I hope that my blog is a place where I can set up some dialogue about issues that are important to me and hear from others who share these interests.
Please see the entries listed below and feel free to leave a comment.
This poem was written by Marianne Williamson, although many others, including Nelson Mandela, have been credited with it. I suspect this is because many (including Nelson Mandela) have used these words at poignant times in their careers.
Many of you will know this but every time I read it, it still has an impact.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
This has been circulated for a long time and it seems no one knows who originally wrote it.
The 12 Symptoms of Inner Peace
Here are the twelve symptoms of inner peace...
1. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
An Autobiography in Five Short Chapters
I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in
I am lost... I am helpless
It isn't my fault
It takes forever to find my way out.
II
I walk down the same street.
Leunig has an amazing capacity to capture complex ideas in an easily understood manner. This is one of the Curly-Pyjama Letters that I love the best and have just copied out here. I recommend the rest of the letters to you too!
(From Mr. Curly to Vasco Pyjama)
Dear Vasco,
In response to your question, "What is worth doing and what is worth having?" I would like to say simply this. It is worth doing nothing and having a rest; in spite of all the difficulty it may cause, you must rest
The Goblin
I would live in awe and wonder if I knew me as another
And would marvel at this singular young woman
Yet with vigour and gentility I cut at me with constancy
And give my soul a flailing never equalied.
Onward life proceeds, the denial of my needs
The enemy within me gobbles on.
So familiar and well learned is this pattern undiscerned
That I seldom see the love that is extended
The enemy speaks true, if there's me there cant be you
And I curse a heartless world where love's not rendered
The enemy with me gobbles on.
Christine M Fitzpatrick
This is another of the poems that I love. I used it a lot in my teaching when I was lecturing at University. What I most respect about this poem is that it so skilfully connects the broader social issues of discrimination and oppression to the more individual
I have been going through some of my old files that I have kept for ages. In the process I have discovered many of the inspiring poems and words that I had collected over a number of years. I thought that some of these may be of interest to others so I will post some of my most favourite here. As always, I'd love to hear what you think.
This poem has such a lovely feel. For me, it captures a real and true sense of community and a hopefulness that any one person's actions, when connected to others, will create change.
from 'Conflict'
All I can do is drift on the wind,
Concentrate, spinning, trailing the thread of gossamer
That has my distinctive sound.
Anchoring now and then, pulling the thread tight
Twisting secure, mingling notes, as my feet dust the silk of another spinner.
I have never seen the whole web.
I know it is there.
Each thread strengthening, building with the possibility that some day the web will shake
With joyous dancing.
There is a cradle of sound that catches me and leads me in that pattern beyond me
That I dance to in my dreams.
A community that gives me life.
Jane Murphy.
I am currently re-reading the very first book I ever read on trauma – and I still think it’s one of the best. The book is by Judith Lewis Herman entitled “Trauma and Recovery: From Domestic Violence to Political Terror[1].” Apart from recommending this book to you as a wonderful insight into both the personal and social dynamics of trauma, she tells a wonderful story about Freud which I will try to briefly capture here.
I have been very moved over the past weeks by the community spirit in response to the Queensland floods. It seems that our capacity for kindness and compassion, both in relation to those we know and to strangers, is in abundance at the moment.
I am currently working on an article about social work's role in social change. I believe that this has been a question within the profession of social work since its inception. My concern is that in these increasingly conservative times, social work has taken on a more conservative approach to change
I recently participated in the Peakcare Confronting Silence Conference as a Keynote Speaker and in delivering a Masterclass which all participants were able to attend.
I'm sure that those who attended would agree that it was a marvellous conference and I certainly learnt a lot from the participants and from the other Keynote Speakers - Allan Wade and Hugh Mackay.
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