We move forward in this conversation about the poetry of transformation as two accomplished poets look at the small daily practices that help them be fully present in the moment, and in their lives.
One practice is listening: not only to what may be said in a spoken conversation, but a deep inner listening to the messages and inspiration that may be percolating or nudging from the inside. It's the capacity to pull back from the ever-diluting busyness of life that encroaches on the senses, on one's attention, and presence of mind. Finding the discipline to call yourself to be present to the fullness of the here and now.
There is also what might be called the poetic vantage point; to see something from above, the bird's eye view, and then have the
capacity to move so closely into the microscopic view to magnify something very small to be profoundly large, to the exclusion of all else. Moving from the very small to the very large is perhaps part of the hydraulic lift of poetry, the capacity to soar.
What are we saying? We're saying that in natural processes, and in ourselves, transformation is emergent when different octaves - different realms with different levels of the process - seem to be able to find each other in one space, in a unifying crucible that allows that process to be revealed.
Libby Wagner
One of my favorite ways of being is in wonder and curiosity. What if? What about? Why? I’m drawn to conversations and contemplations about the Beautiful Questions in human life. As a poet, I walk about trying to name things, to use my sensory experience in the world to make sense of it, even when I know that I’m trying to say the "unsayable." This doesn’t deter me from trying to connect, express, reveal. In my organizational work, I create spaces and places where people can connect with their artistry to arrive transformed by their conversations and their creations.
Holly Thomas
The right poem at the right time can loosen, trigger, or buttress almost anything. As intimate catalysts, poems distill and extend our experience—sharing everything from fear to relief, and from dismay to benediction.
As an editor, poet, and painter, I often teeter between creation and critique—with the risk of stifling creation by prematurely attempting to interpret or refine it. But when I find my balance and trust what is emerging, something with a life and agency of its own seems to enter the world. What happens next depends on those it touches.
Aviv Shahar
Aviv is the Founder of Aviv Consulting, helping leaders unleash strategic innovation, and is the author of Create New Futures: How Leaders Produce Breakthroughs and Transform the World Through Conversation.
