Common Threads

National Cheese Pizza Day is a great day to remember that quite often, a thing in its simplest, most humble form is at its pinnacle – because it’s as real as it gets. In Dictionary for a Better World, the word I’m meditating on throughout the day is humility.

One of the things I love most about the book journey is the way the illustrator sends me on a discovery of thought on each page. I hadn’t noticed at first, but the word humility on pages 48 & 49 is in all-caps, each letter dressed a lot like Joseph in a coat of many colors – except one lower-case i, wearing a modest white robe, standing in the middle of its letter friends. The letter i is modeling what it means to show humility – right along with the lines of the triolet, it is not seeking praise or trying to be noticed or shouting look at me!

Cheers to the illustrator, Mehrdokht Amini, for her always-amazing illustrations throughout the book!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

It’s National Wildlife Day – a day full of wonder about the creatures around us! As I continue along the journey of visiting each of the words in Dictionary for a Better World, I am blessed that my day began on the shore of Lake Juliette in middle Georgia. While walking my dogs, I saw a heron flying through the early morning mist, gliding low over the surface of the water, a fish in its grasp.

That sight took me back to the feelings of wonder and awe I felt recently while visiting Alaska and admiring the wildlife there. Bald eagles swooped down to catch fish and soared overhead in abundance as we walked through Ketchikan. Whales put on shows all along the inside passage from Seattle to Juneau, and harbor seals basked on the rocks. Seals napped on icebergs with their young as we watched in wonder, whispering our tamed excitement so that we didn’t scare them away.

I’d purchased a zoom lens just before the trip so that I could capture the memories on camera and look back at them to keep me always, always excited about the next adventure. I’m sharing a flooding of wildlife photos today on the blog – it’s a day of wonder as I honor National Wildlife Day with old memories and look forward to new ones as well! Please share your photos – I love seeing wildlife photos almost as much as I enjoy taking them.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

What better way to join in the celebration of team spirit than by celebrating National Bowling League Day? I was once a member of a league – The Early Risers, we called ourselves, since the bowling started at 8 a.m. with coffee and donuts on Tuesdays. We took turns bowling and handed off the babies to each other as we did. It took teamwork on many levels to make it all happen when our children were little, but we knew that spirit!

Today’s poem is an etheree, a poem of ten lines with that many syllables in each line, in descending or ascending order with number of syllables (10-1 or 1-10). Anna Roseboro challenged us to write etherees during an Open Write in April 2021. You can read mine here; it’s based on Paul Laurence Dunbar’s We Wear the Mask.

Glenda Funk, too, challenged us in that same group. Here is another etheree I wrote about morning playtime with my dog, Boo Radley – whose concept of team is a little different:

Challenge from Glenda Funk:  Write an Etheree poem.  10 lines, with each numbered line having that many syllables in it.

Morning Standoff

tail
wagging
beckoning
raising bottom
guarding his knot toy
chinning floor, front legs flat
cutting vicious eyes at me
daring me to move a muscle
growling an invitation to die
angels fear to tread in morning standoffs

In what ways do you work as a team?

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

On National Lazy Mom’s Day, celebrate the Sheroes and Heroes in your life! Today’s word in Dictionary for a Better World is Shero, a she hero! While a lazy mom is an oxymoron, moms deserve more rest ~ they need us to pitch in! I’m remembering my Shero today. Dad was remembering her yesterday as he dug through boxes of memorabilia. He texted me some sweet memories of her. I thanked him for today’s post – it’s full of heart – like the heart poem on page 84 of the book.

Her sewing started early. The rocker  pin and thread chair was a Vacation Bible School craft project as a girl. She was a pro dress maker.
     She made her own prom dress. Can you imagine how special the time and effort she put into this for her date? (—me!)
      She saved patterns, buttons, etc.
       I sort through all this and….you know? It is loving catharsis that deepens gratitude.
       She was special. She made at least a dozen dresses during our courtship. This day is different I know! I sit and relive her love and weep.

I asked Dad: where do you suppose her heart was in all of this? He knew : (-me!)

On this day, thank the sheroes in your life – and remember those whose legacies you celebrate. Do something special in their honor and memory to make the world a better place today!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

There’s no rhyme nor rhythm to today’s title – – that’s intentional. It’s National No Rhyme nor Reason Day. My word of the day in Dictionary for a Better World is zest. The featured poem on these pages is a ghazal, written in couplets using repetition. I wrote a ghazal on July 20, 2020 that you can read here. It’s a little uncomfortable, honestly, to look back on poems written over time to see where we were emotionally in the world of 2020, but in that particular poem I was getting ready to start a new job with the L4GA Literacy Grant, which seeks to build readers and writers from birth through high school in the state of Georgia, and it improved my outlook on the future – as a career and in the world in general

What I love most about the pages today is the art. When I think of zest, I often think “spicy,” like a bottle of Zesty Italian Vinaigrette dressing. Looking at today’s art on the page, it is a picture made of seeds and spices – and coffee beans. I could stare at this for hours, taking in the design of the dress and the little clove feet of the girl in the picture. The zest and enthusiasm for such creativity is exactly the nod the authors are giving today – an enthusiasm and zeal for life that flavors our world. As I set out for the L4GA Summit in Lake Blackshear Resort in Cordele, Georgia, I’ll challenge myself to keep a zestful outlook today!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

National Trail Mix Day – a great way to plan for stamina for the journey! The featured poem today in Dictionary for a Better World as I delve into the word exercise is a Golden Shovel, which uses a striking line from Maya Angelou, nothing will work unless you do, at the end of each line that reads vertically. Here is a poem that I wrote that appears in the book Rhyme and Rhythm: Poems for Student Athletes.

