So what do I want to have in common with a killer whale mom?
This probably isn’t the question that you’ve been wishing I’d answer, but I’ll tell you anyway: it’s not a hunger for seals; it’s not my weight; it’s that when an orca mother’s reproductive years are finished, she uses her life experience to guide the pod.
The Wisdom of Women’s Voices
Sometimes we can forget that our experience is our greatest asset; we often get rewarded for following other’s lead, for doing things the “right” way—but we often don’t get much training in how to tap into the wisdom of our own experience.
I feel that it’s my calling to use my experience not only to help guide others, but also to help others—and especially women—use their experience to tap into their insights and the authentic power of their unique voice and vision so that we can form a collection of wise sisters—and brothers—leading us forward.
The Power of Poetry–and my book party!
For me, poetry has been a way to listen more deeply—to distill the wisdom of my experience, and to be open to how that changes over time.
I hope you’ll join me this week, if you’re local, to celebrate the publication of The High Shelf at my book launch party Thursday, October 24th at the LIlypad in Inman square from 7:30-9:30 pm (see more below)
I’ll have books for sale there.
If you’re not local, or if you can’t come that night, you can also order books at the following link: https://nadiacolburn.com/the-high-shelf/
And this month, when you buy the book, you can also get lots of free supplemental material!
More Exciting Free Events
I’m also excited to be part of my good friend Natalie Matushenko’s online summit Extraordinary Life After 40. The summit is FREE and starts TODAY and shares interviews with more than 40 women teachers about how to tap into living our best lives after 40. You can sign up for free here.
Finally, on Saturday, November 2nd from 2-4:45 at the Arlington Center, I’m leading a FREE live workshop: Listening to Your Body and Your Inner Voice: Yoga, Meditation, Writing and Poetry Workshop
This workshop helps you tap into the wisdom of your body to access your authentic story, voice, peace, and power. It is accessible for people with any level of yoga and writing experiences. Come ready to sweat, write, listen deeply, and relax deeply.
Poem
I want to share one of my relatively new poems about coming to realize the power of my own experiences.
The poem poured out of me one day, as if it were writing itself.
It’s about coming out the other side of struggle–and stepping out of the body of a whale! So I thought it would be an appropriate poem to share here.
This poem is also part of the supplemental material that you get when you buy my book this month. (Again, you can see more about that here)
Fortune
I needed to step through myself to arrive
at myself
Through the gate of my own fear
lay my belonging.
How was that?
What I most did not want to encounter
rose above me with its fire-breathing mouth,
pelted me with stones, buried me
in the dark earth, pulled
me under its white waters,
left me, suspended, in the ethers, too far
from any others to hear my long, sharp cry—
and still
I came back.
The blue sky out my window.
My children’s belly laugh.
My beloved’s hand.
I walked back into my own
life like Jonah coming out
of the whale, stepping back
through the bowels of my own body,
through my chest, my mouth, amazed
at my own immensity.
If you like this post, you might also like this one: https://nadiacolburn.com/the-benefits-of-yoga-and-writing-together/
As always, please share this with friends who might be interested and reach out if you have any thoughts to share with me.