Philip Levine: Let Me Begin Again

Happy 2012! Over the past few months, I've taken some time off to get settled in my new home and finish a revision of my novel. There are still plenty of boxes to be unpacked and writerly tinkering to be done, but I'm back in the blogosphere and excited for the new year!

To kick things off, here is a poem by U.S. Poet Laureate, Philip Levine. In 2012, I hope we will all remember to "love this life because it is like no other."

Let Me Begin Again

by Philip Levine

Let me begin again as a speck
of dust caught in the night winds
sweeping out to sea. Let me begin
this time knowing the world is
salt water and dark clouds, the world
is grinding and sighing all night, and dawn
comes slowly and changes nothing. Let
me go back to land after a lifetime
of going nowhere. This time lodged
in the feathers of some scavenging gull
white above the black ship that docks
and broods upon the oily waters of
your harbor. This leaking freighter
has brought a hold full of hayforks
from Spain, great jeroboams of dark
Algerian wine, and quill pens that can't
write English. The sailors have stumbled
off toward the bars of the bright houses.
The captain closes his log and falls asleep.
1/10'28. Tonight I shall enter my life
after being at sea for ages, quietly,
in a hospital named for an automobile.
The one child of millions of children
who has flown alone by the stars
above the black wastes of moonless waters
that stretched forever, who has turned
golden in the full sun of a new day.
A tiny wise child who this time will love
his life because it is like no other.

Ring Out, Wild Bells: Lord Alfred Tennyson

Photo by Karen

Tennyson wrote this poem in 1850 as part of a larger work called In Memoriam. It is a call for release and renewal. Tennyson calls us to let go of old griefs, mistakes, grudges, and wars, and embrace (wildly, and with abandon!) new light, love, joy, and peace. I'm ready for some changes...how about you? Let's go ring some bells!

Ring Out, Wild Bells
by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Julia Cameron: The Artist's Way

My family may very well be sick of hearing about this book. Ever since I read it last Spring, I have been recommending it to practically everyone I know (maybe even you!) But New Year's Day is a natural time for reflection and resolutions and change, and this is a perfect book to help with all of those.

Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way is not just for artists. It is a book for anyone who wants to bring a little more creative energy & spark into their lives. She calls it a "12 step program for creative recovery". Here's how it works: you read a chapter a week for 12 weeks. Each chapter has various exercises, assignments for the week, and things to think about. I think my favorite week was when I had the assignment of writing down some of my favorite foods as a child. Then, Ms. Cameron (no relation to me) instructs you to have some of those foods during the week. I got out my mom's spaghetti recipe, had bagels and cream cheese at 11 at night, and went to the grocery store and actually bought a Skor bar (yum!)

It's these small indulgences that Ms. Cameron encourages. Nothing earth-shattering. Nothing that takes up a lot of time. Taking walks, stopping for a few minutes just to do nothing, or finding one thing you've always wanted to try (dancing lessons, flying a kite, making bread) and doing it! I, for one, spend so much of my time doing the things I should do and have to do, that I forget to take just a small amount of time out to do silly, pointless things just for fun. Between concerts, recordings, teaching, writing music, running my business, spending time with my family, and going to my day job, I have so much to do I tend to schedule every minute to be as productive as possible. If I'm not doing something that has a specific goal attached, I feel like I'm wasting valuable time.

But what I learned from The Artist's Way is that doing some reflective thinking, taking a little time out for fun, and seriously considering what it is that is most important to you can help you enjoy life in a much more focused way. You begin to see that some of those things you have to do don't really have to be done, and some of the things you really should do hadn't even made it on the list.

Re-assessing. Re-prioritizing. Fine tuning. Isn't that what New Year's is all about?

I hope you'll pick up this book. Spend some time with it. Do the things she suggests (even if they might seem silly, or crazy, or pointless at the time). I think you'll enjoy it. And it might just clarify a few things for you. At the very least, it might remind you to eat your mom's spaghetti every once in a while!

Happy New Year!