail—meaning describe what you see, feel, hear, taste and smell. You can describe it in your mind or call someone and tell them over the phone or in person describe the item to someone. Without telling me what it is, just the texture, color, design, temperature, etc, would I recognize the item if I can to your house? Would I say, "Oh this is the item you described to me." Do this exercise about 30 minutes before going to be in order to sleep better and wake up ready to meet the challenges and opportunities of your day.
Join me on LinkedIn to see what I am doing. It is the social media platform where I am the most active and post blogs regularly. As always, I want to thank the people at Inner Child Press, my fellow Poetry Posse members, Janet Caldwell and someone it is such a pleasure to call a friend, William S. Peters. Thank you.
Wishing you all great brain health and remarkable lives, Kimberly.
Kimberly Burnham, PhD
Integrative Medicine,
The Nerve Whisperer
for appointments and questions
(860)221-8510
Skype,LinkedIn, FB, TW, PinT, Google+
as kimberlyburnham
Clinical consultations, lectures, self-care
Creating Calm Publishing Health
www.
Peter C. Rogers, Ph.D
Dr. Peter C. Rogers is a Light-Worker, a Certified Professional Life Coach, Motivational Speaker, Minister of Metaphysics and Spiritual Counselor. He is also the author of Ultimate Truth: Book I, Universal Truth: Thinking outside the Box: Book II, and his critically acclaimed book, 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness: A Conclusive Synopsis on Spiritual Principles. Dr. Rogers is a skilled lecturer and teacher of The Master Key System which is an ancient system of manifestation formulated by Charles F. Haanel over one hundred years ago. He has served as a columnist for the Infinite Field magazine as well The Inner Child Magazine. He has been a guest on countless radio shows to present his unique brand of philosophy. In 2006, he formed a Non-Profit organization called P.E.L.S.A to assist people in overcoming addiction. In 2010, Dr. Rogers founded his spiritual counseling practice TRUTH Dynamics to help assist people in their quest for self-actualization. Dr. Rogers has been a student of Spirituality and Metaphysics for the past 25 years and in 2009, he received a Doctorate of Divinity in Spiritual Counseling as well as a Doctorate of Philosophy in Metaphysics from The University of Metaphysical Sciences. He currently resides in Long Beach California where he continues to devote his time and energy writing, lecturing and mentoring others on their spiritual journey toward self-realization.
Personal Thoughts
Life has been very rewarding for me. I have always embraced the teachings of life in whatever form they are presented. In some cases life has bestowed great prizes upon me, while in others I’ve had to pay great spiritual prices. I often have difficulty determining which of these have better served me. I agree wholeheartedly with being the “sum total of all my life experiences” because each experience has shaped me into a more useful and divine instrument to others. I’ve discovered that my purpose is to serve humanity. All my seemingly difficult lessons have fashioned me into a unique vessel in which to carry others to the shores of their truth. But as the saying goes, I can only lead you to the well, I cannot make you drink. Only thirst can do that. I know my thirst for truth cannot be satiated by another’s indulgence. Only I can quench my thirst for knowledge and I quench that thirst by seeking my truth. And I have continued to do just that for the past twenty plus years. Today, as a Life Coach, I help others find their own truth by helping them overcome debilitating fear, limiting thought patterns, and faulty programming. Through my experience, and continued enlightenment, I’m better able to inspire and motivate others to discover their own passion and to pursue their inner greatness through the practice of spiritual disciplines. I expound on these disciplines in my latest book 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness: A Conclusive Synopsis on Spiritual Principles which is currently in post-production.
a Q & A with Dr. Peter
Why do you do what you do?
It’s my purpose and it always has been. It just took me a great deal of pain, experience and resistance to finally come into my gifts.
How long have you been a Life Coach?
I completed my Life Coaching certification from Fowler Wainwright International in 2012. Shortly thereafter, I started working with clients. Prior to that, I served as a Mentor and a Sponsor to individuals in the recovery process my many years.
When did you first start writing?
Aside from love letters as a kid…? Haha. The very first thing I wrote for publication was an article for a local recovery newsletter in 2005. I published my first book, Ultimate Truth: Book I in 2009 and followed that up with, Universal Truth: Thinking outside the Box: Book II in 2011. Shortly after that, I started writing a monthly column for The Infinite Field Magazine then I became a monthly contributor to Innerchild Magazine. I recently completed work on my 3rd book 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness: A Conclusive Synopsis on Spiritual Principles.
What made you want to be a writer?
Writing serves as an instrument and a conduit for me. It allows me to convey my thoughts and inspirations. I have a huge respect for the power of words because I understand how energy is expressed through certain mediums. If you really think about it, words are symbols or energetic expressions and the right sequence of words have a profound energetic effect.
Why is helping people so important to you?
I believe we have to pay it forward. My experience serves as an example of what Divine Intelligence can do when we apply ourselves and practice spiritual principles. Overcoming the “mess” I created for myself now serves as a “message” to others. I believe it’s my responsibility to help others as we all know “where much is given, much is required.”
Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?
Ideally, I see myself working with people all over the world as an international Life Coach. I see myself speaking and lecturing to huge crowds of people seeking higher consciousness. I see myself as being a New York Times best-selling author with millions of books sold in multiple countries. I see myself with ten more years of enlightenment and ten more years of learning experience to offer. But more importantly, I see myself as being that much more evolved.
Who are some of your greatest inspirations?
Well, that’s an interesting question. I don’t really have any one particular person or persons that are my greatest inspirations. I will say that I’ve been inspired along the way by some of the great writers of the early 1900s like, Charles Haanel, Robert Collier, Wallace Wattles, and Napoleon Hill all which spoke about the power of the mind.
What makes your approach so unique?
I don’t consider my approach unique by any sense of the word. I think my approach to assisting people on their spiritual journey is unique to each individual which makes it unique in itself. Every person is different which means my approach has to be different. As far as my writing is concerned, there is nothing unique about what I put forth. I’m simply doing my part to reach those among us who have not yet been introduced to metaphysical concepts.
Why do you think it’s so important to work on ourselves?
To work on ourselves means we’re growing. In doing so, we become better vehicles for the Universe to work through us. It’s very difficult for the light to shine through if it’s clouded by misinformation, false conditioning, and faulty programming. In order to become clear conduits of spirit, I believe we have to strip away all the years of fear based conditioning.
What has been your greatest accomplishment thus far?
I would have to say choosing the path I’m on right now. Prior to my enlightenment, I lived a life of chaos and fear. As a result, I always had to experience the harsher lessons in life. I didn’t realize how I was attracting the lessons that would later lead to my awakening. So my greatest accomplishment thus far has been taking the “Red” pill of enlightenment offered by Morpheus in the Matrix.
When can we expect to see your latest book; 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness in stores?
That’s a very good question. Currently, the book is being reviewed by several literary agencies. When the book gets picked up for representation will determine how quickly it can be sold to a publishing house for distribution. Let’s hope that will be soon. However, one can never put a time frame on how quickly the publishing world acts.
What advice would you give to someone who is seeking to raise their consciousness?
Change your thoughts. Period! If you can change your thoughts, you can change your life.
What else can we expect from you in the near future?
Well quite naturally as a writer I will continue to write. I just collaborated with several writers and mentors on a book called “Masterminds of Mentoring and Human Motivation” which is currently in production. My next book: “For Pete’s Sake: A Journey of Spiritual Liberation,” will chronicle my entire life experience. But further down the line once 100 Disciplines to Higher Consciousness is published, I plan to start a curriculum where I can actually set-up and teach workshops based on the 100 disciplines to help people attain higher consciousness.
How can someone interested in buying your books, scheduling you for speaking engagements, or setting up one-on-one life coaching sessions get in touch with you?
My website is www.drpeterrogers.com or www.ultimatetruthbooks.com. My contact information is listed under the “Contact” tab. You can click on the “Order” tab to purchase books. Anyone interested in Life Coaching sessions can click on the “Counseling Services” tab or email me at drpeterrogers1@gmail.com. I can also be reached directly at 323-270-7737.
Are there any closing remarks for your readers?
I think I’ve already said enough. Haha. I really appreciate the opportunity to be of service and to give back what was so freely given to me. I’m working on growing my readership and my platform so I invite anyone to join me by visiting my Facebook page @ Peter C Rogers Phd. As always, I want to thank the staff at Inner Child, Janet Caldwell and my good friend and brother Bill.
Peace and Blessings.
Dr. Peter
hülya n. yılmaz
hülya n. yılmaz was born in Afyon, Turkey, December 14th 1955 as Naciye Hülya Yılmaz. Before she turned one, her family first moved to Istanbul, the country’s largest city, then to Hannover, Germany and soon after to Ankara, the Turkish capital. Her childhood and her early youth were a flawless happiness for her. She remembers with special fondness the stories of chocolate bars and cake slices adoring elderly would rush to buy and offer her, while her family would be enjoying a Sunday afternoon German tradition (coffee and cake at the many cafes in various cities of Germany.) Not only in 1958, as the photograph documents but also during several other times later. After her initial visit to Sinop, the hometown of her mother and multiple maternal generations, she connected to that Turkish land, however, to such extent that she declared it her adopted place of birth about thirty-five years ago. (She doesn’t have the official documents as of yet but is working on attaining them with relentless determination.) If there is a physical space where she hits home, she believes, Sinop is it.
hülya’s early schooling took place in Ankara, which became the main area of residence for her parents. She completed her primary education in Ankara’s state schools; Kavaklıdere İlkokulu (elementary), Mimar Kemal Ortaokulu (middle) and Kız Lisesi (high) – on the Principal’s Honor Lists both in middle and high schools. Her higher education interest took her to Hacettepe Üniversitesi (a major state university) where she earned her B.A. and M.A. in Humanities with special concentration on German language and literature. During her graduate studies, she worked as the assistant of a visiting professor from Germany, presenting his lectures for M.A. and Ph.D. students in philosophy through simultaneous translations into Turkish. She also earned a teaching assistantship during the same time period and taught various courses in her field while working toward her M.A. degree.
While in middle school, hülya n. yılmaz had already caught the passion for creative writing – if not a few years before. From her early efforts to be a writer, only a modest number of entries came about: a few poems and a short story appeared in Resimli Roman (in English, An Illustrious Novel), a popular magazine of a considerable lifespan. The hope box of her mother, however, had much more to say when her written work was considered, including her extensive (unpublished) reviews and critiques of classical music performances by the Cumhurbaşkanlığı Senfoni Orkestrası, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra, key theatrical plays in the area and foreign films. Her first love and she had inspired one another for this hobby as their routine pass-time activity and were exchanging their notebooks with analytical criticism in mind. Unfortunately, at a later stage in her life, she would destroy all these writings in a rash decision when their parents’ home was about to welcome her father’s new wife – whom she began to adore as soon as she met her and continues to this day to love and respect her strongly.
hülya n. yılmaz’ mother was the most eager and convinced fan of the power of expression in her written word. Back then, when people used to send each other postcards or small notes for the holidays, she was writing them for her mother – sometimes adding a new poem for the particular occasion. Those close family, relative and friend circles also knew her passion for the reading and writing of the literary text. All along, her mother would insist that she should gather her fast growing collection of short prose and poetic experiments in binders with the conviction they would all be published at sometime in her daughter’s life. She would have been devastated, had she lived to see her daughter destroying all.
continued . . . .continued . . .
When in high school, hülya’s parents left for Germany for one year for her father to pursue his internationally sponsored research project. She decided to stay back in Turkey in order not to risk any loss of her study years due to the clash between both governments’ school systems. She enrolled in Erenköy Kız Lisesi, an all-girl boarding school – one of the most scholarly demanding educational institutions in Istanbul at the time. During that year, feeling desperately homesick and regretting her decision not to join her parents, she managed to flourish in her literature course that included Ottoman Turkish poetry studies and in her art class, for which she had selected painting as her focus. Her school-end art work ended up decorating one of the walls at the main entry to the school. As for her science classes – also a requirement with no acceptable excuses, she passed them with painstakingly mediocre grades at best.
Her college study interests were the fields of journalism, archeology and language and literature. A large number of relatives gave her and her parents the back then only ruling advice: ‘A teacher doesn’t have to travel for her job. Let her become one. What will happen, when she has her own family and is a journalist or an archeologist?’ So, hülya n. yılmaz, not being able to stand against a multitude of authoritative recommendations, took the academic road of the third option on her contemplations. Her early acquisition of German enabled her still a different experience, however: a simultaneous translator. In fact, her hands-on practice in the graduate seminars of that visiting philosophy professor from Germany almost changed her professional path. To the point that she began to indulge herself in formally applying to a simultaneous translator’s position for the Turkish Parliament. This opportunity had arrived at her feet through insistence by her second fiancee who was convinced she was the ideal candidate for the job. The idea remained as a most exciting “what if…”.
