You Wake the Dead to Life: A Guided Practice for Writers, Journalers, and Creative Souls

Daily Nourishment Read Time: 40 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes


“You flood us with spirit.”
— Rumi, translated by Haleh Liza Gafori

Pause.

Take deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale while reading or listening to “You Wake the Dead to Life” by Rumi and Haleh Liza Gafori.

 

Prompt.

Read this quote from Poetry Unbound Ep 23:

“Rumi had a profound and deep and changing friendship with Shams, and I think it’s a really important thing to recognize how in Rumi’s life, a friendship, a particular friendship, was something that became the center point for his deepest yearnings: for God, for religion, for knowing what’s important in the life. Our friendships change us profoundly, and in Rumi we hear how a praise song to a friend is also a praise song to God.” —Pádraig Ó Tuama

 

Practice.

Set a timer for 10 minutes and respond to one or more of the questions below from/inspired by Poetry Unbound Ep 23.

  1. Examine the experience of loving a friend and go deeper with it to explore the question, “what does this say to me about what I consider to be most fundamental to the world?”

  2. How does friendship open you to the divine?

  3. Which specific friendships open you to the divine?

  4. What gets in the way of your friendships?

  5. How’s your balance of online and offline friendships?

  6. How can you tell when it’s time to hang out with someone in person?

  7. How do you know when it’s time to take a break from social media?

Want More?
Listen to Poetry Unbound Ep 23.

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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.

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All of Life Is the Writing Life: A Guided Practice for Writers