Heart of Being

Since this is the fourth book in the “Being” series of poems and pictures, I can look back at almost a half century of what I euphemistically call ‘poetry’. As I reflect on that journey, I find that I have been asking myself some new questions, and yet also some of the same questions in new ways. I have always used my writing as a vehicle to help me understand the ‘sturm und drang’ of my life. I guess that in large measure, I can look at my entire life as a whiteboard upon which I have asked questions. Sometimes I erase what was there previously and write anew. At other times I scribble over previous entries. As a general principle of living, I have sought to understand meaning and purpose, to learn the deep lessons and to create new paths that lead to new vistas. The goal is always to ask new, more elegant questions, make new connections, and acquire deeper insights. Ultimately, I continue to seek new vistas to become a more useful tool of service in the great tapestry of existence.

It would seem, however, that I sometimes come back to the same, or similar, locations from a different vantage point because there is more yet to learn. So it is with many of us I suspect. We repeat life lessons until we ‘get it’. Then we are free to move on to new lessons and also able to see old lessons in new ways.

It is my hope then, that if my poetry has any value, it would be that my passage through life might ease the passage of fellow pilgrims.

Chris Dewey, 2018.