Birth of Poetry Evolution Blog

Filed under: Musings — Hari Bhajan at 5:02 pm on Friday, June 2, 2006

Dear Poets and Friends of Poetry Evolution

A new evolution, a revolution has begun. A blog. A way for you and I and you and you to talk about poetry, about spirit, about life and poetry and spirit. A way for you to find out what’s happening in poetry, as I know it. A way to link to some of my favorite sites. A way to send in your poems and read other poets. It’s just a beginning, but it’s really been underway for a long time. It’s evolution, after all.

Plans for the Near Future: Poetry Evolution School...Yes, Hari Bhajan (that would be me) is stepping out there offering new ways to grow in your poetry and in your life. I am, after all a Life Coach and a Poet, so why not marry the two and get on with it. It’s been brewing now, this idea of facilitating online poetry “classes” for about a year. (We Taurus’s can be slow sometimes.) I wanted a way to talk to you on a more regular basis and have you talk back (well, nicely, of course). I believe in dialogue. I believe in community. And I thrive on seeing others thrive. Well, back to what’s in the plans…the classes, yes and weekly postings, possibly more. I’ll have to get in the swing of this and see what’s going to be fun and what might be overkill. I do like to write, but, hey, I don’t want to bore you to death.

Already this week I’ve learned that I probably won’t need a website, that all I want to do can be done here on the blog, such as: an archive of all past Poetry Evolution e-letters by date, book recommendations, events, readings and workshops that I’m either involved in or highly recommend, alongwith postings and descriptions of what is happening at Poetry Evolution School with upcoming sessions and a secure pay-on-line option. Can you see how ultra-sophisticated I’m getting (really just catching up with the times)?

In the Long Run…This is even more exciting, because I don’t know what is going to happen. One thing I am working on is writing a book. Yes, dear poets and friends of poetry. The writings, my notes, musings, ramblings from Poetry Evolution have been calling me to sit down and put them in some kind of order and get them into the hands of more folks. It’s hard to know how this all is going to unfold–impossible, in fact–but when you hear the call you have to answer. Life is just more rewarding and challenging–and don’t those two go together most of the time?

As for anything else in the future, I’ll have to get some dream time in soon to see what’s out there. For now, I’m thrilled to be up and running with this blog-thing. Thanks so much to Sopurkh Singh for pointing me in the right direction. He’ll be my blog and web guide in the next few months as Poetry Evolution evolves (enough already). I invite you all to post your thoughts, what you’d like to see on the blog, in poetry courses or on the website. You undoubtedly have some great ideas that would save me a lot of dream time coming up with on my own.

What I want you to know is that this blog is not about me–although I am its steward. Just as so many of you, I am pushing to break through, to go beyond what I was ever told I could or would do. I am defeated in many small ways every day, but in the end, when I exhale my final breath, I want to know that I have triumphed–that my life was the best that I could do! I want that for you too. It’s the only thing that matters.

So, join in. Write a few lines. Share a poem.

I believe in poetry. I believe in love. I believe in the human spirit.
Hari Bhajan

12 Comments »

2

Comment by Ignatius Valentine Aloysius

June 2, 2006 @ 7:44 pm

Let me be the first (or one of the first) to congratulate you on starting your Poetry Evolution Blog, Hari Bhajan — and your school, too. I wish you all the success you deserve.

I happened to watch a segment on the Jim Lehrer News Hours this evening, on PBS, which was about the national poetry contest for high schoolers. It was quite good and made me think of you.

Thanks for your emails.

With best wishes,
Ignatius

3

Comment by Hari Bhajan

June 3, 2006 @ 9:59 am

Ignatius, So good to hear from you and see you in my mind and heart. How goes the writing? How goes ADP? So much going on there. Thanks for being the first being to be on my blog. It is an honor. This is all so new to me. I’m on a fairly steep learning curve. But…most of it is fun. Peace, love, light. HB

4

Comment by Liza

June 4, 2006 @ 4:33 am

Dearest Friend-

I feel a new era dawning here on the web.

You are brave to attempt this “blog” thing and frankly, for my money, quite good at it. What is a “blog” anyway but another way to hear and be heard. Another way for souls to find one another. We need all the different avenues we can uncover that feed and nourish connection to and with one another. Thank you dear Hari Bhajan. Reading your blog this morning was an absolute delight.

With love from your faithful disciple-
Liza

5

Comment by Gurprasad Kaur

June 5, 2006 @ 7:34 pm

Dear Hari Bhajan Kaur,

I continue to delight in the written word as it comes through You! Your many and varied forms of expression amaze, inspire, touch and tickle me so…and I love your pictures and bio. What a wonderful way to share yourself with all of us!

Your real and down to earth approach makes it feel very user friendly (for techno-idiots like me!) I wish you much joy and discovery on this new journey and thank you so much for providing this beautiful forum for community and connection.

Love,
Gurprasad Kaur

6

Comment by Tamara

June 6, 2006 @ 4:28 am

Hi Hari Bhajan,

what a great idea! I think of blogs like fields where you thow out a handful of he “wildflower mix” of seeds and see what comes up.

