WE STAND WITH UKRAINE

WE STAND WITH UKRAINE
Disbelief at first.
Turning away.
but then ~
be OUTRAGED.
Weep for the people
Of Ukraine.
Let the horror sink in.
All the way in.
Let your heart break.
Feel the despair,
the fear. And then
be lifted by the courage,
the unity of the Ukrainian people.
The sudden remembering
of our shared humanity.
The rejection of
aggression & war
corruption & lies
killing & destruction.
Voices gather
North, South, East & West.
Raised together
for freedom, peace,
equity and solidarity.
Countries unite, people unite.
Acting from strength & compassion.
The human spirit rising
strong and clear.
No time for self-interest
Equivocation, pussy footing.
No time for arguing, bureaucracy.
No time for misplaced loyalty
for short term gain.
No time to hold on
to shady promises & dirty deals.
Time for wisdom.
For serving the common good.
Wake up. Step up. Come clean.
Turn around. It’s never too late.
Bury the hatchet.
Cast it into the sea.
Shake off the shackles of
corruption, greed & fear.
Be inspired by
Volodymyr Zelenskyy,
Ursula Von Der Leyen
Martin Kimani
Daria Kaleniuk.
Look them up
Learn their names.
And the names of many more.
So many beacons
Of strength and hope.
True leaders show up
To remind us
who we are,
Who we can be.
To inspire us
To bring hope
To speak from the heart
To act with courage
To help
To join hands
To free the oppressed
To open our arms and our hearts.
Be inspired. Be a leader.
For your children, siblings, parents, colleagues, neighbours, friends.
Reach out. Help your neighbours.
Hold loved ones close.
Speak out.
Add your hands, your feet,
Your voice
Your prayers, your words
Your art, your music
Your surplus goods
Your table, your love.
Rise up. Speak up.
Show the world.
We the people,
Stand with Ukraine.
Words by ©Juliet Fay, 2nd March 2022 Carmarthenshire
Joy: a poem an reflection

Joy: a poem an reflection

So often a fleeting state, seen as hard won or not relevant to the cut and thrust of daily life. A momentary dazzling of the senses, a peak experience, snapped for Instagram. Yet there is more to joy than meets the eye. A potent healer of self and others. A transformative, contagious state, where all that has been can be swept away in an instant as something new is revealed. How might we nourish joy in our hearts? If, as it seems to me, it is there, lurking, ready to break through the surface of our awareness at any moment, is nourishment simply relaxing into it, recognising the constricted, fearful thinking that takes us away from it?

And what of avoidance, bypassing, living in la-la land. That’s not joy. That takes as much effort, in terms of denial and wilful head in the sand blindness, as living in negativity. It just dresses itself up as positive when in fact it requires the same degree of dehumanising as its opposite, wilful cruelty.

Joy is something else. A willingness to be joyful is a good start. Knowing it brings healing is all the encouragement we could want, isn’t it? Joy in being alive, joy in the foibles and ridiculousness of ourselves and others, joy in the millions of unseen movements that make up this living, breathing planet. Joy in the fierceness of the human spirit, the resilience of the tiniest plant clinging to life on a windswept rock. Joy in being part of this unknowable, incredible whole. Joy in the journey with all its ups and downs.

What are you seeing?

A new perspective on perfectionism

A new perspective on perfectionism

PERFECTIONISM

Perfectionism has rolled back around into the spotlight. It gets a bad rap and rightly so for it tends to be used against oneself. In discussion, my partner said ‘it’s a kind of violence’. And that really landed for me. It can be violent, where it suffocates creative expression or taking action and invites us into excruciatingly, uncomfortable procrastination.

Can we expand our view of perfectionism, get a new perspective?

What even is it all about? Some imagined idea of how something should be? Holding that as the only possible outcome, seeing only how our efforts fall short of that imagined outcome? When we know, it is in taking action that new horizons appear. By letting ideas out, formed into action, new ideas occur. Mis-takes can be seen as opportunities that open up new possibilities

Perfect ~ as made

A few years ago, a dear friend told me one of the root meanings of ‘perfect’ is ‘as made’ from the Latin ‘per’ – completely and facere – to make, to do. I love that idea. Something is perfect in the sense, it has come into form, it is perfect simply as an expression of form. When we get to wondering at the miraculous diversity of form constantly showing up, then the word perfect suddenly goes far deeper.

I wonder how that would be to see ourselves too as ‘perfect’ ~ ‘as made’?

You’ll be able to hear me and Carla Royal exploring this topic on our new podcast, Riffing on Realness, launching in the Autumn. We had a blast.

What are you seeing around perfectionism?

***

PERFECTIONISM

as violence
when used
to stymie
creative action

© words & illustration Juliet Fay 2020

Reposts welcome, please just tag me and #julietkfay

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Juliet is a poet and Three Principles facilitator & mental health educator, living on a small estuary in West Wales UK, follow her Insta-poems and photograph @juliet_k_fay. Get in touch to hire her to facilitate your next poetry workshop. 

Poem: Hovering

Poem: Hovering

HOVERING

~ remain poised uncertainly in one place or between two states ~

Hovering
Shimmering
Dipping
Rising
Darting
Circling
Parting
Falling

Embracing
Awakening

Stumbling
Rising

Over and
Over again

 

© Juliet Fay 2018

Photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/animal-avian-beak-birds-372634/

 

 

Three Principles Facilitator, writer & speaker on wellbeing, creativity and enterprise

Helping individuals, groups and teams find more resilience, ease and joy in life and work. Find out more

Freelance Facilitator for Llanelli Mind. Accredited Wellbeing Mentor Coach for Wellbeing Coach Certification training for Wisdom & Wellbeing Consultancy, London, UK

“If the only thing people learned was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world.”

Sydney Banks

Poem: spiral

Poem: spiral

It is the way of things
To start at the beginning
And return home
Again and again.

Journeying through
Spirals of unknowing.
Bumping up against
Lost parts of our experience

Like amputated limbs,
Ghostly presences, felt
In the body system
Unable to depart

***

At times the heart opens
Views the world
Through Love Goggles
Rosier by the day

***

Now and then the lost part
Cries out for recognition
And Fear Goggles
Turn the lights out.

Plunging the world into
Darkness, full of shadows
Perils at every turn
Waiting to consume us

***

The spiral turns again
Love rises embracing
The lost limb
Honouring its presence

Feeling its pain and
Desolation. Its
Howl of terror
Echoing through the night

***

The limb, the part, the belief
Illuminated for the first time
Shows its magnificence
The knight in shining armour

Always keeping you safe.
And now its work is done
We humbly thank and
Praise its tireless service

The iron grip releases
The lost part dissolves
Returns to source
For a happy retirement

***

In saying farewell
There is no triumph
Or victory song.
The spiral turns

A phantom emerged
Revealed and released
Who knows what more
Will come as the spiral

Turns and turns again.

© Juliet Fay 2018

While we continue to believe that parts of our experience (emotions) must be excluded, we will experience a painful dichotomy in our experience. It is this belief itself that needs to be loved and held and accepted as being present so that it too can dissolve and fall away.. Be seen for what it is …. a thought oft repeated that has become a belief and has guided and protected us until we no longer needed its guidance and protection. Humbly thank it and wish it farewell as it departs.

***