Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT May 20th 2022

11 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem The Rolling Saint by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, posted below. 

Our prompt was: “Write about a time you kept going.”

More details will be posted on this session, so check back again!

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

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Please join us for our next session Monday May 23rd at 6pm EDT,  with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions page.

The Rolling Saint by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Lotan Baba, a holy man from India, rolled on his side for            
        four thousand kilometers across the country in his quest for            
        world peace and eternal salvation.                  

  —Reuters
                                                                            
He started small: fasting here and there,
days, then weeks. Once, he stood under
a banyan tree for a full seven years, sitting
            for nothing—not even to sleep. It came
            to him in a dream: You must roll
            on this earth, spin your heart in rain,
                        desert, dust. At sunrise he’d stretch, swab
                        any cuts from the day before, and lay prone
                        on the road while his twelve men swept
            the ground in front of him with sisal brooms.
            Even monkeys stopped and stared at this man
            rolling through puddles, past storefronts
where children would throw him pieces
of butter candy he’d try and catch
in his mouth at each rotation. His men
            swept and sang, swept and sang
            of jasmine-throated angels
            and pineapple slices in kulfi cream.
                        He rolled and rolled. Sometimes
                        in his dizzying spins, he thought
                        he heard God. A whisper, but still.

Source: Miracle Fruit (Tupelo Press, 2003)

11 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT May 20th 2022”

  1. michele348

    About a time I kept going~~~

    He came to me in a dream.
    He told me in a calm but strong voice, my life’s purpose from that moment onward. I was spared physical damage to my heart so that I may continue on to fulfill the task asked of me…. a commitment of my life to make the pathway for others who follow in my footsteps a bit easier by my actions and voice.
    I recall to this day after His words were spoken to me, sitting straight up in bed, wondering if this actually took place.
    I doubted only for a second.
    I came to realize the event did occur and I was selected for this divine visit.

    To believe imparts so much serenity to living.
    Living life with a purpose gives meaning to each day I am here.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • Scarlet Kinney

      I love the courage and generosity expressed in this poem, Michele, for in our culture it certainly does take courage to trust in the validity of such experiences, and a generous spirit to follow them for the benefit of others. Beautifully expressed.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  2. Elizabeth

    This is it.
    This is the time.
    I keep going.
    I put one foot in front of the other.
    Despite a pandemic,
    Despite a war,
    Despite gun violence,
    Despite racism,
    Despite political divide,
    Despite inflation,
    Despite climate change,
    Despite scarcity,
    Despite the list that goes on
    And on and on and on…
    I keep going.
    I put one foot in front of the other.
    When I am drained physically,
    When I am drained emotionally,
    When I am drained spiritually,
    I put one foot in front of the other.
    I keep going.
    This is the time.
    This is it.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • Scarlet Kinney

      Elizabeth, I relate so deeply to what you’ve written! I, too, feel that we’re living through a time when we’re challenged not to give up, but to find the will to keep going in spite of the apparent psychotic state that has taken over so much of the world. And not only to keep going, but that we’re also challenged to push through the fatigue caused by keeping going, in the hope that we’ll eventually arrive in a psychic space where we can do so joyously.

      Like

      Reply
    • michele348

      Elizabeth, your writing brought back a memory to me… a few years ago now, I was running in my one and only marathon race..26.2miles. It was to prove conclusively to me that I had fully recovered from the heart attack that I had a couple of years before that. I wasn’t interested in any flashy time, but merely crossing the finish line. I went out too fast the first half of the race, so the second half was mostly a slow jog and walk. Basically, every muscle in my body was aching at that point and I kept telling myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other until I passed over the finish line. And I did. A promise to myself kept.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. Scarlet Kinney

    I Think I Shall Never Make it My Friend (tweaked a bit for more clarity)

    There has never been a specific time
    Or an isolated event
    Or a particular incident
    That required me to keep going.

    No, I’ve kept going without ceasing
    For my entire life,
    Through trials,
    Through love, loss, joy, even ecstasy,

    Trying to keep up with time as dictated by clocks,
    For clock time moves very differently
    Than my perception of real time.
    And I think I shall never make it my friend.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth

    Scarlet, thanks for your comment.I really like the line… in the hope that we’ll eventually arrive in a psychic space where we can do so joyously. In your piece, I really like your refusal to be dictated by the clock. I think we all needed to slow down a little and the pandemic forced us to do this. It would be so much better if it had been by our own choice.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    • Scarlet Kinney

      Thanks, Elizabeth. I’m fortunate that I can refuse to let a clock dictate how I spend my time, since I’m self employed. I’ve been out of sync with clock time since 1988 when I was in an explosion and fire and somehow, mysteriously, lost 15 minutes, perhaps the amount of time I was OBE? Anyway, I feel very grateful that I can follow the sun, the moon, and the stars rather than that darned clock, which makes me feel like I’m always chasing after those lost minutes.

      Like

      Reply
  5. Melissa Adylia Calasanz C-IAYT

    Narrative Medicine 05.20.2022
    Prompt:
    Write about a time you kept going
    Melissa Adylia Calasanz

    now.
    as i sit
    here.
    as i type
    i keep going

    continuing
    enduring
    existing

    finding
    moments for living
    creating
    moments of joy

    the cycles continue
    with or without me

    i cast seeds in the garden
    i listen to the soil
    observing the cycles
    though I no longer water by full moon
    i continue
    going
    toiling
    nurturing
    growing
    I am so thankful to continue
    surrounded

    by,
    so many flowers

    and love,
    melissa adylia calasanz

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

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