While still in her university studies, hülya n. yılmaz was hired as an instructor of German for the Goethe Institute branch in Ankara, Turkey. She taught her classes in the evenings with the full support of her bosses, thus her schoolwork or her concentration needs didn’t suffer at all. Her intense involvement with languages and literatures took her also to one of the independent theatre companies in Ankara, Turkey (in the Tunus Caddesi district). For a Bertolt Brecht play, she translated a large number of the phenomenal poet’s lyrical work and prose poetry. Her simultaneous translations of academic content and her experience in literary translations – however scattered the occasions may have been, prepared her at a very young age for what she is able to offer today.
After completing her undergraduate studies, hülya n. yılmaz began to pursue her Master’s degree and as a fresh graduate taught courses in German at her own university. At the end of her Master’s Studies – while consulting her potential doctoral professor, she met her then-husband and left with him for the United States. Their destination was The University of Michigan and it is at that university where she earned her Ph.D. degree – all along teaching full time full classes on her own. Her only child is an Ann Arborite who was born during the last leg of her doctoral studies. That child now is herself a mother and the core life source for hülya n. yılmaz – as she has always been and will continue to be.
hülya n. yılmaz had her share of life’s turbulences and cruel shifts and blissful gifts. Having arrived from where she exists now, she views herself as a truly content being. Her extensive academic career has been anything but an easy ride, as she has always prioritized her family and was, for their sake, never “on the market” – the basic requirement of professional development in academia, at least in the United States. She has no regrets as far as all her decisions or changes of decisions for the best being of her daughter. None whatsoever. Never had any.
Near her family but living on her own now, hülya n. yılmaz fills and fulfills her every day with a large variety of activities requiring intense mental concentration, all of which are about what she loves doing the most: teaching, reading and writing. Recently, freelance editing joined this list of her demanding undertakings. She continues to teach full-time in her areas of specialty, German, Comparative Literature and Turkish studies – with teaching having been a lifetime commitment for her. As were she to have only a day more to live, she works non-stop to meet all her responsibilities stretching those 24 hours with immense determination. In her weekly blog (“Sunday Reflections”), she posts her own poems, friends’ works, related announcements and articles dearest to her heart, especially, violence against world’s women and children. While she herself has been fortunate to have never encountered any brutal acts of her concern for the others, she pains every time she finds out news on the violation of women and children in a growing number of regions across the globe. For her blog posts, when of non-fiction nature, hülya n. yılmaz lays serious emphasis on research. Whenever she can’t deliver a text wrapped in a decent background study, she prefers to bring its significant content to the attention of her guests, readers, visitors and followers in the form of a poem. For she strongly believes in the vitality of getting the facts down before making public anything of critical context and always finds herself wishing that more people would resort to such preference.
An autobiographical novel, For the Sake of a Necklace, is what hülya n. yılmaz has situated itself in the depth of her heart as her eventual large writing project. She has the fragments of the work; in fact a good number of fragments, which she hopes to complete into a sensible combination someday soon. Perhaps after retirement, she concludes whenever optimistic. Long before she retires, though, she dreams of completing her second book. She has not yet narrowed it down to another poetry collection, like Trance – her debut publication of poems in English, German and Turkish and her own English translations. Her contemplations at the moment take her to a hybrid manuscript entailing short prose and poetry. “Letter Poems for the Beloved” is a possible title for the poetry section – were she to proceed with the genre-fusion, an insight she has been sharing on social media, especially on her blog and Facebook and getting positive feedback for it. Time, however, will have to tell, she concludes, with wheels turning fast in her head.
hülya n. yılmaz currently lives in the United States where she calls it home. She still fantasizes, however, one day to buy back her flat in Sinop, Turkey – in an apartment building hovering over the calmest part of the Turkish Black Sea. One she had inherited from her mother – of a long line of Sinopians, and had to sell along with another maternal inheritance in Ankara, Turkey following her divorce to overcome her dramatic financial setbacks of the time. It is that physical space she calls authentic home where she would like to live her remaining days, devoting her time to writing. Besides, it would mean a significant convenience to her heiress in her fulfillment of the final wish hülya n. yılmaz states in her Living Will after cremation. If she were, indeed, to be living there in her old age, that is; one thing she desires with a yearning for which she has neither an explanation nor any point for rationalization.
a Q & A with
Dr.hülya n. yılmaz
Inner Child Magazine : Who is Dr. hülya n. yılmaz
I am a Mother, Grandmother and Daughter. I am also an Educator, Author and Humanitarian.
ICM: Why do you write your name in all lower-case letters?
Many years back, it began as a silent reaction to individuals who kept criticizing me for not “selling” my name with its association to my professional title. During that time, I had ended up around people who were stressing their names in self-introductions, as if they were a gift to others. I chose and continue to choose not to let my name become something else than it is: it is a mere name. Period. Nothing to glorify.
ICM: You spell your name in all upper-case letters, however, when you use your academic title, don’t you?
Depending on the expectation of others, sometimes I do, and only when the particular situation calls for it incessantly: whenever there is a demand for my professional hat; whenever nothing else seems to do.
ICM: What is the most important lack in your life?A natural body of water to see every day I wake up.
ICM: How do you react to a bad review of your book?
As long as there is interest enough to read what I write, any review to me will be a gesture of attentive generosity.
ICM: You are a liberated woman. Have you ever envisioned yourself to have been born as a man?
In my early years in Turkey, I have done so. Those were my rebellious years, when everything seemed to be presented to men all around me without them making any effort to achieve what they were given. It was the ongoing unwritten law: No questions were asked! Now, that I have a working novel but also a short story on honor killings, I find myself going through my characters and character potentials with a far more refined mentality. It is a must for a writer, after all, to engage in her female as well as male story-carriers with the same intensity and sensitivity to represent them equally well and in accurate perimeters.
ICM: Will you be writing an autobiography?
I don’t think so and can’t imagine doing so. I have, however, conceived my working novel as autobiographical fiction, or – as it is also called, fictional autobiography. Constructing a novel in this hybrid genre is a strong desire of mine. Whether I will succeed in delivering such work, is a question that meets my serious doubts. There are not many successful writers of this genre. The one who fired this interest in me is Orhan Pamuk, the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature recipient. In fact, it is my research book chapter on his novel Snow that engaged me into entertaining the idea for this novelist sub-genre. Although, this Pamuk work didn’t receive the same attention the author’s far more controversially driven novels have – and Pamuk could even consider it an oversight, I still have to aim much lower. If I were to even write up a draft and leave it at that.
ICM: What was the name of your first typewriter?
Olivetti. But I liked typing on my Brother typewriter the best. What is more vivid in my memory is how we (my then-husband and I) indulged ourselves in spending a significant amount of money on a brand new model. I don’t remember the exact amount but it was quite pricey. And we were graduate students, having just arrived in the United States with two suitcases for each person, facing too many unknowns yet. My typewriter, however, had to be a state-of-the-art one.
ICM: Do you have certain rituals when you are writing?
No. Simply because I can’t afford any. I have to write whenever an opportunity presents itself to me. What I would like to be able to do is to reserve several hours every day for my reading and writing. With my full-time teaching responsibilities and freelance writing and editing services, thinking about a fixed writing schedule is an unattainable luxury to me at the moment.
ICM: Who are your favorite poets or writers?
I have too many to list but these come to mind without a second’s delay: Oğuz Özdeş and Nazım Hikmet (Turkish), Mary Oliver and Adrienne Rich (American) and Theodor Fontane and Bertolt Brecht (German). These poets and writers are among the few whose names will have their unique place in my memory as long as I get to keep my recollection box in full.
ICM: What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
In my view and according to my standards, I still am a beginning writer. I have, after all, just begun to publish. Although I have been accumulating my creative writings for a long time – with bits and pieces from my middle school years, I have not yet reviewed nor revised any to submit them for a publication consideration. Even so, I realize writing is quite the solitude-demanding commitment. The wonderful part of it all is that my family and friends don’t let me hide in my corner for too long. With their loving persistence in getting me out of my home, I don’t think I will need to worry about losing my sanity for years to come.
ICM: Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a book?
I have. For my latest short story, and for my envisioned novel. For the novel, I would have to see myself in it, since I have conceived it as a fictional autobiography.
ICM: How much impact does your childhood have on your writing?
Perhaps, too much. And it’s not only my childhood but rather my early and late youth, early adulthood and my recent past. I would like to gain some distance – an objective distance – between those influences and myself in order to begin to see my now and here through clearer lenses. Not in the sense of the self being the point of attention but rather in terms of recognizing, acknowledging and incorporating that self’s environments in relation and connection to others.
continued . . . .
ICM: What was the greatest thing you learned at school?
Compassion. From my elementary school teacher. Back then, in Turkey the one and the same teacher was teaching the same students through all five grades. I started first grade when I was six. More than five decades later, the beautiful face of Emine Hanım (Hanım is a respectful form of address in Turkish) is still in my mind showing me her contagious smile. In fact, my first indirect experience with the concept of dying was through the news of her sudden death.
ICM: Do you think what you do matters?
Yes, I do. I can’t recall where I heard the statement but it had an impact on me: “Everyone needs slow-release energy and something to stabilize their inner selves. Art does that […]. It's the solid stuff of life.” I am one of the countless people who are lucky to offer something beyond money, business, trends, competition and power struggle in and to our world. A reminder that life’s core matter is good, that it is solid, just like a book, a music composition or a visual arts piece.
ICM: Do you write every single day?
No. I have read and heard the claim from a large number of writers that it is a must to write every single day. I can’t, don’t and won’t spend time writing texts just for the sake of ‘regular writing’ what to me is going to be below the expectations of my potential readers. I feel that I am doing some of the real ones injustice already with my weekly blog posts: they are almost always unedited – due to lack of time on my part. But I am very fortunate because it seems I have earned the trust of my visitors, readers and followers as far as my writing ethics. To me, it is a serious responsibility to write for the sharing. Since I want to – at all times – assume my readers’ thoughts of what I write at any given moment, I censor myself from writing it out in the first place. Hence, I do not write every single day.
ICM: Do you have a day job as well?
Yes I do and a very demanding one at that: teaching university students. As for the work I do for my freelance editing business, it, too, is quite an unrelenting task. There is a major difference between the two, though: helping advanced writers improve their already established work, as opposed to standing by my students – physically, mentally and emotionally, every step of the way to guide them to a learning level that has been prescribed for them long ago – whether I teach content courses or the seemingly pure mechanical composition writing classes.
ICM: How did you come up with the title of your first book?
I lived through a state of trance immediately after I knew my poems were going to be published. There was an almost touchable transformation living inside and through me. When that time coincided with my one and only child’s pregnancy with her first baby, that state of being intensified for me beyond my capacity of any form of expression. “That” whatever has to be conceived, as it can’t be described. I knew then the title I had chosen was meant to be.
ICM: What are some ways in which you promote your work? Do you consider these to detract from your writing?
When compared to the expectations of our times, my promotional skills leave too much for desire. This lack on my behalf is, in largest part, due to my grave time limitations: I am, after all, not a full-time writer – at least not yet. I would love to be one, and the sooner the better but it is a mere fantasy of mine for the moment. When it comes to promoting my own work, I lag behind any effort with dramatic proportions. Even the pressure on me about (ideally speaking) having to promote my work, is a detraction for me from my writing – for which I have too little time to begin with.
ICM: Are there certain characters you would like to see in the novel you would like to complete and publish eventually, or is there a theme or an idea you have set your heart into?
All of the above! A short while ago, I have encountered a town in Turkey while researching for my female protagonist. My search took place only online. While living in Turkey, I had never heard of this town’s name, yet as soon as I started writing my short story, my main character took me there. This way, I also found out a rare phenomenon: Black Rose – one of that town’s landmarks. Halfeti has a unique history and I’d like to learn much more about it, in order to center at least a core section of my novel around it. The theme and the idea, then, will go hand in hand in harmonious union supporting my female and male protagonists. More details, when the novel is completed, printed and released.
ICM: What is the misconception that people have about poetry, the genre you have written in for your first book?
One conviction: they are ‘not trained to read poetry.’ The classical poetic forms, of course, have the greatest influence on the formation of this widespread opinion. My poems are all about life and its issues and beauties, ups and downs; they are about hopes, expectations, dealings with death and love. Not at all about the prescribed forms prescribed down for centuries within any school of classical poetry. Nor any demonstrations of them.
