I Hate Shouting

Noise bothers me. What kind of situations or experiences bother you? What does that say about you and what you care about? How can you express that concern and meet that need in a positive way?

Do you ever feel like the world is too noisy? If so, too noisy for what? What do you want to listen to and hear that you can’t with all the noisiness of the world?

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

I hate shouting.

Loud voices. Raucous parties.

Cheerleaders. Leaf blowers.

A slap on the back.

A poke on the arm.

These little violences

Obscure the subtle voice within.

Why do I hate shouting?

It’s hard to hear God

(Goddess/Great Spirit/Inner Wisdom/ Divine Spark)

Call her what you will. Or won’t. Or don’t call her. Or don’t listen.

And it’s hard to hear hummingbirds, too;

Or burbling fountains;

Or the wind whispering in the grasses.

Usually, God doesn’t shout

Unless you/we don’t heed the messages

She’s been whispering to us.

I don’t want to wait

Until cancer comes pounding on my door.

Until a fire rages, burning my house down.

Early morning,

Awaken from sleep,

I smell a bit of smoke,

Take action,

And prevent disaster.

My fingers tingle.

I better pay attention.

A gentle sadness beckons.

I take the time to listen.

Who is crying?

Who needs comforting?

Love is gentle,

Unless a whack on the head

Is needed to wake us up.

Then love can be tough.

Wake up, now, please.

Listen, before it’s too late.

She’s already shouting at us.

Bibi Caspari © 6/1/14

Neediness

We all have needs. So when does having needs slide into being needy? What is the difference between having needs and being needy? What causes neediness? How can we heal neediness?

Talking with my BFF,

He lonely and in pain,

Dealing with his fears

Of abandonment and isolation.

I, too, at times.

And also fear others’ neediness,

With their black holes

Impossible to fill.

And (cruelly?) speak to him of such.

Yet neediness,

Like all else,

Is a spectrum;

How much and

What kind:

The need to be seen,

To be heard,

To be touched,

To be held,

To be acknowledged,

To be loved.

Maybe those

Who aren’t ever needy,

Fearing and resisting vulnerability,

Build coats of armor

And are blocked from feeling.

Or those rare few

So filled with Love and Spirit

That there is no loneliness.

Though it is said

That even Jesus

Cried out

“Why hast thou forsaken me?”

The need for compassion

For myself, for him

And for these vulnerable naked animals

That we are.

Bibi Caspari © 4/7/16

Echoes

Do you have a particular ability that sometimes helps you to perceive or understand things that others may not be aware of? How could you contribute to others by sharing what you notice?

In a market,

An unseen baby briefly cries,

Nearby, a mother strokes her baby’s head.

I laugh with the beauty of the echo

And mention to mother number two

What I saw:

The ricochet of energy,

The crying of one child

Leading to a need for a mother

To comfort hers.

She thanks me for the noticing

And the sharing.

Her gesture had been unconscious

And she is grateful to know

How instinctually her love

Envelopes her cherished one.

My delight in my gift to her,

So simple, and easy for me;

My seeing what most others don’t.

I treasure how the love

Echoes and circulates,

Reverberating

Onward. 

Bibi Caspari © 9/13/15