Welcome to a poetic and philosophic blog about the struggles of life and relationship.

“The ambiguity of life exists in every creative process. In every creative process of life, a destructive trend is implied; in every integrating process of life, a disintegrating trend; in every process toward the sublime, a profanizing trend.”(Paul Tillich, Ph.D., from The Meaning of Health, 1981)

Life cannot exist without the essential possibility and existential reality of death. Life is impossible without the daily, chaotic struggle against death... against the unremitting threat of entropy and nothingness. As Tillich again informs us, “Life must risk itself daily in order to win itself, but in the risking it may lose itself. A life which does not risk death--even in the highest forms of the life of the spirit--is a life poorly lived." This willingness to risk ourselves for greater life is the key that opens the door to the wellspring of creativity deep inside of us... that wellspring of transformative vitality that propels us through the struggle of death into the richness and renewal of new life.

"Creativity is 'the elixir of life' that heals and transforms life. Through the creative process we enter that 'sacred place,' that zone of evolution where the world lights up to itself as we light up to the world. It is here, in that 'holiest of holy' places that we are reunited with the waters of the wellspring of creativity, The Source of the 'River of Life' from which all creative energy and vitality issue forth to be manifested as new life. Through every creative act, life fulfills itself. Through every creative act, we transcend the mortality of our separate ego-self of I and enter into the realm of immortality to become one with our contextual self as Thou, as a self-realized collaborator in creation. Through creativity, we are delivered from the chaos of illness into the dynamic order of new life."
(P. Donovan & Herb Joiner Bey from The Face of Consciousness, 2006)

Please join me on this courageous venture of life and "enter into the realm of immortality," the realm of dialogue and relationship by poetically sharing with this community, your struggles to live... to "nullify the unremitting recurrences of death" through the continuous recurrence of birth. Through dialogue and relationship, the Face of consciousness is seen, recognized and witnessed. It is your Face, my Face, the Face of all life, the Face of our God. Thank you, Patrick.


Tuesday, July 13, 2010


What Song Do You Sing Alone?


What song do you sing alone?

What sweet and joyful melody

arises from the shattered pieces

of your broken dreams

when there is no one to listen,

no promise of approval...

no bows,

no cheers,

just you alone

and the eternal emptiness

of the long, dark night of your soul?


What dance do you dance when there is no music…

no step to guide you,

no tango or ballet,

no partner to hold you up

when your limbs have been amputated

by the scalpel blade of desire

and the only rhythm you know

is the pound, pound, pounding of your heart

as you find yourself “going much too gently into that dark night?”


The song that sings you;

Do you hear it?


The dance that moves you;

Do you feel it?

© p. donovan

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3 comments:

  1. snowoneJuly 13, 2010 at 1:56 PM

    Enjoyed seeing your post/update here! And yes, IT moves like being lead across a dance floor.

    Love how the universe swirls up around us in serendipitous timing...

    your poem's spiral aligns with another shared with my be a friend just this AM --- "Sweet Darkness" by David Whyte from The House of Belonging

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patrick Donovan, N.D.July 15, 2010 at 3:44 PM

    Thanks, Brian!

    Yes, I know "The House of Belonging" and David Whyte's poems. I will look up "Sweet Darkness."

    Ya know, Brian, I think I may have even been in the house of belonging once... trying to get back to it like the rest of us.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 18, 2010 at 9:57 PM

    The ancient Celts spoke of the House of Belonging as the body holding the soul. I think
    of it as the welcoming place at my center where
    I experience relationships in singular, indelible moments. Like Indra's net, we both influence and receive. Nothing good is ever lost.
    Judi

    ReplyDelete

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