Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT July 12th 2024

23 Comments

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we read a poem “Before” by Ada Limón, posted below.

Our prompt was: “Write about a time before.”

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 Friday July 19th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

Before by Ada Limón

No shoes and a glossy
red helmet, I rode
on the back of my dad’s
Harley at seven years old.
Before the divorce.
Before the new apartment.
Before the new marriage.
Before the apple tree.
Before the ceramics in the garbage.
Before the dog’s chain.
Before the koi were all eaten
by the crane. Before the road
between us, there was the road
beneath us, and I was just
big enough not to let go:
Henno Road, creek just below,
rough wind, chicken legs,
and I never knew survival
was like that. If you live,
you look back and beg
for it again, the hazardous
bliss before you know
what you would miss.

Copyright © 2015 by Ada Limón. Used with permission of the author.

23 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT July 12th 2024”

  1. bomimusings's avatar bomimusings

    It was my second time attending the virtual NM session and I really enjoyed it! Thank you for being so open and sharing. Starting off the weekend feeling encouraged and inspired!

    Here is my writing piece:

    Bright, shining lights

    guiding my way, glistening

    on my supple skin.

    Accolades, praise, pride

    in my father’s eyes.

    A wayward path, uncertain steps,

    lost in an abyss

    of my own thoughts,

    tossed to and fro, between ideals.

    A disintegration of the self.

    Hours pass by, and somehow

    I’m still here.

    Like embers of a flame.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
    • al3793's avatar al3793

      I am taken back into Ada Limon’s poem by your speaker’s connection to their father and then the ambiguity/uncertainty of the path and I hear the connection to surviving as the glowing embers of the flame.

      Thank you for joining us today. I am glad you were there and found it meaningful.

      Andre

      Like

      Reply
  2. aliceanned6b473272's avatar aliceanned6b473272

    I love connecting from near and far. These sessions are always rich and thought-provoking – like getting mental vitamins.

    Here’s what I wrote to today’s prompt:

    Before the stress, before the deadlines, before the disorganization and craziness, there was time.

    Time to be, time to participate, time to connect with people, time to “show up,” and be authentically present.

    The time before was balanced and healthy. Joy was easy, organic, and effervescent. There wasn’t the constant time pressure and deliverables.

    Now, I’m in transformation to reconstruct the time before…

    Like

    Reply
  3. michele348's avatar michele348

    About a time before~~~

    An age of innocence,
    a life lived on the edge,
    adventures abound,
    fearless courage in the ready,
    happiness waiting in the wings
    ready to grasp.

    The world has evolved,
    I have evolved.

    The world,
    once huge and magical,
    has shrunk and seems
    full of deception and hate.

    How did this happen?
    Was I asleep or
    did I fail to pay attention?
    Or was it so many other events in my life
    took priority,
    I figured the world could
    take care of itself.

    I was wrong,
    and now I am fully awake
    with my mouth wide open in shock.

    Lesson learned…
    the path of life is bumpy…
    always be alert to the major obstacles
    which can send you
    flying into the air.

    Like

    Reply
    • Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

      Michele, I must’ve missed your piece in my reading— I get the changing world theme— once the world did seem magical… a long time ago. I think we can still find magical ways, but it involves so much much effort now. Unfortunately, we are now on high alert on that bumpy path.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    Before

    Before we parted yesterday

    I could not have guessed

    that it would be our last goodbye.

    Had I known

    I would have given you an extra  special kiss

    and told you that you mean everything to me.

    How will I carry on

    without

    you in my life?

    Standing next your body with

    its exploded heart

    a text appears on your phone

    telling you where to report for tomorrow’s 

    job.

    How is it that they don’t know that

    nothing matters anymore.

    Like

    Reply
    • michele348's avatar michele348

      Words fail me, other than to say I will keep you in my prayers for the Lord to surround you in love and eventually bring peace to your heart.

      Like

      Reply
      • rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

        Michelle,

        Thank you, but I actually wrote this about one of my patients from this week. I am grateful it is not about me, but his story touched my heart so this prompt was a good opportunity to honor him.

        Liked by 1 person

    • al3793's avatar al3793

      Lisa

      Your narrative reminds me of the sense of being in time we discussed as we examined Ada Limon’s poem, the by, before, between, beneath.

      The sudden, unexpected loss of someone so important in the life of your speaker raises important existential questions.

      It also took me back to the line,
      “If you live,
      you look back and beg
      for it again…”

      Thank you.

      Andre

      Like

      Reply
    • al3793's avatar al3793

      PS: I am sincerely touched that a patient may mean so much to you. I don’t believe the average person realizes what patients mean to us. Andre

      Like

      Reply
  5. al3793's avatar al3793

    Write about a time before…

    There was a time before I could remember my earliest memories.

    What were they?

    Do I remember crowning and exiting my mother’s womb?

    Did I look right then left before coming out into this world?

    I rather doubt it as I wasn’t never shy about taking chances.

    Do I remember how my parents gazed on me,

    Falling in love each morning when they opened their eyes,

    Or being nurtured at my mother’s breast?

    Do I remember those jeweled tears that ran down cheeks and

    Christened me into love?

    afl 07.12.2024

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. rehavia6's avatar rehavia6

    Andre, I love your piece. I think the way our parents look at us at the beginning has a very profound and lasting influence on us.

    Like

    Reply
  8. Elizabeth's avatar Elizabeth

    A TIME BEFORE…

    Maraschino cherries with red dye

    A favorite and special treat,

    Sitting in the sun for hours

    slathered in oil with a reflector,

    Walking barefoot in the grass

    not a tick in sight,

    Riding bikes what felt like forever

    no helmets required,

    Before we did not know

    so we could not worry

    we could not fear,

    But now we know,

    and now we worry.

    We may be safer,

    but at what price?

    Like

    Reply

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