Powerful Connections

I met my friend Marita for a walk this morning....it had been way too long. Our friendship goes WAY back to our early days of teaching and we've seen each other through some tough stuff. We lost touch for a stretch of time...but reconnected back in 2019. No matter how much time passes between visits...we pick up right where we left off. We have a powerful connection. 

We came across a small sunflower patch on our walk...and Marita was patient while I paused to take a few photos. That's what friends do.

I could leave this post at that....because that it enough. But connections are a powerful source of joy for me...and there is much more to this connection story. So if you have the patience...and interest...read on. If not...that's just fine and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Back in 2019 during our reconnection years, I talked Marita in to starting a shared journal project. Marta is a poet...and I am an artist/crafter...so why not combine the two. We each would pick a journal/notebook for our work...and trade them back and forth each working in the other's journal. I would do art...and she would write. Sounds perfect...right?

I chose a beautiful handmade art journal from a local artist...and she chose a composition book. Perfect choices.

I did a few pages in my journal and she shared a work in progress poem at the beginning of hers...then we traded. 

Here are my first couple of pages.

I should add that Marita is also a full time English teacher...as well as an accomplished poet...so her creative time is limited and precious.

Marita chose the working draft of her poem called In One Scenario to start her journal. It's not always easy for me to interpret poetry...but it helped to read the finished poem...and it's powerful. Marita writes about her experiences and connections with others and the world and uses her poetry as a way to work through the tough stuff in her life including a difficult and complicated marriage and divorce.

The last line of the finished poem goes like this. 

Forgive me

for not accepting you

for the yellow 

balloon

you were.

In that scenario

I stand in my kitchen 

alone,

imagining.

(The full finished poem is below.)

I started my response by quoting one of my favorite poems...The Journey by Mary Oliver which seemed just right for Marita who finally knew what she had to do and had the strength to save herself from a difficult situation. I wrote out the poem around a yellow balloon cut out...making visual connection between Mary's poem and Marita's. 

When she flipped the page....another quote got framed by the balloon cutout.

Respect yourself enough to walk away from anyone or anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy.

My next page was more Mary Oliver quotes...and some doodles and paper collage stitching....all the things I love to do. Then I waited for Marita to tell me she was ready to trade.

But life was too overwhelming and Marita finally admitted to me that this was not something she felt like she could do. And that was just fine. I respected the fact that she could be honest with me. We kept our own journals and just moved on. 

Side note: That journal of mine has sat untouched since then...although I have tucked some things in I thought I might add. And funny thing is...Becky, who was just visiting, picked it up and I briefly told her the story. I knew then that I should just embrace it and start working in it again. 

Marita tried to give her composition journal to me today because of my artwork that was in it. But I told it was hers...and she should just use it however she wanted. She thought she might use it to take notes from her writing group...and we agreed that both journals should be used. 

The more we talked....she thought maybe she would pass it to me for sometime...and I would add a little art. THAT....would be fun. And maybe...just maybe she will write a poem in mine. 

At the end of our conversation....she made the connection that her In One Scenario poem made it into her recently published book, Wild Nest No Prison. 

I attended a poetry reading a few months ago...and bought one of her books. It's a treasure. 

Here's Marita's completed and published poem, In One Scenario. Pardon the terrible photos...but I was afraid that if I typed it out I would screw it up.

Our lives are full of connections....many of them powerful. Sometimes they're clear...and sometimes they're subtle...we just have to be open to them.

If you are interested in a couple more great Marita stories and connections you can read these posts. 

This post showcases Marita as a poet:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2022/10/beyond-words.html

And this one showcases her as a teacher and my connection to a project in her poetry class:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2024/01/sentimental-supplies.html