August Reflection - Taking Notes & A Permeable Life

Photo by Dustin F Owen on Unsplash

“The summer seems locked in tightly, but on careful observation, one notices that birdsong is a bit diminished and that very small flocks are beginning to gather on wires and fences, sensing the minuet shifting of the light as it strikes the earth. Goldenrod rises to its full height and the chorus of insects sings with intensity-their day in the sun is completing itself…..To look into the night sky is to look into time, that vast puzzle no one comprehends. Perhaps the real question is not “What is truth?” But “What is time?”. The mystery we feel in the sky and that we sense within us is not a series of problems to be solved, but more something to evoke wonder and love.” By Marv and Nancy Hiles From The Almanac of the Soul

It has been brutally hot in the past weeks, summer has not loosened its griddle hot grip for the moment. And yet this weekend, shiny nervous new students and parents full of pride and mixed feelings are unloading bedspreads and desk lamps, laptop computers and fall clothing into dormitory rooms and first apartments. Those of us who live in college towns year-round know there will be no such thing as easy parking spaces for the next two semesters and that we must be vigilant driving in the next two weeks watching for oblivious students who are so heartbreakingly young that at any moment they might step off curbs into traffic without looking either way, intent solely upon their own internal dialogue. The energy of a new school year is buzzing like the hummingbirds who are storing up anything sweet, preparing for their annual journey on unseen airstreams.

There is something about the beginning of a school year that makes me want to buy a new box of crayons or pen or pencil sharpener or notebook. And so I did…this week I picked up a new moleskin notebook and rollerball pen, just the right size to tuck into my purse. I’m still an ardent note taker. I am constantly writing down impressions, fleeting images, possible song ideas, bits of dialogue happening around me while I drink my coffee, an author to look up mentioned in a Sunday sermon, a line from a poem that hit me like a beautiful brick wall. Noticing is an invitation. A new school year reminds me to pay attention, because there is always something to learn.

There is something languid about August. Gone is the headlong growth of spring and early summer and the sweet corn is stacked up at the farm stand. The tender wildflowers of April have been replaced by the thick stemmed Joe Pie weed growing at the edge of my neighbor’s pasture, now taller than a horse’s shoulders. The cicadas whirr, the pond stills and the chipmunks groom themselves, self satisfied and roly poly with summer abundance.

And so today I write about sitting on the dock, of taking notice of how the last lazy days of heat and summer hang in the air like the last echoing notes of a song I’m trying to commit to memory. I am trying to take notice to savor what is forever and brilliantly brief. I am thinking about having coffee this morning with my father, about telling stories around the table with my daughter. I cut a few flowers for the table, stop and rub my old dog’s aching shoulders as she sighs with gratitude. And although it is my nature to ask “What is true?” In this moment, I only ask “What is time?” and lean into that late August question with wonder and love.

---

A Gathering of Spirits is a completely reader supported publication. This creative endeavor is made possible by you! I know that becoming a supporting subscriber is not for everyone, and that’s ok…there will always be content here for everyone. But if you would like to support my work and this gathering space, I hope you’ll consider becoming a monthly or annual subscriber or sharing this publication with friends! (Note: gift subscriptions are always 20% off)

AND - Thank you for all the likes and comments and restacks of my post last week! A “like” feels like the smile and nod and lets me know a piece has landed well in your heart!

---

Poetry

This poem is called “A Permeable Life”. I want to leave enough room in my life for good questions, to allow in and out life in its fullness, to notice and pay attention, to remember to ask what is true and what is time.

A Permeable Life

  I want to leave enough room in my heart
  For the unexpected,
  For the mistake that becomes knowing,
  For knowing that becomes wonder,
  For wonder that makes everything porous,
  Allowing in and out
  All available light.

  An impermeable life is full to the edges,
  But only to the edges.
  It is a limited thing.
  Like the pause at the center of the breath,
  Neither releasing or inviting,
  With no hollow spaces
  For longing and possibility,

  I would rather live unlocked,
  And more often than not astonished,
  Which is possible=
  If I am willing to surrender
  What I already think I know.

  So I will stay open
  And companionably friendly,
  With all that presses out from the heart
  And comes in at a slant
  And shimmers just below
  The surface of things.

From A Permeable Life: Poems & Essays
By Carrie Newcomer

Question

What does living “a permeable life” mean to you?

---

Things That Moved Me This Week

Essay

Alive and Whole in a World of Hurt: the below and beyond of well-being By John Paul Lederach. John Paul is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work in peacebuilding and transformational conflict resolution. This essay beautifully describes the dynamics of permanent generativeness, an integrative was of asking the question of “how leaders and communities working for positive change and a more peaceful world persevere and stay vibrant, agile, and creative across decades and lifetimes.” There is a downloadable PDF of the essay. (Image from John Paul Lederach’s wonderful website and this piece).

Substack

I read Parker J. Palmer’s weekly column “Living the Questions” every Friday. There is always beautiful stories, thoughtful and insightful ideas and refreshing good humor. This week’s “The Poem I Would Have Writ” is a wonderful piece. “The finest form of artistic expression is in the way we live our lives”

Your Comments

“In college times, some four decades ago, on vacations, we (a group of friends, a girl who later became my wife among them) travelled across the country, usually with very little money. Bookshops, second-hand bookstores were obligatory places of exploration. In one of such bookshops, we collected a couple of volumes, and at checkout, counting coins needed to buy a ticket back home, had to put one book aside. A stranger standing in the line behind us, paid for the book and gave it to us, with a smile of encouragement.

I don't remember the book now, but do remember this act of kindness. If anything can save the world, it is being kind and generous to each other.” Jacek Godlewski

I had a choice between the news feeds in my inbox this morning and your post. I made the right choice. Thank you! "....when you focus your mind on things that are kind nothing can bring you down.... Michael

“Last Friday I stopped by a tire store near my work when my low pressure light came on. Sure enough I had a screw in my tire (probably from the old parking lot we pulled into to watch a sunset the night prior - worth it!). Tom at the counter said ok leave it with me and I will call you. Less than an hour later I went to pick up my car, and he said “this one is on the house.” So kind and yes, he will most likely receive kindness back when I do need new tires. It just made me feel so darn good all day.” Kelly Ross-Davis

---

"Music Always Music

This song is called The Clean Edge of Change and was first recorded on my album The Geography of Light. It was inspired by my first reading of Parker J. Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak.

---

One Inch Photos

---

Upcoming Tour Schedule

For more information on concerts and retreats visit my website tour page at www.carrienewcomer.com/tour

---

Currently Booking 2026/27 Seasons

If you are interested in bringing me to your community visit The Chaffee Management Group website and Jim Chaffee