Imaginal Journal
Imagination is Medicine
Invisible Work
Invisible Work
Because no one could ever praise me enough,
because I don't mean these poems only
but the unseen
unbelievable effort it takes to live
the life that goes on between them,
I think all the time about invisible work.
About the young mother on Welfare
I interviewed years ago,
who said, "It's hard.
You bring him to the park,
run rings around yourself keeping him safe,
cut hot dogs into bite-sized pieces fro dinner,
and there's no one
to say what a good job you're doing,
how you were patient and loving
for the thousandth time even though you had a headache."
And I, who am used to feeling sorry for myself
because I am lonely,
when all the while,
as the Chippewa poem says, I am being carried
by great winds across the sky,
thought of the invisible work that stitches up the world day and night,
the slow, unglamorous work of healing,
the way worms in the garden
tunnel ceaselessly so the earth can breathe
and bees ransack this world into being,
while owls and poets stalk shadows,
our loneliest labors under the moon.
There are mothers
for everything, and the sea
is a mother too,
whispering and whispering to us
long after we have stopped listening.
I stopped and let myself lean
a moment, against the blue
shoulder of the air. The work
of my heart
is the work of the world's heart.
There is no other art.
by Alison Luterman
Beginnings
Jung's First Mandala. "This is the first mandala I constructed in the year 1916, wholly unconscious of what it meant." ~ Carl Jung. / Sacred Geometry
Excited to begin a new chapter in my work and be at the helm of building a budding Hakomi community in the city I love, LA. It felt incredibly aligned to start our first training on Wilshire Blvd, a road my grandfather, Ciro, helped to construct long long ago. In my soul I know my paternal line and father have been dedicated in service to this unfolding, as I am part of this first generation to experience work that is not just labor but a labor of love and offer it to this city of Angels.
Loveless by Lo Moon
Crosses in the distance bells ring fast
Loveless in our shelter time will pass
Would you take a chance on us?
Could you take a chance on us?
Call out to the lonely with regrets
Loveless is your answer time will pass
Couldn't take a chance on us
Couldn't take a chance on us
Take my hand
In belief we trace our steps
Understand
No relief in silhouettes
Battled myself so many times
What I was isn't what I want now
We can seek denial and search for miles
Blessed love the love I need
Rolling drums the loveless bleed
Take my hand
In belief we trace our steps
Understand
No relief in silhouettes
Sister by Angel Olsen
I saw it in her eyes
All it wasn't what she said
She came together like a dream
That I didn't know I had
From the sleeping life I lead
All the colours I've seen
I can't help but recognize
The brighter one in front of me
Oh the truth I thought I learned
And then it finally came along
Turned around and then it's there
All the love I thought was gone
I want to know you
I want to show you
I want to be there
I want to see her
Piece us together
Know it's forever
Show me the future
Tell me you'll be there
I want to go where
Nobody knows fear
I want to follow
My heart down that wild road
Everywhere I go
I can see your face
Alive and gone at once
Hey, it's the way I see this place
And though this blessing was a curse
Before I opened up my heart
You learn to take it as it comes
You fall together, fall apart
I want to know you
I want to show you
I want to be there
I want to see her
Live it through your eyes
Piece us together
Know that this wild road
Will go on forever
I want to live life
I want to die right
Next to you
All my life I thought I'd change
Creativity is Sacred
“Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise—you can make anything. So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”