The Life of Water
A big THANK YOU to the art collectors who purchased these paintings during the Common Ground Art and Poetry Exhibition. It is heart filling as an artist and author to be able to witness the connection that others feel to my voice and expression. These works have found new homes and I wish the owners years of happiness.
One The Journey
My Goodness is Stamped Upon My Universe
The Door of My Heart
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
I am excited to announce the launch of ONE WORLD: A JOURNEY OF BECOMING. Seeing my name in Amazon and on Goodreads, as an author, with my book, was stunning.
I finished and thoroughly enjoyed a week of book launch events that were well attended. The full art show is still hung at Common Ground, here in Cambridge, and available for viewing M – Th from 10 – 3pm. It will be taken down on January 28th.
I could not be happier or feel more filled with all the care and love expressed to me as I share my story. As I now write, it has been four days since the last event. I’m tired but feeling carried by all the support. One person asked, “What is next?” That is a hard one to answer. I have a couple of ideas for another book. I am thinking of creating a retreat. I am needing rest and sunshine.
More than anything, I want to continue to support individuals and groups in learning to ground and center into the core of who they are and open to what lies ahead for them. We are called to awaken to ourselves and to our divine connection, however we envision this to be; to find joy in who we are and what we bring to this world in healing, through compassion, and opening to this grand universe.
One World: A Journey of Becoming is available from me on my SHOP page, www.janisdehler.com/shop, to be mailed in the US. It is also available at Scout and Morgan Books here in Cambridge, MN. Both the paperback and eBook version (soon to be released) are available on Amazon here and in many other countries. The Great British Book Shop and Ingram Spark carry the paperback.
Blessings and gratitude,
Janis
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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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
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
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
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
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…
Winter Solstice arrives,
we breathe a sigh,
light returns,
measured in seconds
until, once again, we
feel the joy
of illumination.
This season sings
of radiance,
candles are lit,
twinkle lights abound,
menorah, manger,
sun, all symbols for
our fascination.
Opening doors
hearts,
we find the light,
hidden within
all along, now bidden,
we are never without,
our true celebration.
A re-blog from Dec. 2022.
May we breathe peace into chaos, may we enjoy harmony in our encounters. Wishing us all joy in our days and serenity in our nights. May every day be seen as holy as we radiate light into this world.
Blessings and love,
Janis