ICM: How do you feel about E-Books as opposed to print books and alternative versus conventional publishing?
It is a matter of preference for every reader. I support the availability of E-Books because I believe in making the reading process last. It doesn’t make a difference to me which format the reading materials are offered to everyone – as long as interest for reading prevails among all ages. My experience has been with conventional publishing and I, therefore, am passionately for it. I had, after all, the best of circumstances having been offered to me throughout the pre-publication, publication and post-publication steps.“I live in a state of
spiritual flux.
I believe in the permanence of the soul.”
– J.K. Rowling
Dr. hülya n. yılmaz
is a Professional Writes Services provider.
Download her Electronic Press Kit Here.
Web Site
Janet P. Caldwell
Janet wrote her first poems and short stories in an old diary where she noted her daily thoughts. She wrote whether suffering, joyful or hoping for peace in the world. She started this process at the tender age of Eight. This was long before journaling was in vogue.
Along with her thoughts, poetry and stories, she drew what she refers to as Hippie flowers. Janet still to this day embraces the Sixties and Seventies flower power symbol, of peace and love, which are a very important part of her consciousness.
Janet wrote her first book, in those unassuming diaries, never to be seen by the light of day due to an unfortunate house fire. This did not deter her drive. She then opted for a new batch of composition journals and filled everyone. In the early nineteen-eighties, Janet held a byline in a small newspaper in Denton, Texas while working full time, being a Mother and attending Night School.
Since the early days Janet has been published in newspapers, magazines and books globally. She also has enjoyed being the feature on numerous occasions, both in Magazines, Radio and on a plethora of Sites. She has gone on to publish three books. 5 degrees to separation 2003, Passages 2012 and her latest book Dancing Toward the Light . . . the journey continues 2013. All of her Books are available through Inner Child Press along with Fine Book Stores Globally. Janet P. Caldwell is also the Chief Operating Officer of Inner Child ltd.
what can i say about Janet P. Caldwell . . . well there is so much.
Inner Child formally began in 2007. We experienced novel and moderate growth from that time until 2011 when Janet officially came aboard. From that time ‘til now i have seen us grow by leaps and bounds. Janet embraced my vision and made it hers, and i am so humbled by her partnership, friendship and love. She truly is a gifted and magnificent soul and i love her dearly.
When i first met Janet in 2010, i was intrigued by her commitment to Poetry and people. It was at a Social web site named Parapsychic Science. At that time she was the Moderator for the Poetry Group there. When i joined the site i was posting my poetry and Janet was sharing just about everything i wrote. Somehow i knew i had a “Life Fan”. Later in the year, Janet joined us at our Ning Group of Inner Child. She had created a Poetry Contest of which i volunteered to become a sponsor and offer some of my books as a prize for the eventual winners. That went off well. After that Janet joined our administrative staff at Inner Child. This was all before the Publishing Company, the Magazine, the Newspaper, Web Sites and the growth of Inner Child Radio. Janet jumped right in and began to get her hands as dirty as mine so to speak.
As i was saying i was living in Utah. I lived there the majority of 2011 and i spoke with Janet just about every day from July on. Great times and conversations. During that year i started Inner Child Press in May offering services to the general public. As time went on Janet and i decided to have a Poetry Contest for Inner Child. We could not come up with a suitable theme that was agreeable for the Inner Child Vision, so we tabled that conversation. In September of 2011 it came to us to do a Contest based on World Healing ~ World Peace. History had been made. As Janet integration into my life became more and more profound and prolific, i found my self and Inner Child become even more service oriented. That is the Spirit of my Janet. In November of 2011 she flew in to my home and together we found ourselves traveling to Massachusetts to support Leslie ‘MizzFab” Ryan’s show along with Deon Ballard, Jeffrey A. Sanders and guests. This is where we both met Keith Alan Hamilton for the first time who has been a long standing friend. We recently toured Inner Child in Richmond Virginia where we communed with Siddartha Beth Pierce, Andrew Turman, Helene Ruiz and many talented and lovely souls.
Well, World Healing ~ World Peace 2012 was a grand success where we have published the three top contestants in the names of LauraSue Gutierrez, Elise Fee and Loretta Hardrick. we are now working still yet diligently with World Healing ~ World Peace 2014. Our collective focus this time is distribution. We will be distributing the literature of the Poets to The United Nations and The United States Congress and any one else who wishes to have a copy. We have been raising funds to support this effort since May of 2013.
During the year of 2013, Inner Child Press was honored to give Scholarship in the amount exceeding $18,000.00 of which $14,000.00 was because of Janet’s Contest “Tell me why you should be published”. This effort focused on the unpublished writer and their Poetry. There was a two tier award system where we published Chap Books for some and Full Publishings for others. This was all managed by way of Janet’s guidance. Let me tell you . . it was a lot of work.
Over the years of Janet’s watch, we initiated and accomplished many other things in the service of Humanity to include; Newspaper, Inner Child Magazine, the prolific Growth of Inner Child Radio, to include our Hour of Power morning show where we have shared for almost 2 years the teachings of Charles F. Haanel and The Master Key, the expansion of Inner Child Press, to include Anthologies, Contests and Scholarship to many wonderful Writers and Poets Globally who otherwise may not have the opportunity to get published. The journey has been magnificent thus far and i am truly excited about our future together, for she provides me with all the things i need to make this ‘Life Journey’ as rewarding as one would want it. . . .
. . . oh, did i say that i loved her . . . well i do as do many other souls across this planet of ours.
Thank you Janet
Love Always
bill
a few words from the family
I am probably going to say to you, my dear reader, many things you have already heard about Janet Caldwell. Her indomitable spirit, her ready words of kindness, her willingness to make time for you, her smile and all these things are true. What you may not know about Janet from what you have read is the state of her heart.
I met Janet through the Facebook poetic community. Even as I was finding my way through the maze of poets, beats and words, Janet repeatedly pulled me to gentle waters so I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I am not the only one that Janet has done and continues to do this for.
Gail Shazor
Remembering my journey reconnecting with my Soul Sister, Janet Caldwell, fills my heart with the warmth of a summer noons day. Janet termed herself the "Derailed Poet" when first she joined the Inner Child Family and I so identified with that. Her willingness to be open, vulnerable and honest about her life, her experiences, fears, and desire for growth were then and continue to be an inspiration.
Within a short time of her coming into the IC family Janet was serving the family and all of humanity with great love and her own flair. Often I wonder just how she manages to do all the wonderful things she does for Inner Child and humanity.
Janet is a life force and a light force for Inner Child. Always inspiring us, encouraging us, being real and being love. Her love and her service are shining examples of being an embodiment of love.
I am grateful to be her Soul Sister. I am grateful to share the journey with her especially during this time on this plane. I Love You Janet, I appreciate you and I cherish you. Keep BEing! You are perfect by design and I am infinitely blessed by your presence.~*~
Namaste
~ Regina
Ann
June 2014
Janet Caldwell is the embodiment of grace and compassion for humanity. She appeals to me as a raw and unpretentious soul who would take off her shoes and give them to someone in need. I met Janet through FaceBook and her writings. Her open honesty in baring her soul in her writing is inspirational and touches one at the heart level. Janet is among the strong and phenomenal women I call friend. I am blessed that our paths crossed and she has touched my life.
Teresa E. Gallion
Author of Contemplation in the High Desert
What Janet means to me
you see
Is more than what you
think it'd be
And Inner Child needs her too
To present poetic food to you
As far as this old world
would go
Janet rules it's
ebb and flow
Into the lives of all
she knows
Her work and Spirit
of this glows
What Janet means to me
you see
Is more than what you
think it'd be
lol!...but seriously
Sunbeams
Rose's thorn
Gentle breezes
New day's morn
Buried treasure
Canyon's span
No words measure
Peace Child's plan
I love you Janet P. Caldwell!
Christina Neal
Janet Caldwell.. Ah! I Know her well, she the Goose dat got my gander,.. who who I can tell has a Great Heart in which a Great Soul dwells . I remember she shot me once,...in the Poets BuTT... to get me oFF my wordless spell....I wrote 4 a while standing up... but enough..about sore butt tails... I met Janet long ago , tried to sale her a swatch watch dat hand no hands or leggs.......
she brought the pretty pink ones..I had no heart to tell her they had no batteries as well ... Congrats Janet (Who) Caldwell on your feature Love BleSSin's and the Batteries are in the mail..
Charles SeaBe Banks
Janet Caldwell is a light that shines bright. Her words of encouragement, help uplift her friends and fans. If one is struggling, she lends a helping hand. Though her amazing work reflects her soul, she always remains humble. Pride is not in her vocabulary, and yet, I'm proud she is my friend, my mentor, but most of all, she is my sister by choice... JRC
Starr Poetress
Knowing Janet Caldwell is to love her. Since the first time we've met on the internet she has showed support to me and everyone else in her circle. People like her are blessings to our literary community. Thanks for having such a golden heart...
Albert Carrasco
infinite the poet
I always had a strong belief that Altruism and Art are two main pillars for constituting the unique Human throughout history of Mankind. I had always a firm belief that the Mankind is one Family and the best among them are those who contribute the most to this Peaceful Family. The Personal Peace indeed has it magnificent reflection and influence on others, whether we recognize it or not. Whether we precept it or not, whether we admit it or not. I’m so humble and thankful for a priori, being able to precept all I have aforementioned and then recognize all that in a person of Janet Caldwell. I’m so grateful for being a part in this journey led by her. Janet is a Rose that perfumes our profane desert…
Thank you Janet Caldwell
Yours
Fahredin Shehu
Dear Janet,
Have you ever watched a water fall on a cloud-free morning, with the dew’s color soaked in the sun? That is you. A cascade of golden hair, blue sky-filled eyes, an unending smile. An uninhibited spirit with a dazzling aura radiating multihued harmony.
I had just discovered our Inner Child FaceBook group and from there, visited the corresponding webpage. Your picture was donning both sites, your soul shining through the frozen image. A stunning view. With your 2013 Essay and Poem Contest, you became real to me – through a tangible part of you, in the evening for the Inner Child Blog Radio announcement of the contest results. Your voice was soothing. Welcoming. Engaging. Laughter-rich. While on the air, you decided to read my essay submission. Listening to you accentuate my most vital thoughts on my text, designating it to a higher value was utmost gratifying. You knew me. From a mere page. Following that radio program, you offered me your friendship. And here I am...
I know I am not the only one. A friend, that is. Your modesty keeps your presence in the background. But your unique existential gift still embraces routinely everyone. We are all translated into sign-in, sign-out post-writers on electronic platforms – our only means of communication in view of our geographic realities. Your interaction with our group members, however, constitutes nothing of a distanced relation to us. With your attentive kindness, you seem to be eternally there and readily available to share your love, sense of peace and unity, and to lend a hand with anything and everything. The world then becomes a manageable entity after all, for the rest of us to invite in and share ourselves with because your all-encompassing hug has already given us the core foundation. You are a rarely found individual to whom I was immediately drawn for your remarkable physical beauty but then your inner being outshone your outer light. Thanks to you, I was introduced to a life-altering experience: my inclusion in the exceptional family, Inner Child Enterprises. You have thus enabled me a transformation inside to be determined to cater humanity with its sole nourishment: love.
I love you.
hülya
a.k.a. hülya n yılmaz (Ph.D.)
Easy going,loving supporting in the background, A positive energy always radiates when she is around. She uplifts and speaks Ill of no-one.I have found her to be one of the most truest of human beings that I have met in this ailing world. Janet is the best reminder in a long time that people are basically good. Janet reaches out and offers her hand to many, she encourage,without badgering or brow beating- She does it by example. I cannot count the many projects and causes Jan contributes to. But what I do know is that this woman is extraordinary and We hope that she is able to receive her Blessings; As I am asking for them to be bestowed upon her.She is missed when she's not around, and adds another depth to events when she is around. THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME GIVE TESTIMONY TO A GREAT PERSON ..JANET CALDWELL.
Momma O
Vicki Acquah
Janet is an inspiration and example not just to me... but to all ! Janet's pure heart and selfless soul are proof positive kind people do exist .Never having a blood sister befriending Janet has given me a sister .
Jill Delbridge
http://jilldelbridge.webs.com/
THE ARTIST LOUNGE
I look up to Janet. I listen to her too! I listen because she's not always talking, and so; when she does speak, I find myself often times attempting to glean meaning out of what it is she may; or may not be attempting to say to me. I think, like me; she is a natural cynic! Not because she's distrusting either, but because she's lived long enough to know, and believe that the hearts of men(women) come with agendas, ambitions, and the tomfoolery of all that! I've sat back and wondered to myself on many occasions just how innerchild does all of the wonderfully expressive things it, and Bill are able to do. The answer of course is Ms Janet Caldwell! She's given me the same tireless support time, and again. A true, sincere, honest, down to earth human being right from the start. She offered her time, and gave me her energy before I had any idea, or inkling about the literary hornswaggling, and goins ons! She is a friend, but more than that a very talented poet, and writer in her own right! I was gifted the opportunity to meet her in person on one occasion in Richmond Virginia, and this coming together; however brief, only managed to reinforce the thoughts, and the emotions that were already blossoming in me concerning Lady Janet. I truly love, and respect her as much more than a mere colleague. A big sister! I think of her like my much wiser, very giving Big sister. God's Peace Janet!!!
June Barfield
Author
Of life's two chief prizes, beauty and truth, I found the first in a loving heart, and the second in a laborer's hand. ~ Khalil Gibran
The above quote epitomizes the heart, mind and Soul that is Janet Caldwell. A
friend, sister, confidante, mentor, tireless worker and inspiration to me and the
world. Over the past year, I have been blessed to work with Janet and thankfully meet her in
person for an exquisite, interactive Poetry event in early 2014. Her tireless efforts to
support and publish numerous writers both in print and on the radio are nothing short of
miraculous.Inner Child Press is her child that continues to mature tenfold with each
passing second because of her nurturing Motherly attentiveness and devotion. It is an honor to
be part of the Inner Child family, to read her exemplary writings and to learn from her
infinite wisdom. I am profoundly proud to work with her. She is a talented, dedicated
Lady of
the finest fabric.
Siddartha Beth Pierce
Who is Janet Caldwell?
She is a fierce, passionate soul who writes so honestly that you always feel like she’s a chef of emotions and the paper is the hot grill she served it up on to you.
Janet is peaceful, caring, strong willed, sensitive, beautiful, discreet and intuitive. She somehow connects with you easily or not at all there is no in between for her.
She is incredibly loyal and protective and will go above and beyond what you asked for and will absolutely go to bat for anyone in her circle of close friends and family.
Yet public eye shy, she need not be heard if you’ve seen her and she’s satisfied with being heard or read without you ever seeing her Because she’s going to say exactly how she feels with or without an audience.
She is known for being a kindred soul, a sweetheart, a spiritual humanitarian and for no reason at all you can find her performing random acts of kindness for so many of us.
I’m honored to be amongst the ones who she calls friend and sister I also love the fact that in any battle she’d have my back and wouldn’t hesitate to come to my aid even if it were nothing more than a virtual hug and sharing a an uplifting thought….
SHE (Janet) has been here many times with a wisdom about her that is quite simply timeless …. Janet is one of those of people that once you make that connection with her you know you’ll be touched by her presence, love and friendship for a lifetime….
Happy Born Day SisStar! I love you!
Jamie Bond
i so love you and the fact that you are in my life . . . . 'nuff said !
Bill
Janet you have been a blessing with vibes that exudes positive energy. Contribution,support,encouragement seems to be you,and ofcourse your artistry,creative expression.
All of the above laced with sincere love have and continue to be an inspiration to all the artists that have been touched by you. Thank You,Much respect,love,wishing you continued peace and blessings.
Shareef Abdur - Rasheed
It is truly an honor to finally pay tribute to Janet Caldwell who is always giving without ever expecting to receive, and always acknowledging without seeking acknowledgement in return. For as long as I’ve been associated with the Inner Child family, Janet has always supported my work in one way or another. When she published her book “Dancing toward the Light,” I didn’t have to think twice when she approached me to write the forward. I knew immediately that I would graciously contribute to the work of such a gracious individual. For once, I was presented with an opportunity to reciprocate all of the kind gestures Janet has shown me over the last few years of working with her and the magazine. It goes without saying, that the many contributors could feel this entire July issue with nothing but praises of Janet’s spirit, evolution and contribution to planetary consciousness. It has truly been a pleasure working and interacting with Janet as an ongoing contributor to the Inner Child Magazine and I cherish the day I was asked to be instrumental in this tremendous contribution to us all. I honor you Janet, for you represent the true Inner Child which makes us all strive to become better people. This is yet another critical step in your dance toward the light that we all share. Thank you for gracing us with your presence in form.
I salute you.
Dr. Peter
I recall when I first met Janet. It was a few years ago, through an online community. I was very impressed with her kindness and mannerisms. This intrigued me to look deeper at her and what she was all about. She was always vivacious and friendly and we quickly became friends. This allowed me to read her poetry and prose that she shared prolifically on her website. We chatted about her works and mine and are common interests in poetry and writing. Soon I found that I had more in common with Janet than our last names. Janet absorbs knowledge quickly and as a writer I find her works invigorating and enchanting. She will truly capture your soul, and keep you wanting more of herself within the pages of this book.
Fawn E Caldwell
"Janet Caldwell's work is step after step in facing forward and living with courage. She is not afraid to say who she is, who she would like to be, who she sees around her.
With charm and aplomb, she tackles sex, love, friendship, and the interplanetary bonding of all souls."
Martina Reisz Newberry
JANET CALDWELL...
Just one down to earth lady
Always willing to help out
Never a negative word
Evokes love
Treats people with kindness & compassion
Caring
Absolutely personable
Loyal as a full moon that gives light to the night
Doing good 2 all & 4 all
Wants nothing but the best for everyone
Easy like a sunday morning
Loves bringing out the good in people
Life, laughter & loving...
much thanks for all you do.
todd smith aka thelyfepoet
Who else would it be if not Janet with the "P. Caldwell" to go with? I have had few times to interact with her via the social media , but never did she deny me a listening ear. She politely responded to my inquisitive messages.
She is a writer who lives what she writes. Her love for humanity is vivid in her words that call for peace. You can check her literary works online for a valid attestation. Never for once have I seen a comment of hers not symbolized by ''.
As a writer, I will remain eternally grateful to Janet P. Caldwell, being a beneficiary of Janet P. Caldwell Essay Contest underwritten by Inner Child Press. She was actively involved in informing all entrants of the competition about relevant details needed to achieve success.
Janet has touched lives beyond the boarders of her habitation. Right here in Africa, I hold her in high esteem due to her benevolence, humility, receptiveness, high intellectualism, and humanitarianism.
Kolade Olanrewaju Freedom
Lagos State, Nigeria.
Janet Caldwell is a real woman, a woman of awareness, power, and dedication. She represents the full body human being we all strive to be, the feminine, caring, nurturing, loving, but at the same time masculine, powerful, strong, unafraid to stand up for what she believes in. Janet has my favorite trait in a human being, a fire in her soul that she refuses to turn off no matter what happens, no matter what anyone says. She has always been incredibly supportive to me and just knowing she supports me give me the confidence only a real woman can give to a real man.
Justin Blackburn
author of Child Be Wild
http://www.innerchildpress.com/justin-blackburn.php
"Smile beautiful, your joy is contagious!"
SisStar Janet Caldwell special person came into my life. Make you smile love my angel. Heart made of Gold helps every one. style way she create make her Unique in my book her spirit with her writing make her that Phenomenal woman doing great things out here in this world today. Love you sis. sis Rosalind Cherry. Many blessings out to you always.
Rosalind Cherry
Janet is a mother, sister, friend, she is a grandmother, someone I can talk to.. She is a person that encourages me to be all those things that I want to be... She is a true source of joy and love that shine bright like the sun Janet is all that and more... I love you Janet much Love and many Blessings to you....
Alfreda Ghee
I met Janet through poetry groups and I am one of those who were lucky enough get to know her, to be inspired by her words, by her magic. Jane P. Caldwell is one those empowered women who makes her presence felt through her wonderful works. She is one who sparks inspiration to both the young and the old alike. She is a mother, a friend, a sister, and an idol rolled into one.
No mere words can perfectly describe how Janet’s words of positivity and encouragement make a difference in every person’s life. She is one of those whom I admire and to whom I am thankful for giving me endless opportunities to also share my talent to the world through my Inner Child Family.
Elizabeth Castillo
~*~When I see, hear or think of the person, "Janet Caldwell" I feel like smiling! My spiritual light Sistar, Buddy, and Friend of Inspiration. Janet has a free spirit you may find in a Joyful laugh, an embracing hug from miles away. She listens, her "Inner Child" lights up and you become penetrated with overwhelming compassion and Love. When we share our music we are like musical twins for the love of kindred songs. She's my "Free Bird" in her own wonderful Paradise! And she is Loved. She's been there with one on one conversations, given abundant time for each and everyone she encounters. Janet pulls you into her "Welcoming Heart of Gold". I Am Thankful for this Beautiful Spirit that has Graced her way into my life, and I appreciate the guidance she gave me also through encouraging words.
You may feel and understand the journeys of Janet Caldwell, in her Books: " 5 DEGREES OF SEPARATION"~" PASSAGES"~" AND "DANCING TOWARDS THE LIGHT"~*~ All which can be purchased at Inner Child Press Publishing...
Thank You Janet for Being My Friend"~*~
Shihi Venus 6/29/14
“When I was asked by Janet to write the forward to her next book of poetry, I was extremely honored as the humble feeling of responsibility set in for being appointed to accomplish such a noble endeavor. The reason being, this is an extraordinary human being, who is elegant at heart and yet absolutely real as she will reveal to you through words of poetry. She is absolutely original, and will deliver to you a raw, however pure spirit that will touch the very fabric of your soul. You’ll say I get her, and completely understand where she is coming from.
In poetic fashion, you’ll come to appreciate this is a woman who has undergone many challenges in life, but has chosen not to be a victim of her circumstances. She can talk about her lived experience, bring it down to its bare essence, and then show you the way to lift yourself beyond it all. In other words, Janet won’t allow you to dwell in the melancholy of life for long. You’ll be expected to get up, dust yourself off and then get on with the living. Janet’s words will not surrender to the life of the hopeless, no matter how bleak reality may appear at the moment.
If you are into poetry, ‘cause you know it will expose the experience of the writer as perceived and expressed by them through the ultimate art form, poetry. Well then, you will thrive upon and be inspired by the poetry of Janet Caldwell. Her destiny is to be one of the greats, I have no doubt.”
I often tell Janet my favorite poetry is still within the pages of her first book 5 Degrees to Separation. As the author of the first book in the Series Nature ~ IQ: Let’s Survive, Not Die! published in print by Inner Child Press, my poetic words are spiritually heartfelt, deep and powerful. Janet’s poetry in 5 Degrees to Separation, are some of the most real, raw, heartfelt and spiritually powerful words I have ever experienced and at times haunting like in the following poem from that book starting on page 94.
Keith Alan Hamilton
Author
Voices
The voices are at it again…
Telling me that
I have let so many lose
Never meaning to, or was it me at all?
Yes, now I see, you make sure of it
That expressive disapproving
Look from you, it screams
And screams into my brain
That I’ve done it again, again, again
I’ve made another person sorrowful (me, you)
I’m just not perfect
Can’t you accept this?
Don’t you see?
No, I guess not! There’s
The disappointment so evident
In your speech and eyes
Tell me now? Will you?
Leave too? God I wish that
You would, go ahead
And get it over with
Make it quick, I’m ready
Bleeding from your tongue knife
And hateful razor eyes
Starting to writhe now
In this common affliction
Delivered by you
Via me, a conduit for pain
My hemorrhaging symphony
It used to be so simple then
I was so good at gushing blood
Surviving the stains
Trade up trade down
Whatever eased the damage done
Another band-aid lover?
I can’t do that anymore
My veins are collapsing
Too much trouble found, anemic, blood
Loss gives way to madness
My heart can’t abound
Shhhh I’m sleeping now
Drip-drip-drip-gone-dead
As a dear, dear, friend and fellow artist, need I say more about Janet P. Caldwell?
Peace out ~
Keith Alan Hamilton
Fahredin Shehu
Ambassador of Peace
Champion of Humanity
Fahredin Shehu
Born in Rahovec, South East of Kosova, in 1972. graduated at Prishtina University, Oriental Studies.
Actively works on Calligraphy discovering new mediums and techniques for this specific for of plastic art.
Certified expert in Andragogy/ Capacity Building, Training delivery, Coaching and Mentoring, Facilitating etc.
In last ten years he operated as Independent Scientific Researcher in the field of World Spiritual Heritage and Sacral Esthetics.
Conundrum
We have seen you meandering on the grey side of shade
luxuriating almost delirious in a complete complacency,
and the Nymphs you were surrounded were tousling your hair-
wetted with the Whale sea odorous essence- opening the planetary
mind while you swing with heavy jewelry with the huge amber
lumps keeping eons of frozen lives of prehistorically insects and
nails of wretched Men just erected sapiens the ill-omened creatures.
