Welcome...to the Poetry of Well-Being. In the dark night of the soul, when there's no place left to go, no one left to call, and maybe it's too late, that's where The Poetry of Well-Being begins.
Have you ever heard that saying, "Don't Quit Five Minutes before the miracle"? In the next five minutes, you can connect with the Poetry of Well-Being. It's already within you. Simple as breathing. All you have to do is... notice it.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence will my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The Poetry of Well-Being is dedicated
To all those at risk of suicide or self-harm,
The young and those of college age,
People of color, gay or transgender, indigenous people,
those targeted or stigmatized for disability;
those recovering from substance abuse
those who don’t think they have a problem;
those who praise the Lord, and those
who doubt there is anything to praise—
that we may all find refuge in well-being, creativity and community—
The Poetry of Well-Being serves as an on-line suicide prevention tutorial, access to treatment and ecumenical social justice ministry to present mindfulness and creative writing as practices to build self-care into a capacity for self-healing; provide resources for help; and to advocate transformation and empowerment for all people, replacing institutional racism and sexism and other biases with unconditional love.
The first great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and, the second great commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Well-being and social justice form the core of my faith, as outlined in the Beatitudes and Matthew 25, and as professed in the Barmen Declaration.
I am called as a poet, therapist and preacher, to bring the message of redemptive faith, not only to those who believe, but to those who stand outside the church, at the threshold of belief and peril, those who are “spiritual but not religious”, that they too might know the unconditional love and transformative power of the Holy Spirit. To those who do believe, my message is that we “do justice and love mercy,” shout Hallelujah and praise the Lord. I bring the good news: that by God’s grace, we can share well-being, creativity and community—the Poetry of Well-Being.
This website is a collaboration with designer Mick Wieland, who also designed the covers of PARTING GIFTS and IN PILGRIM DRAG.
The Poetry of Well-Being was initially a collaboration with Maggie Bloomfield LCSW, Dr. Nina Yavel Psy. D.and Terri Muuss MSW, the Poets of Well-Being. From 2013-2018, our projects included a chapbook of poetry (The Poetry of Well-Being) as well as performances, presentations and workshops at conferences and treatment centers.
I acknowledge and thank fellow poets, artists, therapists and friends in and out of recovery, friends of faith and no faith who believe in the healing power of well-being, creativity and community: Maggie Bloomfield, Robert A. Brown, Rev. Charles Coverdale, Rev. Cynthia A. Liggon, Rev. Natatlie Wimberly, Rev. Dr. Peter J. Kelley, Prophet FW Hood, Gladys Henderson, Dr. Carmen Bugan, Pramila Venkateswaran, Terri Muuss, Matt Pasca, Julie Sheehan, Dr. Nina Yavel, Chip Williford, Poetry Street on the Road, anonymous friends and friends I have yet to meet.
I especially thank my son Jake and my daughter-in-law Natalie for inviting me to live nearby in the Pacific Northwest, and the Dingle family who have inspired my work and brought so much joy into my life. I dedicate this website in memory of my granddaughter, Cordelia Dingle.
