Literature Link for March 13, 2022 — Wu-Wei

• “Sifter” by Naomi Shihab Nye [poem] “When our English teacher gave us our first writing invitation of the year, / Become a kitchen implement / in 2 descriptive paragraphs,”

I was so taken with this poem, I wish I was still teaching, just for one day and this piece.

http://poetryprosedrama.blogspot.com/2010/10/sifter-by-naomi-shihab-nye.html

For an audio: “Sifter” by Naomi Shihab Nye — YouTube

• Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness in Singing With Others by Stacy Horn. Here is an NPR interview with the author [30 min] discussing her book and how singing together creates a oneness, a being a part of it all. It includes the input from a scientist on the neurochemistry of group singing. “So I’ll be singing around voices that are singing something different than myself, and because of that, you actually feel the harmony more. I mean, it’s like you’re vibrating like tuning forks with all the people around you.” [audio & transcript] https://www.npr.org/2013/06/03/188355968/imperfect-harmony-how-chorale-singing-changes-lives

• “The Art of Now: Six Steps to Living in the Moment” by Jay Dixit. [non-fiction] From the magazine, Psychology Today is this discussion about being in the moment, in the now. “Perhaps the most complete way of living in the moment is the state of total absorption psychologists call flow. Flow occurs when you’re so engrossed in a task that you lose track of everything else around you. Flow embodies an apparent paradox: How can you be living in the moment if you’re not even aware of the moment? The depth of engagement absorbs you powerfully, keeping attention so focused that distractions cannot penetrate. . .Noticing imbues each moment with a new, fresh quality.” https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/200811/the-art-now-six-steps-living-in-the-moment

• “The Patience of Ordinary Things” by Pat Schneider. [poem] “It is a kind of love, is it not? How the cup holds the tea,” https://www.mindfulnessassociation.net/words-of-wonder/the-patience-of-ordinary-things-pat-schneider/

In faith,

Dale Dunnigan