Mended

Today I sit with my friend from

long ago and remember when she

broadened my world

through ritual and story; when we

drummed and howled

on many a solstice night as we

each held the past

in the palm of our hands

like a bird with a broken wing—

wounds visible, stories told,

honored, when still young.



Age evident on our lined faces

and altering bodies, we

acknowledge each other now:

honor what we each create; celebrate

what we each offer to the world.

The mended birds fly:

winds lift, support, and carry,

on currents to new horizons, with

a whisper heard; Be free.



“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.”

Jim Morrison

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”

Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”

Jim Morrison

Emergence

We sit to order our food as

tears fall and her story opens—

one of lost love with

a found self and a clear mind.



Since emerging from her mother’s

womb, I witness her growth

into womanhood—her first bra,

her first menstrual flow.



When a seed is planted into rich soil,

it rises ever so gently to seek light, air,

moisture, and to grow. To evolve into a bud,

then flower, into all that this seed can be.



I behold this woman who seeks to unfold,

with the power to choose and to create:

choices that affirm her life, feed her soul,

and allow her spirit to soar.



“A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”

Diane Mariechild

“I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be themselves.”

Emma Stone

“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.

Coretta Scott King

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Flow Like The River

With body tired, spirit is filled. This week of book launch events has deeply touched a place in me—one of connection, love, humility, and awe—the oneness that we are.

I leave you with these words from my poem, “Come To The Water”:

…We are the miracle. Can we not see it—in each other?

Each of us filled with a wellspring.
We are all that valuable.

Come then to the water. Come home within.
Come to each other. Let us flow like the river.
Forgiving. Blessing. Refreshing.

Come to the water.

“Love is the greatest refreshment in life.”

Pablo Picasso

Our Interconnected World

I arrive at the end of this year with a mixture of emotion:

Feelings of sadness for the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, and the incredible loss of life throughout the world due to armed conflicts that do not make the headlines.

Concern and compassion rise for an estimated 117 million people who have been displaced from their homes due to war.

Joy rises for new life born to friends and family.

Grief is at home for the loss of life in my sister-in-law and my aunt and for all who have lost loved ones this year.

Pride in accomplishment for compiling a book of art and poetry with the desire to share with others.

Wonder at thousands marching from South and Central America to demonstrate their need for support for their families, jobs, and health.

Delight in the love shared with family and friends that feeds my soul.

Relief and gratitude that my husband recovered so well after a mild stroke with care from those on his medical team.

Gratitude for life lived, for choices made, for all that is learned in doing.

Curiosity and openness for what lies ahead in the unknown.

May we, in our varied emotions, remember kindness to ourselves and to each other. As life moves fast and hard, may we take the time to breathe and center, see ourselves in other, see ourselves in nature, humanity, the planet, and the universe. We are all one, together, may our hearts open.  

Blessings in this New Year, 2024.

“The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”

Carlos Santana

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”

Dalai Lama

“We live in an interconnected world, in an interconnected time, and we need holistic solutions. We have a crisis of inequaility, and we need climate solutions that solve that crisis.”

Naomi Klein

From the Book Page

Pre-orders

I am ending this year with the signing of One World: A Journey of Becoming for pre-orders, then boxing them up with the gift of a greeting card and a bookmark. They mail on January 2.

What a year it has been, words that come to me as I reflect back to January. A year of deep loss and a year of birthing anew. A year of war and violence and a year of love and care expressed in unexpected ways. A year of new people entering my life and a year of saying goodbye to others.

I am currently reading the book Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Swimme gifted to me by Leo. I feel delight and find awe in the image of “primal light” he offers, light that is all around and in us from the beginning of time and has traveled from fourteen billion light years away to us, now. He speaks beautifully of all life evolving, including each of us as we are never separate from the universe. In my words, we are becoming.

I invite you to read Brain Swimme for mind expansion. I invite you to order and read One World: A Journey of Becoming for heart and mind contemplation.

Jump to my shop page: janisdehler.com/shop

Wishing you joy in your evolving New Year!                  Janis

When We Gather


They arrive at noon
bearing food and gifts,
bringing love and light
within their hearts
for all to share,
whether laughter or tears,
cookies or bread,
it’s all spread about, as
we mark forty-seven years
of opening our door
on this night, to celebrate
the birth of Jesus,
our family tradition.

Some of us are church goers,
others do not partake,
but the truth of this is,
it matters not,
as we celebrate the light,
shining within each heart.
Some days it dims as
the weight of loss pushes down,
but we know it is here,
as we spread hugs all around.

Our oldest was two
when it all began;
now, new little boys toddle
in laughter with visions of play.
We lost a generation
through these years,
yet time brings new babes
as life’s story gets told.

The light of solstice,
the light of the Christ,
the light found in Buddha,
and Amma, a Hindu saint,
whether the Tao,
or the Bhagavad-Gita,
the Tanakh, the Bible,
the words from the Koran,
or of our dear mother earth,
I am formed by it all,
in truth profound.