You danced with them and we have seen it you played them
fool with almost sapio-sexual wit yet we never understood why
life has nothing to do with us, nor did we understand why we are
named and we are unable to name ourselves as we whish to set
the enigmas of all sorts as we wish to narrate almost journalistically
all feelings we are unable to interpret as the Dream of Nebuchadnezzar
As you may or may not be aware, Fahredin Shehu has been an integral part and contributor to Inner Child’s World Healing ~ World Peace efforts since we began back in 2011. This present effort, we were blessed to have him write the Foreword for the Books.
We at Inner Child and all of its expressions are so thankful to have such a Soul to be a part of our journey. His Love and Support is enriching and empowering.
Thank You Fahredin.
Blessings
the Inner Child Family
for more information about the memorabilia for
World Healing ~ World Peace
go to
Foreword
to the Members of One Body
“Human beings are all members of one body. They are created from the same essence. When one member is in pain, The others cannot rest. If you do not care about the pain of others, You do not deserve to be called a human being.”
Mosleh al-Din Saadi Shirazi
13th century Persian poet, from Shiraz
~ * ~
There are myriads of words Men had had uttered throughout its historical life journey leaving the rich legacy of conscience, endeavor, struggle to remain the essence of Unique and Uniqueness of Creation. The Word has killed Men and the Word is able to cure Men. The Word has burned many hearts and many evil hearts has burned the Word in Men’s History. Today as in every age again there are some people unable to remain passive bystanders for the wounds of the world.
This world as it was cursed by us, Men alone, to suffer in continuation of her existence. At least what they may do is screaming to tell the Truth, and the Truth is that the World today needs the Healing.
We have to always be amazed with the power of some individuals to bring together those very Human who scream to say the Truth, the Truth of their Capacity, the Truth of their Creativity, the Truth of their Justice and the Truth of their Human Potentials in an “Understandable Language”, that goes beyond simplicity, people who are set alone, themselves alone, to create a beautiful Word as manner of healing themselves, healing others and the World, who are scarifying their time, their creativity and their entire being.
This Anthology typically represents the Beauty created with sacrifice…the palette of colors and the nuances, sounds and the grandeur of pain, the hollow voices that comes from eternity going through the prism of nowadays turbulences, walking from country to country from continent to another to gather in one spot, in one aim as an arrow to hit the target of contemporary Men’s consciousness.
The reader of these lines shall be delighted to read the elements of the others’ beings the quintessence of these incredible Poets and Poetesses, without wanting to distinguish names since for me there is no the best Poets, there is always the best time and the best mood to have the splendor and joy in absorbing ones word, when the one is in tune with the being, with the breath, and with the momentum. They do as they want to say to us: “We have tamed our wildness, come and join us, come and rejoice, for Peace shall belong to all it is a right not a privilege.”
I’m indeed much honored to be the one who writes the open Word for this Anthology and express the gratitude to William S. Peters, Sr. who made it possible for me possible to be among these incredible words created by these incredible Humans, and my gratitude reaches the whiteness of the clouds. Only those who are able to build bridges among nations, religious background, ethnicities and genders; are able to understand the importance of this Noble effort. This is indeed a noble endeavor!!!
Thank you Inner Child Press
Fahredin Shehu
March, 2014
Prishtina Kosovo
Published Books :
- NUN- collection of mystical poems, 1996 author’s edition
- INVISIBLE PLURALITY- Poetical prose, 2000, author’s edition
- NEKTARINA- Novel, Transcendental Epic, 2004, publishing House, Rozafa Prishtinë- project of Ministry of Culture Sport and Youth of Kosova
- ELEMENTAL 99- Short poetical mystical stories, 2006, Center for positive thinking, Prishinë
- KUN- collection of transcendental lyrics, 2007, Publishing House LOGOS-A, Skopje, Macedonia
- DISMANTLE OF HATE, E-book 2010, Ronin Press, London,
- CRYSTALINE ECHOES, Poetry, Hard copy and e-book 2011, Corpos Editora- Porto, Portugal
- PLEROMA’S DEW, Poem, Hard copy and Kindle/ Amazon Edition, 2012 Inner Child Press, New York, USA
- EMERALD MACADAM, Essays, Columns, Opinions, Presentations, Academic papers on Culture, Art, Spirituality, 2012, Positive Initiative, Prishtina, Kosovo
- MULBERRIES, Novel, Hard copy, LOGOS-A- Skopje, Macedonia, 2012
- HONEYCOMB, Novel, Orbis NSH- Prizren, Kosovo, 2013
- THE PEN, Arhipelag, Poems,
- Belgrade, Serbia 2013
Participations:
· Exhibition of Calligraphies in Cairo, Egypt, 2004
· Sarajevo 44th Poetry Meeting, Sarajevo 2005
· Congress on 600th anniversary of the work of Abdurrahman Ibn Khaldun, Cairo, Egypt, 2006
· Meeting for the ethnic minority rights, European Parliament, Bruxelles, 2006
· Exhibition of paintings and calligraphies at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Cairo Egypt, 2007
· Participation on the Congress on 800th anniversary of a Persian Poet RUMI, organized by
· UNESCO/Albania and Saadi Shirazi Foundation, Tirana, Albania, 2008
· Participation at the International conference on Islam and Balkan- Identity and building bridges, Canakkale, Turkey, 2010
· Participation at 13th International Sheikh Tousi Conference, Qom, Teheran, Mashhad, Iran, 2010
· Participation at Conference on Regional Cooperation, Kopaonik Serbia, 2011
· Participation at International Poetry Festival Voix de la Mediterranee, Lodeve France, 2011
· Participation at Struga Poetry Events- 50th anniversary, Struga Macedonia, 2011
· Participation at Nisan Poetry Festival in Maghar, Galilee, Nazareth, Israel, 2012
· Fermoy Poetry Festival in Fermoy, Ireland, 2012- confirmed but not participated due to Kosovo limitation to travel through Europe.
· Literary Workshop and Festival, Valetta, Malta, August 2013,
Translated in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Roma, Swedish, Hebrew, Turkish, Arabic, Romanian, Persian, Mongolian, Chinese, Maltese, Sicilian, Frisian, Polish.
Ambassador of Poets to Albania by Poetas del Mundo, Santiago de Chile
Member of World Poets Association
Member- Publishing and Editing Committee- Kosovo Ministry for Culture, Youth and Sport.
Member at the Kosovo PEN Center
Gold Medal Award and Certificate, Axlepino Publishing, Philippines, 2013
Publishings : Papers and Magazines:
The Book of Poetry E-Book in Ronin press, London, UK
The book of Poetry in Nadwah Press, Hong Kong
Poetry on Magazine of Center for Humanistic studies GANI BOBI, Prishtinë, Kosovë
Essays on Journal “Oriental Studies”, Kosova Orientalist’s Association. Kosovë
Poetry in Magazine STAV- Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Poetry in Magazine ZIVOT- Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Poetry in Magazine ULAZNICA- Zrenjanin, Vojvodina
Poetry in Magazine URRA- Tirana, Albania
Poetry in Magazine POETA- Belgrade, Serbia
Poetry in Magazine, ISTANBUL LITERARY REVIEW, Istanbul, Turkey
Poetry in Magazine, MOBIUS MAGAZINE, New York, USA
Poetry in Magazine OBELISK, Tirana, Albania
THE WORLD POETS QUARTERLY (multilingual) VOLUME No. 58, Bei Jing, China
THE WORLD POETS YEARBOOK 2009, Bei Jing, China
Poetry at Sarajevske Sveske 2010, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Poetry in Balkan writers, Belgrade, Serbia
Poetry at Poetas del Mundo, Santiaogo de Chile
Poetry at Mediterranean, Gotteborg, Sweden
Poetry at Aquillrelle, Brussels, Belgium
Poetry at Poem hunter, USA
Poetry at World Poets Society, Athens, Greece
Poetry at Albpoem, Albania
Poetry at Soylesi Poetry Magazine, Istanbul, Turkey
Poetry at revista ura, Tirana, Albania
Poetry at Uzina Marta, Brasil
Poetry at Arabic Nadwah, Hong Kong
Poetry Romanian version Orientul Meu, Bucharest, Romania
Poetry at Agonia , Bucharest, Romania
Poetry and profile at Carty’s Poetry Journal, Dublin, Ireland
Poetry and profile at Blue Max Magazine, Dublin, Ireland
Poetry at Middle East Online, London
Poetry in English on The Sound of Poetry Review, Argentina
Poetry at Le post, Paris, France
Poetry at Aube, Paris, France
Poetry at 24 heures, Geneve, Zwitzerland
Poetry at Tribune de Geneve, Geneve, Switzerland
Poetry and Calligraphy at World Art Friends, Portugal
Poetry at lechasseurabstrait. Publisher, Patric Cintas, RAL,M Revue d’Art, et litterature, Musique, Paris, France
Poetry at Arte Poetica, Salvador
Poetry at Carcinogenic Poetry, Brasil
Poetry at Album Nocturno, Salvador
Poetry at Fernando Sabido Sanchez, Madrid, Spain
Poetry at Anthology Poetas Siglo Veintiuno, Editor,
Fernando Sabido Sanchez, Madrid, Spain
Poetry at CHECK POINT POETRY, Le Reti di Dedalus, Italy
Poetry at Author India, India
Poetry at Pagina de Andres Morales, Chile
Poetry at Cinosargo, Arica, Chile
Poetry at Grey Scale, Nigeria
Poetry at Snow in
Guinea Magazine, 13 º NUMBER OF LITERARY MAGAZINE
LVII No. of 2nd etapa/01-07-2011
Poetry at La Granada, No. 2, Oslo, Norway
Poetry at Othervoices.org. USA
Poetry at Poetry Blis Anthology, India, 2012
Poetry at Healnig World Anthology, New York, USA
Poetry at Aquillrelle, Brussels, Belgium
Poetry at Letras TLR, Mexico City, Mexico
Poetry at Realidades Y Fictiones, ed. Hector Zabala, Buenos Aires Argentina
Poetry at Poemish, USA
Poetry at Best Poems Encyclopedia, USA
Poetry at Froward Poetry, UK
Poetry at Ann Arbour Review, Michigan, USA
Poetry at Coldnoon Lityerary Magazine, Jawharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Articles in www.worldbulletin.com, Istanbul, Turkey
Articles in www.newropeansmagazine.com, Strasbourg, France
Poetry Anthology for the rights of Hazara People, Oslo, Norway, 2014
You find Fahredins Books Here :
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Fahredin%20Shehu%22
USA
World Healing ~ World Peace
you can make the difference !!!!
We at Inner Child have pursued and maintained the vigil of World Healing ~ World Peace for a number of years. We will continue to do so! We believe with all that we are that this state of Conscious living is achievable. We have had many Physicists, Teachers, Mystics and other speak about the magnificent possibilities of what a collective consciousness amongst Humanity can do. This is our focus, our Hopes, our Dreams, not only for we who endure the challenges of today’s world , but for that of the generations which will come about to inherit what we leave behind.
I would like to take this time to thank all the wonderful Souls upon this planet, the Organizations who is and have been working towards this end of the higher expression of our Humanity . . .Bless You. There is much to be said and done. I implore that each of us step the level of our vibratory goodness up and work to encourage each other that we may accomplish the possibilities of what we may become in the light of love, compassion and acceptance of each other regardless our demographic persuasions, preclusions or perceptions.
Below you will find the past articles of some wonderful souls who spoke much more eloquently of peace than i can. Re-enjoy them and pay that essence forward into our world daily. Also you will find more information centered around World Healing ~ World Peace Poetry and the effort spawned by Inner Child. Again i thank whole heartedly all the blessed participants who made the dream a reality. Bless You as well.
Thank You
William S. Peters, Sr.
Inner Child Enterprises, ltd.
Our focus in this installment of the World Healing ~ World Peace Effort was not only to speak and write about the consciousness, but to go one step further and distribute it as well that we may inform and possibly influence our Policy Makers who decide by and large the fate of the masses. With that being said we offer to you the opportunity to participate in this glorious vision via either your patronage or the dissemination of the information, preferably both. The monies raised via these venues will be utilized to get copies of the Books into the hand of Member Countries of The United Nations (193), as well as the Voting Members of The United States Congress (535). We need to cover the cost of printing and shipping. That alone is our focus.
