A NEW JOURNEY…
How interesting… the similar spelling of the words journey and journal. I looked up their derivation and it was a shared origin – the French word “jour”, meaning day, with journal originally meaning to record each day. While I don’t “record” daily, my journals line two shelves in my ”sanctuary.” They are my treasures. Going back fifty years, they hold many memories, concerns, joys and, in the case of my passion for supporting others in their final days, my processing of experiences with dying individuals.
Vigil: The Poetry of Presence’s poetry comes from two journals. Quite a surprise to me, when thumbing through the two journals, was my awareness of my use of poetry for processing moments of wonder, mystery and uncertainty… there were 85 poems sprinkled throughout the two books, along with occasional sketches and more expansive writing. My process. There it was before me. My safe haven that assists me in moving forward and, in the moment of re-reading, brings back memories that swell the tides of the richness and fullness of my life.