While I know this place will be beyond the ADP borders, I do miss hearing all the talented writers that always seemed to be there during cycles.

Still gulping oodles of Yogi tea, my drink of choice!

looking forward to lurking about

Tamara

7

Comment by Retha

June 6, 2006 @ 1:01 pm

Hari Bhajan,

I must say you’ve inspired me to get of my ass and write again, and for that - Thank you. I’ve been stuck for awhile, even though, I’ve been telling people I’m working on a manuscript. It was mostly in my mind. So much good will come from your new endeavor. I know it.

Love,

Retha

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Comment by Hari Bhajan

June 6, 2006 @ 4:33 pm

So many of my favorite people…Ignatius, Gurprasad, Tamara, Liza, Retha, All of you and the ones who couldn’t figure out how the heck to leave a message. I love you. Come back, bring something you’ve written, start your own blog and we’ll become blog buddies. Oh, God. What a crazy deal is this world. Tamara, how’s the art? What’s your website? Do you have one? Retha, go for it on that memoir…I want to read it. Ignatius, your story needs to be told, as well. And, Liza, you, you are going to write yours. Gurprasad, such a beautiful voice, a singer, a teller of tales. Let’s rise up and do our thing. It’s all about that one wild and precious life. HariB

10

Comment by Tamara

June 8, 2006 @ 5:28 am

Hi Hari Bhajan.

As a matter of fact I did do my site some of the work you saw in Vermont is up plus a lot of other stuff. Most of the winter and spring I was attending to family business. My grandfather/father passed end of January which was really the end of an era for me. Then Charlotte, and then another dear dear person in my life, a second mother. So it that I am in the grieving process but it all seems to have shifted in the last couple of weeks and last weekend I just started to paint like crazy!

My best, best, best, news is my pup Bear. He showed up 3 weeks before my Grandfather died and it’s a nice tie in with the rest of the doggy posts. I have learned so much from this boy, he’s all heart! If I can figure out how to post a pic I will. I call him chunky Pom, he’s a 12lb creme Pomeranian.

I saw “Inconvenient Truth” last night, really really this message needs to be seen. We can do something about Global Warming. As the movie so beautifully shows, with footage of hurricanes, our Mother (Gaia, Earth) is begging us to wake up. There are many mechanisms in place that are natural events to preserve the balance of our planet and this movie really shows in a simple way how we are creating our own catastrophic natural disasters.

Anyway I have a great summer planned for myself, going to Chartes, doing an Anusara workshop, and even a vision quest, and now I can read tons of Poetry to boot!

11

Comment by Hari Bhajan

June 8, 2006 @ 12:08 pm

Tamara–Loved your website…
Love all the color, the images, the depth of connection there…and the fun. Really like “Swan Circles.” Going to Chartes!! Wow! What’s an Anusara workshop? Yoga, meditation, Art? Love to have a picture of your pup. Email it to me and I’ll put it on the site. The more puppies the merrier! Also, send a photo of an art piece and I’ll post it with your site address. In the spirit of Charlotte and all great souls who seek to inspire and love may we always walk in peace and kindness. HB

12

Comment by Liza

June 15, 2006 @ 2:58 pm

Hi All-

Went to a dinner party and reading last night with Sebastian Junger of “The Perfect Storm” fame. He has a new book in the pipeline called “A Death In Belmont”. His story is very similar to my Costa story. I was mezmerized as he lectured on what makes a story interesting, his take is that ambiguity does, and his in depth research on the way memory works. I suppose it’s no surprise to all you poets out there that memory actually works in images rather than storylines. This suddenly seems so clear to me. I know I had heard this before or read it somewhere before but for whatever reason, listening to him talk, it felt like the first time. So for all of you writers out there, trust the images that come. I’ve spent alot of time questioning them but now I think they may be the true path to the center.

Love
Liza

13

Comment by Hari Bhajan

June 17, 2006 @ 11:00 am

Liza…I’m intrigued by this concept of following the images, not the storyline. I know when I write if I relax and allow myself to tune in to the inner images, as well as what I am experiencing through my senses they will lead me to very intriguing and unusual places, whereas when I’m caught in what I think should transpire the poem or essay usually turns out dull and lifeless. I picture the difference between skipping and trudging. Is this your understanding, Liza? Anyone else?

15

Comment by Liza

June 19, 2006 @ 6:20 am

Yes, yes definitely. Or the difference between fighting and praying. War and peace…..

I also loved his assertion that the real “story” if you will, lies in the ambiguity that surrounds and envelops the facts. The fact itself, i.e. I went to the store and bought bread, is wholly uninteresting by itself. However, it’s the things that happened on the way to the store that could ignite enough passion to become a workable piece of writing. Further, the things that happened on the way to the store don’t necessarily wrap up nicely upon my return home. Some things may, and probably are unresolved. That lack of resolution, according to Junger, is not only the most interesting part of the story, it’s the very reason the story exists at all.

More to come………..
Lots of love

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