What Comes from Silence, Episode 101

What happens when we slow down enough to make contact with the wisdom, care and depth that arises from the silent background of our lives? And how do we stop running from life so that we can do this?

A conversation about patience, creativity, and the gifts of relationship, with Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.

Here’s Episode 101 of Turning Towards Life, a weekly live 30 minute conversation hosted by Thirdspace in which Justin Wise and Lizzie Winn dive deep into big questions of human living. Find us on FaceBook to watch live and join in the lively conversation on this episode. We’re also on YouTube, and as a podcast on Apple, Google and Spotify.

You can also download the mp3 audio file here.

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How to be a Poet

Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.

– Wendell Berry, from 'The Gift of Gravity'

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Photo by Clement Souchet on Unsplash