As i stated earlier, we not only have a Go Fund Me account to service this end, but we do have quality merchandise which we feel you can wear proudly, and be a Human Billboard for Peace and healing simultaneously. Some of these tremendously discounted offers are limited to the Month of April Only aka International Poetry Month. The Books for example will revert from $5.00 per Volume to $12.00 per, but again exclusively through Inner Child and it’s Family. They will retail at AMAZON and other outlets for $16.95. Obviously this is the time to make a useful gift to others whom you may care about sharing the love with. we have included the facility where you may safely purchase the materials right here in this feature as opposed to hunting for them on the internet.
Also, take the time to visit the dedicated Web Site for
World Healing ~ World Peace
Poetry 2014
www.worldhealingworldpeacepoetry.com
Thank You.
'just bill'
for the Month of April Only !!!
for the Month of April Only !!!
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$ 50.00
Art for Peace
featuring
Siddartha Beth Pierce
Poet ~ Artist ~ Teacher ~ Humanitarian
Siddartha Beth Pierce is a Mother, poet, artist, teacher and humanitarian. She published her first book of poetry and art, In the Beginning and the End, on August 31, 2012 with Writing Knights Press. Her second book, I Do, was published by inner child press in November 2013. Her third book, Ripple, based on nature and growing up in the state of Virginia is expected to be released in March 2014. Currently, she is working on a book of love poems entitled Fit Me Like a Glove.
Ms. Pierce has shown her artwork internationally. Likewise, her poetry has been published internationally in India, England, Australia, New Zealand, Africa and the United States. She is included in an anthology honoring the late Nelson Mandela out of Nigeria which will be published in April 2014. Additionally, she has a poem forthcoming in the anthology World Healing, World Peace.
She has won numerous awards for her art and poetry.
Ms. Pierce received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art from George Mason University. She continued her studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, receiving her Masters Degree in Art Education with concentrations in Sculpture, Printmaking and Computer Graphics. Currently, Ms. Pierce is All but Dissertation (ABD) in a PhD. in Philosophy of Art History with majors in African and Contemporary Art from Virginia Commonwealth University located in Richmond, Virginia.
Ms. Pierce is the Director of Poetry and Secretary at The Urban Individualists Art Gallery located in the Art Works Building in Richmond, Virginia located along the historic James River.
A Modest Proposal, Giclee Print, 3’ x 4’
This computer painting/giclee print was first begun in 1996 in Loughborough, England where the Artist studied during her Master’s Degree at the sister school of Virginia Commonwealth University. It is taken from the satire by the author Jonathon Swift regarding the Irish Potato Famine. Wherein, the English were starving the Irish and the author responded, ‘What are we to do, eat our children?’ It is a statement about the ravages of war and famine played lightly with a dose of satire.
The above photograph is from a felled tree found along the Shenandoah River near Massanutten Mountain in the Virginia woods. Its title represents the Artist’s interest in mathematics. Specifically, Fibonacci numbers appear not only in Mathematics but also in the biological settings of the growth of trees, leaves and spiraling ferns. This represent the connection between a world order in which there is congruency with the growth of various life forms on Earth.
Dogwood Dell, Mixed Media on Canvas, 18” x 24”
Dogwood Dell is a compilations of various colors of acrylic paint as well as dogwood petals which is the state flower of Virginia. They were collected from the ground below the shedding tree. Also, included are bluebells, leaves and grasses. This painting represents the Beauty and serenity of the Virginia country landscape. A recall of Nature’s splendor. The artist created this work while sitting in the grass on a farm near the Shenandoah River.
L’arbre de Famille, Forged and Welded Iron, Rope and Beeswax
L’arbre de Famille is one of the many iron, rope and scented wax sculptures the Artist has made. This work was featured on PBS, Around the Appomatox in 2001 from her Virginia State University Artist-in-Residence and Assistant Professorship.
This sculptures title is translated from French to mean ‘My Family Tree’. In 2000, the Artist’s grandmother, Siddartha Staley Mahaffey, died unexpectedly. Siddartha Beth Pierce, her namesake, was quite stricken with grief even preparing and reading her late grandmother’s Eulogy.
The following year with Ms. Pierce’s award as Artist-in Residence, she completed the creation of this sculpture. Underneath the sculpture are approximately 3000 pennies which came to represent in the money and objects fought over after her Mrs. Mahaffey’s passing. Instead, the Artist chose to tie and wax the family together in a cohesive family unit, hence the title: L’arbre de Famille.
L’Enfant: A Foreshadow, Collograph, 18” x 24”
L’Enfant is a painting utilizing a palette knife and caulk as the base. It was then covered with printing ink and run through a printing press. It is a representation of a child in utero – the inner child. It was completed in 1995. Three years later, the Artist gave birth to her son, Pierce Emery, via an emergency C-Section due to his breech status. This is why the work is now called A Foreshadow. This work not only depicts the inner child within a woman’s womb but also the feelings and expressions that a human being has in their lives and experiences as they grow.
Roar, Forged and Welded Steel, Rope and Scented Wax 5.5’
This sculpture took five years to complete. It was moved using a dolly from her art studio to the Meredith Gallery at Virginia State University in 2001. It was later shown at the Artemis Gallery in 2004 in Richmond, Virginia and featured in an article, Creation Story, in Style Weekly magazine.
Roar is a conundrum. There are many layers of imagery hidden within its confines. Music, mathematics, science, Nature. There are twin figures in the bottom right section that represent to the Artist the Ire Ibeji twin figures common to Nigeria. The hat shape at the top and the nameless face are reminiscent of Van Gogh’s self-portraits. In addition, the sculpture is scented with vanilla and coffee wax which truly illicits an olfactory response of memory for the viewers.
We are Seven: For William Wordsworth, Collage, 18” x 12”
We are Seven is a reference to the poem of the same name by William Wordsworth in which a small cottage girl explains to a passerby that regardless of the fact that two of her siblings are dead, they are still seven in number. It is one of the Artist’s favorite works of literature. It inspired this collage wherein her one of a kind monotypes and etchings are surrounded by the words of the Wordsworth as well as a butterfly drawing by her son entitled, To Mom in the middle right hand corner. It is also layered with ink splatters and scented wax.
Bluebird, Pastel and Charcoal, 18” x 24”
Bluebird for Bukowski is a series of many bird and animal drawings the Artist has completed. Animals are extremely peaceful by nature. They do not take or use what they do not need, they do not war and they only fight for survival or for the minimal of food. There is much the human race can learn from them.
This work is in the collection of Mr. Harold Calhoun.
Princess Diana of Wales
A true dream of mine is to find an end to war and suffering in the world. Although, without suffering one may not know enjoyment either. Therefore, there is always that sort of dichotomy happening within our Universe that keeps us awake and aware; working and playing each and every day and night.
There are wars being raged, between campaigns, states, countries, families, our own bodies over one issue or many, depending. This is a very tumultuous time in our world for all nations. I find that the creative process is a healing process, one in which a person may find solace and show respect for both oneself and for others. I would the world take up the quill, placing it to parchment and that people could draw, sculpt or write their thoughts, feelings, wishes, dreams, aspirations and difficulties rather than placing blame and taking strife out on others.
It is my greatest hope that peace and love would prevail in this beautiful Paradise we inhabit. I have been down trodden, hospitalized, lived in a halfway house, trailer park, in my car, from sofa to chair to Home. I have suffered from early childhood trauma and domestic violence yet writing, art, poetry, music and dance are therapeutic and a saving grace for me. I long for each human to embrace one another with kindness and understanding; empathy and trust. Through artistic endeavors, I heal myself slowly and hope that each that comes in contact with my creations can absorb something that is meaningful to them in their hearts, minds, and souls.
Each of these creations, whether poetry, art or both, always embrace the endeavor of self-exploration but more so the longing to reach out to my fellow human kind as well as the animal kingdom in Peace and Love and beauty towards every man, woman, child, and creature that may come in contact with these objects of raison d’etre. Love and Light, I am yours truly.
- If you find someone you love in your life, then hang on to that love.
- Carry out random acts of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.
- I knew what my job was, it was to go out and meet the people and love them.
Love Is...
Love is candy apples at the fair
that we have shared
A bite of delicious sweetness to our lips
we have caressed the utter bliss
of Paradise’s fruit
reveled in its delightful taste
with not a drop to waste.
Love is coffee that we drink
prepared in the morning
by the kitchen sink
waking us from a nights slumber
to reveal the sky of amber
lit upon our morning faces
remelding our caring embraces.
Love is not troubling that
he said this and she did what,
yet instead, it is the sublime revelation
of loving Supreme-
sharing, caring, calling our one anothers names
sometimes, in anger
but let it be that we always
come back together in harmony,
joined in unison
for Love is simply the knowing
that we are kin.
© Siddartha Beth Pierce
Resume
The Urban Individualists Gallery, Richmond, VA, Opening February 1st, 2014, Director of Poetry, Member Artist
Artist-in-Residence, Counterexample Poetics Magazine, February 2014
Book Cover Art, Trance, by Hulya Yilmaz, ‘L’Enfant: A Foreshadow’, collagraph print, 2014
I Do, Book of Poetry and Art, published by inner child press, November 2013
May 1st, 2013, Comcast interview for first book In the Beginning and the End
art6 Gallery, Richmond, Virginia: March 2012 – ‘The Garden of Gethsemane’, Collage for Van Gogh’s Ghost Paintings Show, JUROR: Dr. Cliff Edwards, VCU, (Sold)
Cover Art, Blue Fifth Review Poetry Journal, ‘A Modest Proposal’, Giclee Print, February 2012
Book Cover Art, The Poetry of War and Peace – ‘Dove’ –Pastel and Charcoal Drawing, 2012
Art6 Gallery, Richmond, VA – ‘Quill and Candlelight by Night: for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’, Collage ‘We are Seven: for William Wordsworth’ for 100 Years of Collage
Art6 Gallery, Richmond Virginia: October- December 2010 – ‘Shanty’, Welded Steel
Sculpture, ‘Temple’, Antique Candy and Cough Drop Molds on Painted Canvas, ‘L’arbre de Famille’, Photo of Welded, Rope and Scented Wax Sculpture for TRIBAL Show
Book Cover Art, In the Wake of the Enchantress, Pastel and Charcoal Drawing, Published on Amazon 2010
Petersburg Area Art League, Petersburg, VA – 9/11/2009, Solo Art Exhibition, Featured in newspaper article Progress-Index - In honor of those who lost their live in 9/11/2001
Petersburg Regional Arts Center, Petersburg, VA – ‘A Modest Proposal’, Giclee Print, 4’ x 2.5’, Won Honorable Mention, 2006
Petersburg Regional Arts Center, Petersburg, VA – ‘Floor Roar’, Welded and Forged
Steel with Rope and Scented Wax Sculpture, Won ‘Second Place’, 2005, JUROR: Judy Little, Chairman of Art Virginia Union University
Artemis Gallery, Richmond, VA, 2004, a variety of sculptures on view – Please see below Style Weekly article:
http://www.styleweekly.com/richmond/creation-story-siddartha-beth-pierce/Content?oid=1383112
Fellowship and Graduate Assistantship Award, 2001-2001 – For completion of PhD. In Art History, Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Richmond, VA
PBS Broadcast – Channel 23, WCVE, Richmond, VA – FEATURE: Virginia State University Artist-in-Residence, including studios, teaching and exhibition activities, 2001
Shockoe Bottom Arts Center, All Media Show, Richmond, VA – ‘Vanilla Café’, Rope and Scented Wax Sculpture, JUROR: David Freed, Professor of Painting and Printmaking, VCU, 2000
Shockoe Bottom Arts Center, All Media Show, Richmond, VA – ‘Root’, 8’ Triptych, Pastel/Mixed Media, JUROR: Charles Bethea, Executive Director of the Black History Museum and Cultural Center, 2000
VCU Juried Student Art Exhibition, Richmond, VA – ‘My Lungs’,Plaster Wrap, Cigarette Butts, Lipstick and Latex Sculpture; ‘Tulips’,Acrylic Painting on Paper, JUROR Andrea Pollan, Curator, Washington, DC, Barbara MacCallum, Artist Charlottesville, VA, 1996
Solo Exhibition, George Mason University, Alcove Gallery, Fairfax, Virginia – Included 14 works: Carved Soapstone, Welded Steel Sculptures, Collagraph Prints and Zinc Plate Etchings created during Undergraduate Studies at GMU, 1996
TeenAIDS Art Auction, Washington, DC – ‘Printemps’, Monotype Series (Sold), ‘Carnation, Copper Plate Etching (Sold), 1995
GMU Senior Student Art Exhibition, Fairfax, VA – Included 8 works: Welded Steel Sculptures, Paintings, Etchings, Monotypes and Collagraph Prints, 1995
GMU Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, Fairfax, VA – ‘Tulips’, Acrylic on Paper, JUROR: Samuel Hoi, Dean of the Corcoran School of Art, Washington, DC, 1995
Additional Links:
http://www.innerchildpress.com/siddartha-beth-pierce.php
http://esterknows.com/archives/siddartha-beth-pierce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvR2qC0r3w
http://www.thebeautifulpeopleproject.com/2012/09/siddartha-beth-pierce-artist-poet.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ87NrLt_to
http://afternyne.com/2012/09/28/profile-siddartha-beth-pierce/
http://christophpaulauthor.com/2013/09/10-questions-poet-artist-siddartha-pierce/
http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/siddartha-beth-pierce-%E2%80%93-three-poems/
http://www.deadmule.com/fiction/siddartha-beth-pierce-come-with-me/
http://www.youtuberepeater.com/watch?v=t4ILksMzt20
http://www.blackmailpress.com/SBP32.html
http://theindiandiary.webs.com/apps/blog/show/10566166-my-homeland-by-siddartha-beth-pierce
http://writingknightspress.blogspot.com/2012/08/in-beginning-and-end-by-siddartha-beth.html
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/inner-child-radio/2013/11/21/the-hump-day-show-with-siddartha-beth-pierce Ubiquity Gallery
http://dolunaylaben.wordpress.com/tag/siddartha-beth-pierce/
http://poetrystorehouse.com/2014/01/19/lennart-lundh-poems/
http://shaunaswriting.com/wordpress/tag/siddartha-beth-pierce/
http://www.counterexamplepoetics.com/2014/01/siddartha-beth-pierce.html
John Lennon
Any discussion of John Winston Ono Lennon, is challenging for me, due to my affection for the man and the myth. This article is mainly from my perspective, to include some family members, who knew him personally, via their videos / interviews and web – sites, during his earthly time here. It would be impossible to capture every time frame of his short life; I will not attempt to do so here. I will touch on some of the highlights, and what some people . . . believe as the low. I believe that, John Winston Ono Lennon, was a seeker of His Truth, while embracing revelations, one by one. It is evident in some of his songs . . . Imagine, Watching the Wheels, God, Power to the People, Gimme Some Truth, Instant Karma, Cold Turkey, Woman and many others, that were / are considered controversial.
