with Catherine Graham and Jessica Outram
This question leads us to talk about many things including P.K. Page, what it’s like to be a highly sensitive child, whether we’d like the gift of invisibility or mind control, the power of dreams, when dreams turn to visions and when visions turn to poems. Catherine shares her poem “The Bullied” and Jessica shares her poem “How Old Is Your Spirit.”
What happens when we move from word to image? Catherine talks about her experience leading a creative problem-solving workshop and how the images that appear know more than we do. What happens when we let go of control? Jessica talks about what her books have to say to her (yes, they do know where they want to be in her new home!). She also shares her experience braiding sweetgrass and the poem it inspired. We end our chat with Catherine’s poem on metamorphosis: “Imago.”
We talk about Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being and what it awakens in us as creators. What does it mean to lead a creative life? How do we get into a creative space? Catherine shares what recently happened on a walk to circle her back to her poem “Wind Tricks.” Jessica shares some insights about her intuitive painting journey as well as her poem “Lost Lesson.” And yes, the forest has eyes.
As we kick off season five, we explore full circle moments and how with aging we carry more questions than answers. Catherine shares the story behind her poem “The Rain Barrel” and Jessica talks about writing her first picture book Bernice and the Ancestors. Plus “The Red Poppy” by Louise Glück, the link between silent and listen, and how listening leads to seeing and being seen.
We discuss Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke, a book we read in a workshop together twenty years ago when our friendship began. We read an excerpt from the first letter that explores life lessons and the interaction between the inner and outer self. This leads us to chat about what it means to be a writer vs author, the role of attention, and connecting to the core of the inner self. Plus the importance of the everyday as a source for writing and the letting go of outcome.
Our conversation circles and spirals as we revisit Jessica’s book The Writing Spiral: Learning as a Writer. Rumi, T. S. Eliot, solitude and self-awareness all feed our talk about the labyrinth as a metaphor for our life path and how to arrive at the centre of the self. Plus Emily Carr and the “unity of movement.”
We explore looking back to look ahead. Catherine talks about her just published book, Put Flowers Around Us and Pretend We’re Dead: New and Selected Poems, the micro journey and the macro, the role of attentiveness and what it’s like putting a New and Selected book together. We also share quotes by Mary Oliver, Albert Einstein and a mourning dove visits us too.
We talk about the heartbeat of the ground (a line from Catherine’s poem “A Leash of Deer”), the pulse of everything, plus the current that connects us. Jessica shares her poem “A River Flows” and its origin story. We discover how a poem can hold a poem beneath it. Catherine reads her poem “Chthonic” and takes us to the underground. We see how imagery can lure us to slip beneath.
Welcome to 2022! There are some changes to The Hummingbird Podcast that we wanted to share. We have a new look, a new format, and a new co-host!
First, Aprille Janes has decided to shift her focus to other projects so she is leaving the show as co-host. She will be missed but she will always be part of our Hummingbird community.
We welcome Catherine Graham as the new co-host. She is an award-winning poet, novelist and creative writing instructor. We have been friends since we first met at a writing course about 20 years ago.
The new season launches the first week of February. We will meet each week to chat about creativity, arts, literature, and life. We want to dive into big questions about making a difference for ourselves and others through creative practice, projects, and passion. (And there will definitely be some poetry along the way!)
Thanks for being part of our journey!
Cheers,
Jessica
The topic of our final episode for Season 2 seems fitting – Celebration. We talk about what celebration means to us. What are the different aspects of celebration? How does it affect the way we view our creative work? How do we connect and celebrate? Listen in as we unravel the next layer of the creative process: celebration.
Continue reading “S2 E14: Book Club: Learning By Heart “Celebration””
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