Existing and loving the poetic ether of another year of a community, forming and disbanding like a flower that blooms for just a day. We have had the third year of the #poeticnursingheart and it was again a very special space for those who felt called to come and share the vulnerabilities of the disclosed self.

We came together and we shared a very beautiful space of poetry and comfortable silence.

This short thought piece is intended to capture some of what was shared. The real beauty of the butterfly flame is that you need to experience it to truly engage with the ethos of compassion and love.

Aware of the need to continue but unsure of how to further build this process of connection. I asked for others to think of how they would draw in some of the flame into their world of being. So, if you feel that you would like to offer a poetic break somewhere then please let me know. The breadbasket, hatters’ hat and I will travel.

Where is the I AM:

What is my faith and belief. I believe in a pleural, diverse, creative, omnipresent consciousness. According to William James everything is comprised of lots of little bits of consciousness or as he eloquently puts it, ‘Mind dust’. This leads me back to the work of Paul Brunton and the idea of the ‘divine glimpse’. Something life changing, fleeting, wonderful but transient.

This makes sense to me as it plays on the idea of creative discovery and awareness. On a personal narrative with a personal GOD. Within the 12-step programme it states in step 3) you have decided to turn your will and life over to the care of GOD as we understand him.

Something in what Jordan Petersonsaid about his perception of GOD resonated with me ‘My God is the spirit that is trying to elevate being. My God is the spirit that makes everything come together. My God is the spirit that brings order out of chaos and then recasts order when it becomes too limiting. My God is the spirit of truth incarnate. None of that is supernatural it is in fact what is most real’. I like this as it draws down the connection to the disconnected, dissociated and marginalised. I have always felt closer to my sense of true presence when the world casts a space of loneliness for me. I sit more aware of others on the fringe.

Take yourself to the Serengeti wildlife stories. The challenge of being within a food and life chain being susceptible to elements and predators. Social structures mirror this when you take on the affliction of illness, addiction or depression. Social class is not only economic it is also about hiding vulnerabilities so not to be at risk of judgement. You don’t show weakness of the savannas…

I find him GOD, Brahman, Buddha, Mohammed, my friend out on the kayak as far as confidence and conditions allow. I find the I am. In the library with earphones in so I can hear my breath, chi, ruah but not the world. In the poetry I write and recite he rests on the words and within the pain… in my children he talks with joy, wonder and spirit.  My enduring faith and love for my wife. He rests on the ring that joins us not in law or ego but in community and compromise.

In the majesty of the buzzard moving on the thermals. In the balancing of sea pebbles. In the questions from your child about the world. Two books to support my position or thinking. Movement and how action shapes thought (B. Tversky) and Trees where their nature is to help others and form communities through fungal networks for communication (P. Wohlleben).

The beauty is in embracing and accepting the abstract in all of us and not judging yourself for its subconscious manifestation. As I believe dark necessities are part of your beautiful design.

What happens in fight club,

Burnt coffee and empty notebooks

Bitter with a hint of sweetness

A chance to love the self

Explore the feeling of a loved one

The child within

Play, joy, peace

An easy place grows ignorance

There is a freedom in darkness

Shaken vulnerabilities

A flame within the pitch black

Posted catharsis in an envelope of fear

Wake me up when I am free

If I know his plans would he be God

No fish judgements

Behind the mask

It’s okay to be splintered and broken

Heart the poetic

The known citizen

The privileged

The rat in a glorious hat

It’s a blessing I will carry within my heart

Love is a universal connection

Don’t be Fashioned by society

Creativity of the self

No fear of authority.