I also imagine that many held and do hold . . . false beliefs / assumptions, as they did not understand or know, John Winston Ono Lennon. I do not pretend to know John, on a personal level, though it feels as if I do, he is my brother. I will refer to him as John Lennon or John, throughout the remainder of this article. It is a well known fact by the public at large, that the US Government, considered John, a National threat according to those, in the highly conservative, Nixon Administration. To name a few of these threats, are being outspoken against ALL wars, especially the Vietnam War. There were questionable friends and associates, such as Jerry Ruben, Abbie Hoffman, Bobby Seale, and John Sinclair. John Lennon was a loud proponent for peace; the songs that he wrote / sang, coupled with a misunderstanding of his intent, led to a 4 year battle to deport John, by the US Government. Wasn't he just saying what many of us did not have the guts to ?
Imagine John Lennon's 70th Birthday
Come Together - The Family
I have been a fan of John, for as long as I can remember. Aside from John's outspokenness for peace, and his music, I love that he was openly affectionate to his wife, Yoko Ono Lennon, now widow, author, artist and activist who was hated / judged by many. Yoko shared, encouraged and dared to embrace . . . The Dream of World Peace. I also admired John for becoming a house – husband, baking bread, being Sean's playmate, taking him to the park and being a hands – on Father. At the same time, I was sad for Julian, who had lost out during his formative years, {and more} by not getting to know his Dad early on, due to John's hectic schedule with The Beatles. Finally, the divorce of his parents, John and Cynthia, and the events there after . . .
continued . . . .
John and Yoko's son, Sean Taro Ono Lennon, is an American musician and composer. Both, mother and son share many engagements, geared toward world healing and world peace, including the building of The Imagine Peace Tower in honor of her late husband and Sean's Father. The tower consists of a tall 'tower of light' that is projected from a white stone base that spells out the words 'Imagine Peace' carved into it in 24 different languages. Fans flock to the special ceremony held at the tower every year. Please see the above link for more photos and information on how to attend.
Peace Monument Unveiled
Dedicated to John Lennon
His eldest son, John Charles Julian Lennon, is a Musician, Peace Advocate and Photographer. His mother is, Cynthia Lennon, artist, author and first wife to John, have also embraced the Dream for Peace in many ways . . . including the The John Lennon Peace Monument. This is a peace monument dedicated to the memory of John Lennon, in Liverpool, England. The John Lennon Peace Monument and the unveiling took place in Liverpool - October 9th 2010 and is also known as the European Peace Monument. It was unveiled by Julian and Cynthia Lennon at a ceremony in Chavasse Park, Liverpool, on Saturday October 9, 2010 to celebrate what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday. The monument is now located adjacent to ACC Liverpool at Kings Dock on the Liverpool Waterfront.
Where were You ?
John Lennon was born October 09, 1940 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was assassinated by Mark David Chapman, December 08, 1980 at the entrance of his apartment, The Dakota in New York, New York, USA. It seems that everyone remembers where they were at that time. I do . . . I was living in San Marcos, Texas with my cousin Tami, her significant other Steve and my young son Michael.
Michael was asleep, Tami was in another room doing her college home – work. I was in the living room listening to the radio. Over the airwaves, I was humming along just a second before when the announcement came, “ John Lennon has been murdered ” I do not recall the disc jockey's name, but he was shaken too. I did a double take, dropped my pen and screamed. I ran down the hall to Tami's bedroom sobbing uncontrollably. She could not make sense of what I was trying to say, and I would not be comforted for many years to come.
Much of the world was stunned by the loss of this man. Those of us who loved John, and were aware of his many trials and tribulations, were saddened deeply and heart - broken. It felt like pain beyond repair. Later on, I realized the dream is still alive, as is John's spirit and feel that he would want us to keep vying for peace, love and understanding. Like a lot of us, John Lennon was a mixed bag, in that he was defiant, obliging, angry and loving. Later in life he channeled his anger into something positive and succeeded with Giving Peace a Chance.
In reading back through this article, I realize, it is highly personal for me, please visit his official website and those closest to John's, sites for your own understanding. With that I leave you in Peace and Love to ALL.
Namaste'
Janet P. Caldwell
Quotes by Lennon
Everybody's talking about peace, but nobody's doing anything about it . . .
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘ happy ’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us. And the world will live as one.
There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open hearted vision of people who embrace life.
If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.
One thing you can't hide - is when you're crippled inside.
Sources
http://www.beatlesstory.com/european-peace-monument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Lennon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennon
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His Holiness
The Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama
a biographical sketch
His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. He was born in a small village called Taktser in northeastern Tibet. Born to a peasant family, His Holiness was recognized at the age of two, in accordance with Tibetan tradition, as the reincarnation of his predecessor the 13th Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lamas are the manifestations of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who chose to reincarnate to serve the people. Dalai Lama means Ocean of Wisdom. Tibetans normally refer to His Holiness as Yeshin Norbu, the Wish-fulfilling Gem, or simply, Kundun, meaning The Presence.
Education in Tibet
He began his education at the age of six and completed the Geshe Lharampa
Degree (Doctorate of Buddhist Philosophy) when he was 25. At 24, he took the
preliminary examination at each of the three monastic universities: Drepung, Sera
and Ganden. The final examination was held in the Jokhang, Lhasa, during the annual Monlam Festival of
Prayer, held in the first month of every year. In the morning he was examined
by 30 scholars on logic. In the afternoon, he debated with 15 scholars on the
subject of the Middle Path, and in the evening, 35 scholars tested his
knowledge of the canon of monastic discipline and the study of metaphysics. His
Holiness passed the examinations with honours, conducted before a vast audience
of monk scholars.
Leadership Responsibilities
In 1950, at 16, His Holiness was called upon to assume full political power as
Head of State and Government when Tibet
was threatened by the might of China.
In 1954 he went to Peking to talk with Mao
Tse-Tung and other Chinese leaders, including Chou En-Lai and Deng Xiaoping. In
1956, while visiting India
to attend the 2500th Buddha Jayanti, he had a series of meetings with Prime
Minister Nehru and Premier Chou about deteriorating conditions in Tibet. In 1959
he was forced into exile in India
after the Chinese military occupation of Tibet. Since 1960 he has resided in
Dharamsala, aptly known as "Little Lhasa", the seat of the Tibetan
Government-in-Exile.
In the early years of exile, His Holiness appealed to the United Nations on the
question of Tibet,
resulting in three resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in 1959, 1961
and 1965. In 1963, His Holiness promulgated a draft constitution for Tibet which
assures a democratic form of government. In the last two decades, His Holiness
has set up educational, cultural and religious institutions which have made
major contributions towards the preservation of the Tibetan identity and its
rich heritage. He has given many teachings and initiations, including the rare
Kalachakra Initiation, which he has conducted more than any of his
predecessors.
His Holiness continues to present new initiatives to resolve the Tibetan
issues. At the Congressional Human Rights Caucus in 1987 he proposed a
Five-Point Peace Plan as a first step towards resolving the future status of Tibet. This
plan calls for the designation of Tibet as a zone of peace, an end to the
massive transfer of ethnic Chinese into Tibet, restoration of fundamental human
rights and democratic freedoms and the abandonment of China's use of Tibet for
nuclear weapons production and the dumping of nuclear waste, as well as urging
"earnest negotiations" on the future of Tibet and relations between
the Tibetan and Chinese people. In Strasbourg, France, on June 15, 1988, he elaborated on this
Five-Point Peace Plan and proposed the creation of a self-governing democratic Tibet, "in association with the People's
Republic of China."
In his address, the Dalai Lama said that this represented "the most
realistic means by which to re-establish Tibet's
separate identity and restore the fundamental rights of the Tibetan people
while accommodating China's
own interests." His Holiness emphasized that "whatever the outcome of
the negotiations with the Chinese may be, the Tibetan people themselves must be
the ultimate deciding authority."
Contact with the West
Unlike his predecessors, His Holiness has met and talked with many Westerners
and has visited the United States, Canada, Western Europe, the United Kingdom,
the Soviet Union, Mongolia, Greece, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia, Nepal, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Vatican, China and Australia. He has
met with religious leaders from all these countries.
His Holiness met with the late Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1973, and with His Holiness
Pope John Paul II in 1980, 1982, 1986 and 1988. At a press conference in Rome, His Holiness the
Dalai Lama outlined his hopes for the meeting with John Paul II: "We
live in a period of great crisis, a period of troubling world developments. It
is not possible to find peace in the soul without security and harmony between
the people. For this reason, I look forward with faith and hope to my meeting
with the Holy Father; to an exchange of ideas and feelings, and to his
suggestions, so as to open the door to a progressive pacification between
people.".
In 1981, His Holiness talked with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert
Runcie, and with other leaders of the Anglican Church in London. He also met with leaders of the Roman
Catholic and Jewish communities and spoke at an interfaith service in his
honour by the World Congress of Faiths. His talk focused on the commonality of
faiths and the need for unity among different religions: "I always
believe that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of
philosophies, rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary
because of the different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion
has certain unique ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich
one's own faith."
Recognition by the West
Since his first visit to the west in the early 1970s, His Holiness' reputation
as a scholar and man of peace has grown steadily. In recent years, a number of
western universities and institutions have conferred Peace Awards and honorary
Doctorate Degrees upon His Holiness in recognition of his distinguished
writings in Buddhist philosophy and of his distinguished leadership in the
service of freedom and peace.
Universal Responsibility
During his travels abroad, His Holiness has spoken strongly for better understanding and respect among the different faiths of the world. Towards this end, His Holiness has made numerous appearances in interfaith services, imparting the message of universal responsibility, love, compassion and kindness.
"The need for simple human-to-human relationships is becoming increasingly urgent . . . Today the world is smaller and more interdependent. One nation's problems can no longer be solved by itself completely. Thus, without a sense of universal responsibility, our very survival becomes threatened. Basically, universal responsibility is feeling for other people's suffering just as we feel our own. It is the realization that even our enemy is entirely motivated by the quest for happiness. We must recognize that all beings want the same thing that we want. This is the way to achieve a true understanding, unfettered by artificial consideration."
Quotes of the Dalai Lama
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.
Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace.
The best way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit down and talk.
Today different ethnic groups and different nations come together due to common sense.
Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.
When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, 'Oh yes - I already have everything that I really need.'
It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.
In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.
Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent.
All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.
World belongs to humanity, not this leader, that leader or that king or prince or religious leader. World belongs to humanity.