A Golden Shovel Tribute to Athletes

some days when the body resists – make

room to persist, cheering yourself through the hoops

in slumps, jump higher to tackle

your hurdles, to bat

heart-stopping grand-slam homeruns

for the love of the game, with

the grit of a true athlete – discover your

unimaginable power to accomplish the impossible

This striking line in bold is taken from Mary Oliver’s poem “Evidence” – Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable. I placed my striking line at the beginning of each line.

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

On National Grief Awareness Day, compassion is one way to express our kindness and concern to those who are experiencing loss. I like the way Irene Latham explains that compassion doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, but can be a small moment of connection with someone to let them know that our thoughts are with them. She shares that when her father died, people reached out to her – and she appreciated their kind words and memories.

Like Irene, I remember feeling so grateful to those who reached out when my mother died in December 2015. They brought food as we grieved – and while every dish was wonderful and special because loving hands had prepared it, I remember two sisters who brought a pot of homemade vegetable soup and corn muffins and commented, “It isn’t much, but it’s what we had, and we wanted to do something.” That pot of vegetable soup was my favorite meal we received. It was simple, it was given with a heart of love, and it warmed my body and my soul!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

According to Hoyle Day reminds us all that it’s important to play by the rules and abide by expectations of particular situations. In Dictionary for a Better World, the call to action today challenges me to look over the question poem and select one that applies to my online life.

I like the question that asks what if responding in anger you wait ten minutes, an hour, a day? I like that question not only for responding to comments or posts online, but also in person. Sometimes just that time to process a situation from another perspective warrants an entirely different response than we might initially want to give.

One other question I might add to the poem is whether social media is an effective audience for seeking resolution to issues that raise concern Student loan debt forgiveness has become the most recent divisive issue in recent news. What if we all asked whether a post is designed to target those in power to make a change or whether the post would be to join the fray and jump into the feeding frenzy?

Which question sparks your interest for further netiquette consideration?

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

In savoring the moments of National Thoughtful Day, I dwell on the idea that the mindfulness of spirit is necessary for connecting deliberate thoughts and actions. Merriam-Webster defines mindfulness as a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.

I think mindfulness happens most intensely for me as I travel. My husband and I were listening to Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck yesterday as we drove along the interstates of three southeastern states. Somewhere along Chapter 3 or 4, he writes, “For a man has to have feelings and words before he can come close to thought.” I hit the 30-second rewind on that one, listened again, and pondered it awhile. Most thoughts require words, I believe, since we think in language, but I’m not entirely in agreement just yet that feelings are a necessary part of the lineup. Could logic – as a judge weighing evidence and rendering a decision, for example – be substituted for feelings?

But the type of mindfulness that I think we most often seek requires both intention and surrender to experience moments in their pure organic essence.

That is why today, I’m giving deep thought to my Kentucky roots. As a child, I lived in a rural town in this Kentucky while my father completed seminary at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. I spoke with Dad on the phone yesterday, and he encouraged me to take some back roads to see some of the most breathtaking countryside views this nation has to offer. And so today, as I seek a heightened state of mindfulness, I’ll drive along the rural byways and bask in the beauty of God’s paintbrush with its unending spectrum of color and wonder – and I’ll give thanks for the spiritual experience of tarrying along these scenic routes!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.

Sometimes we all need freedom to do something just because….so on National Just Because Day, today’s a day to celebrate! To take a drive through the rural countryside on the way to visit family in another state, to eat a creme-filled donut, to nap in a hammock with a book. Today’s poetry form shared in Dictionary for a Better World is a Cento, a poem created from lines borrowed from other poems. I often call these mashed potato poems, since they’re like a mix-tape of eclectic songs that all come together to make great sense to the listener….or not. I keep a bank of Cento lines written on large craft sticks in a decorative box on my bookshelf, just waiting to find their way into new poems! Try your hand at a Cento today, and share in the comments below!

*During the months of August and September on days when I’m not participating in the Open Write at www.ethicalela.com, I will be writing in response to the pages of Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z by Irene Latham and Charles Waters, illustrated by Mehrdokht Amini. The poems, poetic forms, narratives, quotes, and calls to action to make one small difference might be just the medicine my world – or the whole world – needs. I’ll be inviting insights in the form of an immersion into a 10-minute-a-day book study (just long enough to read the page, reflect, and connect). If you don’t have a copy of the book, you can order one here on Amazon. I invite you to join me in making August and September a time of deep personal book friendship. A few teachers will be following the blog and engaging in classroom readings and responses to the text. So come along! Let’s turn the pages into intentionally crafting beautiful change together.