Wings to Fly

Poetry by Jeanne Ripley
Photographs by Joanne Chilton


Choices
You choose this place
to tell me a truth I would not face,
because you know I can not escape.

Still, even with your hand in mine,
out there seems real
and inside are fears I cannot name.

Jeanne Ripley, Author, Speaker, Nurse: Taking Wings...Tips For Writing Inspirational Poetry

Jeanne Ripley, Author, Speaker, Nurse: Taking Wings...Tips For Writing Inspirational Poetry

Taking Wings...Tips For Writing Inspirational Poetry

Taking Wings ...

A Poetry Session with Jeanne Ripley

If you have been trying to write poems and sense they lack substance, it may be that you need to go deeper into your experience. Does this resonate for you? If so, read below for more. As you know, writing poetry requires each word to count. It is often difficult to find the balance of enough words so that we connect with the reader but not having so many words that the reader loses interest.

When I was writing for my first book, Wings to Fly, I threw away several poems because I realized that I didn’t have passion or a focus. I believe that when we draw from a deeper well of passion, ideas and words flow easier. I asked myself: Why am I not writing about what is central to my life? When I did that, my focus became spiritual growth : the crossroads where science and spirituality meet.

It also helped me to write from a photograph. If you take a look at the sneak preview of Wings to Fly at www.jeanneripley.com the first poem is called Choices. It’s also the first poem in the book.

We want to write so that the reader is drawn into the poem and can relate it to her/his own life experience but not make it so narrow that most people cannot find themselves within the message.

Have a read and tell me what you think. Did you see yourself and your own story in the space of the poem and photograph? Would you like to share what that story is: a breakup of a relationship, an illness?

Learn and have fun with this: share your thoughts and comments.

Which One Are You?

Do you operate more from heart or brain?

The way of the heart is collaboration as opposed to competition. It is the way of a balanced life rather than a fast paced life that is full of stress. It is accepting a little less and having a caring and loving orientation to others and the world. It is being available to help someone else.

Would others describe you as having a good heart, as a good listener and someone who is a pleasure to be with? Or, are people anxious around you? Do you frequently respond in anger and try to control situations and people?

Have you considered why we are bored by a walk in the park, sitting in the hammock swing with a cup of coffee? We are often not comfortable with just being because our brain tells us to do. We must always achieve, work on the next goal. It is the way of the heart to be and the way of the brain to do.

Our heart wants us to connect and to be patient, to be open to subtlety ...what attracts you, what turns you away. We attract congenial people when we are pleasant and kind to others.

Our hearts way is to walk gently in the world, to be thoughtful in our responses to others. It is to treat others as we hope to be treated: with sensitivity.

Dr. P. Pearsall says that our life energy is who we are. We don't send it or recieve it. We simply connect. The mystery of who we are is not just embedded in our thoughts about the here and now or our past (memories) but our nature. Given a chance, we can tune into our hearts energy once we slow dowm, become an observer of our thoughts and actions and just turn our thoughts off for awhile.

Jeanne Ripley, Author, Speaker, Nurse: Mind or Heart?

Jeanne Ripley, Author, Speaker, Nurse: Mind or Heart?

Mind or Heart?

How do we listen to our heart to find out just what it might tell us?

Our brain, our mind tends to be the insistent voice, the voice that wants us to believe that it knows all there is to know. Hearts think just as minds do. It has been known for many years now that our heart is much more than a mechanical pump. Neale Donald Walsch, from Conversations With God, has said that we will not find truth about ourselves from our mind.

Your heart holds the key and therefore the wisdom of living within our own truth, our authenticity, our quiet, inner knowing voice. Our heart holds the wisdom of this moment, whereas the mind wants to go to the past and continue to live our same patterns and replay our memory tapes.

You can cultivate the ability to listen to your heart with practice. Be quiet with yourself. Focus on your heart, breathe deeply, imagine breathing in life energy and breathing out tension and doubt. Relax and give yourself this time to just be. It's not wasted time, by any means. Think of it as getting in touch with your essence, your creativity and love.

As you go within, let any thoughts go that are not loving thoughts. Loving thoughts take us to a higher vibrational level which will then open us into heart consciousness.

Going within also includes being present with all of our feelings-they may not all be positive but by embracing/accepting them, we are accepting ourselves, loving ourselves. And, we are not able to extend love to others if we cannot love ourselves.

Listening to our heart requires patience, as well as, practice. It does have information to share and, I have found, that the information is not always what we want to hear. For example, your heart may be telling you that you have to slow down, to rest. You feel that you simply cannot do that because of bills to pay, projects to complete, but, you will be shut down, now or later, if you continue to ignore the wisdom of the heart.

It helps me to think of the brain as the organ of competition, whereas the heart is one of cooperation.

I invite your questions or comments.

Sept.28,2009 Intention & Listening to our Heart

Almost two weeks ago, on Sept.17th, I was one of thousands of people who logged in to Lynne McTaggert's Intention Experiment. It is a great experience to know that you are part of a global intention that involves powering up/meditating and focusing on a target.This was one for water...to change the molecular structure so that the sample tapwater in a petri dish become more like mineral water.

You might find it interesting to check out her websites: www.theintentionexperiment.com
and www.livingthefield.com

DID YOU KNOW...

• Someone else can identify an angry heart if the smile is thin, eyes are wide, chin is jutting outwards & the cheeks are bulging
• Someone else can identify your disgust if your lips are to the side and your nose is wrinkled.
• Absence does not make the heart grow fonder since our heart needs close physical contact ... in fact, Dr. Pearsall says that frequent physical proximity profoundly increases the energetic connection between the two people.
• We need quiet time together, more frequently to increase bonding
• While our brain is attracted to opposites, our heart is attracted to similarities.
• The heart wants to listen and the brain wants to be assertive.

Interesting to consider. This information and more in The Heart's Code helped me to understand which thoughts originate in my head versus my heart.