We all have to live together, so we might as well live together happily.
Wherever I go meeting the public... spreading a message of human values, spreading a message of harmony, is the most important thing.
videos of the
Dalai Lama
Rolihlahla Mandela was born into the Madiba clan in Mvezo, Transkei, on July 18, 1918, to Nonqaphi Nosekeni and Nkosi Mphakanyiswa Gadla Mandela, principal counsellor to the Acting King of the Thembu people, Jongintaba Dalindyebo.
His father died when he was a child and the young Rolihlahla became a ward of Jongintaba at the Great Place in Mqhekezweni. Hearing the elder’s stories of his ancestor’s valour during the wars of resistance, he dreamed also of making his own contribution to the freedom struggle of his people.
He attended primary school in Qunu where his teacher Miss Mdingane gave him the name Nelson, in accordance with the custom to give all school children “Christian” names.
He completed his Junior Certificate at Clarkebury Boarding Institute and went on to Healdtown, a Wesleyan secondary school of some repute, where he matriculated.
Nelson Mandela began his studies for a Bachelor of Arts Degree at the University College of Fort Hare but did not complete the degree there as he was expelled for joining in a student protest. He completed his BA through the University of South Africa and went back to Fort Hare for his graduation in 1943.
On his return to the Great Place at Mkhekezweni the King was furious and said if he didn’t return to Fort Hare he would arrange wives for him and his cousin Justice. They ran away to Johannesburg instead arriving there in 1941. There he worked as a mine security officer and after meeting Walter Sisulu, an estate agent, who introduced him to Lazar Sidelsky. He then did his articles through the firm of attorneys Witkin Eidelman and Sidelsky.
Meanwhile he began studying for an LLB at the University of the Witwatersrand. By his own admission he was a poor student and left the university in 1948 without graduating. He only started studying again through the University of London and also did not complete that degree.
In 1989, while in the last months of his imprisonment, he obtained an LLB through the University of South Africa. He graduated in absentia at a ceremony in Cape Town.
Nelson Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped formed the ANC Youth League.
In 1944 he married Walter Sisulu’s cousin Evelyn Mase, a nurse. They had two sons Madiba Thembekile ‘Thembi’ and Makgatho and two daughters both called Makaziwe, the first of whom died in infancy. They effectively separated in 1955 and divorced in 1958.
Nelson Mandela rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its work the ANC adopted in 1949 a more radical mass-based policy, the Programme of Action.
In 1952 he was chosen at the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his Deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. He and 19 others were charged under the Suppression of Communism Act for their part in the campaign and sentenced to nine months hard labour suspended for two years.
A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Nelson Mandela to practice law and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo.
At the end of 1952 he was banned for the first time. As a restricted person he was only able to secretly watch as the Freedom Charter was adopted at Kliptown on 26 June 1955.
Nelson Mandela was arrested in a countrywide police swoop of 156 activists on 5 December 1955, which led to the 1956 Treason Trial. Men and women of all races found themselves in the dock in the marathon trial that only ended when the last 28 accused, including Mr. Mandela were acquitted on 29 March 1961.
On 21 March 1960 police killed 69 unarmed people in a protest at Sharpeville against the pass laws. This led to the country’s first state of emergency on 31 March and the banning of the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress on 8 April. Nelson Mandela and his colleagues in the Treason Trial were among the thousands detained during the state of emergency.
During the trial on 14 June 1958 Nelson Mandela married a social worker Winnie Madikizela. They had two daughters Zenani and Zindziswa. The couple divorced in 1996.
Days before the end of the Treason Trial Nelson Mandela travelled to Pietermaritzburg to speak at the All-in Africa Conference, which resolved he should write to Prime Minister Verwoerd requesting a non-racial national convention, and to warn that should he not agree there would be a national strike against South Africa becoming a republic. As soon as he and his colleagues were acquitted in the Treason Trial Nelson Mandela went underground and began planning a national strike for 29, 30 and 31 March. In the face of a massive mobilization of state security the strike was called off early. In June 1961 he was asked to lead the armed struggle and helped to establish Umkhonto weSizwe (Spear of the Nation).
On 11 January 1962 using the adopted name David Motsamayi, Nelson Mandela left South Africa secretly. He travelled around Africa and visited England to gain support for the armed struggle. He received military training in Morocco and Ethiopia and returned to South Africa in July 1962. He was arrested in a police roadblock outside Howick on 5 August while returning from KwaZulu-Natal where he briefed ANC President Chief Albert Luthuli about his trip.
He was charged with leaving the country illegally and inciting workers to strike. He was convicted and sentenced to five years imprisonment which he began serving in Pretoria Local Prison. On 27 May 1963 he was transferred to Robben Island and returned to Pretoria on 12 June. Within a month police raided a secret hide-out in Rivonia used by ANC and Communist Party activists and several of his comrades were arrested.
In October 1963 Nelson Mandela joined nine others on trial for sabotage in what became known as the Rivonia Trial. Facing the death penalty his words to the court at the end of his famous ‘Speech from the Dock’ on 20 April 1964 became immortalized:
“I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
On 11 June 1964 Nelson Mandela and seven other accused Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Raymond Mhlaba, Denis Goldberg, Elias Motsoaledi and Andrew Mlangeni were convicted and the next day were sentenced to life imprisonment. Denis Goldberg was sent to Pretoria Prison because he was white while the others went to Robben Island.
Nelson Mandela’s mother died in 1968 and his eldest son Thembi in 1969. He was not allowed to attend their funerals.
On 31 March 1982 Nelson Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town with Sisulu, Mhlaba and Mlangeni. Kathrada joined them in October. When he returned to the prison in November 1985 after prostate surgery Nelson Mandela was held alone. Justice Minister Kobie Coetsee had visited him in hospital. Later Nelson Mandela initiated talks about an ultimate meeting between the apartheid government and the ANC.
In 1988 he was treated for Tuberculosis and was transferred on 7 December 1988 to a house at Victor Verster Prison near Paarl. He was released from its gates on Sunday 11 February 1990, nine days after the unbanning of the ANC and the PAC and nearly four months after the release of the remaining Rivonia comrades. Throughout his imprisonment he had rejected at least three conditional offers of release.
Nelson Mandela immersed himself into official talks to end white minority rule and in 1991 was elected ANC President to replace his ailing friend Oliver Tambo. In 1993 he and President FW de Klerk jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize and on 27 April 1994 he voted for the first time in his life.
On 10 May 1994 he was inaugurated South Africa’s first democratically elected President. On his 80th birthday in 1998 he married Graça Machel, his third wife.
True to his promise Nelson Mandela stepped down in 1999 after one term as President. He continued to work with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund he set up in 1995 and established the Nelson Mandela Foundation and The Mandela-Rhodes Foundation.
In April 2007 his grandson Mandla Mandela became head of the Mvezo Traditional Council at a ceremony at the Mvezo Great Place.
Nelson Mandela never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done." - Nelson Mandela
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” - Nelson Mandela
“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandela
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” - Nelson Mandela
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” - Nelson Mandela
"Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all." - Nelson Mandela
“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” - Nelson Mandela
"After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb." - Nelson Mandela
"Man's goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished" - Nelson Mandela
"When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat." - Nelson Mandela
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela
"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart." - Nelson Mandela
“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.” - Nelson Mandela
“Lead from the back - and let others believe they are in front.” - Nelson Mandela
“There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” - Nelson Mandela
“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” - Nelson Mandela
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” - Nelson Mandela
"There is no such thing as part freedom" - Nelson Mandela
"Only free men can negotiate; prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated." - Nelson Mandela
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi ~ 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu (Father of Nation), was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in the Raj (British-ruled India). Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights, and freedom across the world.
Gandhi was born in a Bania family in coastal Gujarat, and trained in law in London. He fought for the civil rights of Indians in South Africa, using non-violent civil disobedience. Returning to India in 1915, he set about organising peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of "communalism" (basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups. He became a leader of Muslims protesting against the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achieving Swaraj—the independence of India from British domination.
Gandhi led Indian protests against the national salt tax, with the 400 km (250 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930, and later in demanding the British to immediately Quit India in 1942, during the Second World War. He was imprisoned for that and for numerous other political offences over the years. Gandhi sought to practice non-violence and truth in all situations and advocated that others do the same. He saw the villages as the core of the true India and promoted self-sufficiency; he did not support the industrialisation programs of his disciple Jawaharlal Nehru. He lived modestly in a self-sufficient residential community and wore the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, woven with yarn he had hand spun on a charkha. He was a vegetarian and undertook long fasts as a means of both self-purification and political mobilisation.
In his last year, unhappy at the partition of India, Gandhi worked to stop the carnage between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs that raged in the border areas between India and Pakistan. He was assassinated on 30 January 1948 by Nathuram Godse, who thought Gandhi was too sympathetic to India's Muslims. 30 January is observed as Martyrs' Day in India. The honorific Mahatma ("Great Soul") was applied to him by 1914. In India he was also called Bapu ("Father"). He is known in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world-wide as the International Day of Non-Violence.
“God has no religion.”
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were
to live forever.”
“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what
you do are in harmony.”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of
the strong.”
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.”
“Seven Deadly Sins
Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Science without humanity
Knowledge without character
Politics without principle
Commerce without morality
Worship without sacrifice.”
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they
fight you, and then you win.”
“Where there is love there is life.”
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your
Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
“Freedom is not worth
having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty
feet.”
“A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks,
he becomes.”
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.”
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
“The future depends on what you do today.”
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
I shall fear only God.
I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
I shall conquer untruth by
truth. And in resisting untruth,
I shall put up with all suffering.”
“Man often becomes what he
believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a
certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of
doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall
surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the
beginning.”
“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.”
“Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”
“What difference does it make to the dead, the
orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name
of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?”
“Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”
“There are people in the world so
hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
“It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”
“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.”
“It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.”
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”
“You don't know who is important to you until you actually lose them.”
“You can chain me, you can
torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my
mind.”
“Action expresses priorities.”
“I object to violence because
when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
“You may never know what results
come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.”
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
“My Life is My Message”
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings.”
“There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever. ”
“The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles." ~ Young India, 22 October 1925
“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
“Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable.”
“There is no 'way to peace,' there is only 'peace.”
“Truth is one, paths are many.”
“In doing something, do it with love or never do it at all.”
“I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.”
“They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.”
“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.”
“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”
give the Gift
of
Consciousness
to
OUR World
OUR Children
Dear Family,
As an Ambassador for the Welfare of Humanity in the arena of Global Peace and Healing we are writing to you personally seeking your assistance. Inner Child is once again firing up the engines for another World Healing World Peace Poetry effort. Our first effort back in 2011 – 2012 met with great success due to the cry of the people. The contributions from all over the World produced a wonderful two volume offering focused towards the Good of Humanity through Peace and Healing. With this effort, World Healing, World Peace 2014, our vision is to raise the stakes.
Our goal is have a more effective outreach and effective touch on the World Consciousness, and to accomplish this end, WE NEED YOUR HELP! With this offering we are proposing to not only Publish the book, World Healing, World Peace Poetry 2014, but to strategically distribute the book ,thereby delivering in to the hands of the World’s Policy makers and make them aware of our thoughts and feeling about World Healing and Peace. Our mission is to distribute 2 Copies of the offering into the hands of every member Country representative of the United Nations (193 – 200) and one copy into the hands of every voting member of Congress (535). We feel this is essential.
To facilitate this undertaking we have established a Dedicated Web Site : www.worldhealingworldpeacepoetry.com and a “Go Fund Me” Donation Point to pay for the Production, Printing and Distribution. http://www.gofundme.com/3gvqks, but this is not why i am writing you. To make this work and achieve the success we seek and more we need to get the project into the hands and consciousness’ of the People and the Poets. We need Web Site affiliations, Press Releases and Conversation to create a ”Viral Buzz’ to make people aware and to pay attention. We write to you for this end. We need people to tell people, to tell people, to tell people until it will not and can not go away !
Finally, to this objective, we would be highly honored if you would further consider writing and sharing your thoughts about the subject matter and need for World Healing and World Peace. We wish to leave an imprint of this higher consciousness in the annals of History that will not only affect us in our “Now” but for the generations to come. If you find this to be of spirit to and for you and that which you care for about life, we would be humbly grateful. Your presence does matter.
We consider you to be a vital “Circle of Influence” . . . if you are aware or know of any other Persons or Organizations who can assist us in making an impact for the good of us all, we would appreciate the referral.
Thank You
William S. Peters, Sr.
Inner Child
Gil Scott-Heron - A Prayer for....mp3
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