What rests at the core:
love, compassion, wisdom,
and giving as we are able.
For me, the true message
for us to gain.
Welcome arms open to all,
each in their own spirit found.
May our oneness be proclaimed,
at this, our blessed table.

Blessings,
Janis

News From The Book Page

Holiday Greetings to all,

My mind and body have been moving in different directions these days as I try to get ready for holiday gatherings as well as launch a book. The pre-orders are going well, and I look forward to mailing each one on January 2, 2024—a lovely way to start a new year! Thank you to all who have pre-ordered. There is still time to do so: www.janisdehler.com/shop.

What I would like to share with you today comes as a reminder to my Twin Cities area friends and family to set your calendars for January 11 and join me at The University of St. Catherine, Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality, for a conversation with Mari Ann Graham, Director of the Masters in Social Work Program, who will interview me regarding my book and paintings, One World: A Journey of Becoming. I am curious to hear her questions. What direction will she go? I hope you are curious as well and join me for an evening of conversation, refreshments, a book signing, and art. The following link will take you to your free registration or $16 with the pre-order of a book.

https://www.wisdomwayscenter.org/events-calendar/book-launch-one-world-a-journey-to-becoming-with-janis-dehler

Stay tuned next Wednesday for more information about my book launch event north of the Twin Cities on January 14. My goodness, this is fun!

Now, off to take all the groceries I bought yesterday and make a raspberry pie, a squash lasagna, wild rice soup, wrap more presents, arrange some flowers…..

Bye for now! May your days be Merry…

Book Launch and Pre-Order

WordPress friends and family,

I am excited to announce that it is time to pre-order your copy of: One World: A Journey of Becoming, a book of original poetry and art that follows the events of the worldwide pandemic to current events of the day.

“…Janis’ deeply inspiring poetry, prose, and art are worth savoring. Janis creates from the heart, and this will touch your very soul.”

Mari Ann Graham, Director MSW Program, The University of St. Catherine

LEARN MORE about the book: https://janisdehler.com/river-spirit-books

Find an event to attend: https://janisdehler.com/events

Pre-order a book now to recieve by January 7, 2007: https://janisdehler.com/shop US customerts receive bonus gifts: a One World art and poetry bookmark and greeting card. My apologies to international orders through The Great British Bookshop. I won’t be able to accommodate the shipping of pre-order gifts.


It was rocky at times as I attempted to bring this inspiration into reality. Deaths, a stroke, a closing of my husbands place of business started by others 70 years ago, war, and tumultuous world events have been the back drop as I worked to stay the course and get it done.

It is a joy to hold the book in my hands. To flip the pages. To witness the beauty that was offered by those hired to help and guide me along the way.

My hope is for the reader to find a place to rest within the words and the visual art spaces; to drift into the heart space to ponder, finding a sense of renewal and gratitude, while experiencing the common ground we walk together in our one world.

Peace, Janis

A Hard Freeze to Thaw

I watch Spirit River, day after day,

while ice forms; now found at the edges,

then to expand towards center.

As days and nights reach single digits,

the river will appear as one solid mass,

creating the illusion of strength;

we feel fear as we move closer.



Like the heart after hurt, loss, anger,

or long held resentment, the frozen

solid shield protects the truth found hidden

deep, where life continues to flow,

waiting for the crack that forms

when the pressure insists, or when spring

thaw allows the life beneath into the light of day.



“Everyone we meet has wounds upon their heart.
Everyone is waiting for someone to scatter the seeds of love amongst their tears and to be patient enough to wait for their beautiful fragrance of dreams to awaken once more.”

Mimi Novic, Guidebook To Your Heart

“Time heals all wounds, I’m sure it’s true, but not until after the wounds have been felt.”

Lisa Grunwald, New Year’s Eve

“Heart breaking is heart in making,
Wounds bleeding are wonders in making.”

Abhijit Naskar, Aşk Mafia: Armor of The World

A Beating Heart

Each Sunday I write a poem or prose inspired by the sacred found in the ordinary during the week.

Today, the sacred is found in the moments watching my husband’s heart beating, pumping, with blood flowing, as the radiologist studies closely to find any abnormalities hidden in the ordinary beating of his heart—that which is extraordinary.

Valves opening and closing in a pulsing rhythm, on and on in each moment, each day. Through all manner of heartache, heart opening, shock, joy, grief, and peace, his heart is relied upon to simply beat.

Then the doctor shows me what he has found; a tiny hole, there from birth, has allowed a blood clot to flow through. For 75 years this hole sat silent, unobserved, hidden in the steady pump of life, until today.

Now we know. With all symptoms of this small stroke relieved, we go home with hearts pumping in gratitude.

Perfection is within imperfection. Joy found in heartache. Calm found in chaos. A heart beating, even now, with a hole hidden, deep within.  

“I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don’t intend to waste any of mine.”

Neil Armstrong

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.”

Joseph Campbell

“Everything can change in a heartbeat.”

Travis Pastrana

For Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind