I have a New Year’s gift for you. It’s the gift of poetry and I am offering it to you for free. But first, a bit of back story so you understand the context of my offer.
Seven years ago, I was contacted by Fazeel Arain, the Co-Founder of Al Siraat College – a K-12 school in Melbourne. Fazeel had been reading my innovation blog for a few years and had come to the conclusion that my organisational development skills would likely be a valuable asset to the school.
Fazeel’s was the first conversation I ever had with a Muslim.
Though I have always had a wide circle of friends from a wide range of spiritual traditions (ie Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, etc), I knew no one from the Islamic tradition.
Suffice it to say that Fazeel and I connected on a deep level and I ended up working with Al Siraat College, as a consultant, coach, and facilitator for five years. For 12 of those months, I worked, on-site, at the school five days a week.
Having the opportunity to work with Al Siraat teachers, staff, and students was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life – full of love, connection, insight, learning and community. And yes, I received quite a good education about the essence of Islam.
One of the services I provided the school was facilitating Wisdom Circles – a way for people to connect with each other in deep ways via storytelling. Indeed, that has been the topic I have being occasionally writing about for AMUST.
But there is another kind of writing that also helps people connect – not only with each other, but with themselves – and that is poetry.
Simply put, my poetry is all about waking up to what is timeless and real – the place within each and every one of us that is free –what it means to experience the divine in daily life.
In my experience, not only is the pen mightier than the sword, it cuts in a very different way – not to destroy, but to enliven. And while I wouldn’t necessarily want to go into battle with only a ballpoint pen in hand, I’m choosing, these days, to use the power of my poetry to cut to the heart of the matter – doing my best to reveal what we all have in common, no matter what path we walk, hop, skip or jump.
If you would like a free PDF of “Free” when it is released, all you need to do is send an email to mitch@thegiftofpoetry.com with the words “AMUST poetry” and I will forward it to you.
“The greatest of richness is the richness of the soul.” – Prophet Muhammed (s)
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