Whispers of the Soul: New and Selected Poems
…the last poem, “The Journey,” which offers some rules for a meaningful odyssey, is worth the price of the collection alone. ~ Kirkus Reviews
Why a book of poetry now?
Though I have written for myself over the years, I think many of my observations and perceptions will resonate with others and I wanted to share them. I hope that you, the reader, will find meaning in them as well, perhaps a sense of something similar that you have experienced, or an insight, or a shared feeling of anger or fear or joy or peace or gratitude.
Words are powerful.
They can call attention to parts of ourselves that we may have ignored, pushed away, refused to acknowledge.
They can summon feelings that are deep down, waiting to be called forth.
They can call us to action, sometimes, or call us to move away from too much action to go deeper inside.
These poems are conversational in tone, accessible and relatable.
They are about everyday experiences, sometimes seen with a more focused light.
They are words for the heart, for the spirit, for the soul.
An example from the book:
Leftovers
Balance.
It seems to be the most difficult thing
for women;
they have told me so over the years.To find the balance:
taking care of others
and taking care of themselves.The need for time alone,
time for creativity,
time for pondering and dreaming,
time to be.One woman struggled with it for a long time,
even realizing that it was threatening her physical health.
How could she create such space?
How could she even believe that she should?How to answer the needs of the world,
and especially the needs of her husband,
and have anything left over for herself?Leftovers?
The soul has needs too.
Ignore them at your peril,
I say.Find a way.
Breast Cancer: A Soul Journey
In this personal and lyrical account, author Patricia Greer explores the experience of breast cancer as a teacher, as a way of accessing inner wisdom. Getting a diagnosis of the illness can feel as if life has been ripped apart, but she finds that there is a potential for inner growth that can come from such a rupture. She writes, “Life which is too closed, too self-contained and satisfied and apparently whole, leaves no room for the piercing intensity of the appearance of something larger. One has to feel torn open to allow such entrance.” Such an opening may provide an opportunity for greater self-knowledge and self-awareness.
Patricia works with image, metaphor, and poetry to discover the spiritual and psychological dimensions of breast cancer. She relates her own dreams and inner journeys and interweaves thoughts from poets, philosophers, and psychologists along with ideas from women addressing feminine questions and concerns. It is, as she writes, a “nonlinear journey, a circling around the reality and metaphor of cancer, allowing meanings to appear and shift and transform. It involves a meandering energy which can spiral and deepen.”
She shares this exploration with the hope that it may offer an example for others who want to reflect on their experiences and find insights and lessons that can be gained from viewing cancer as a source of wisdom. It can be another step in the lifelong task of individuation, of becoming more fully oneself.
An example from the book:
A redbud tree in the afternoon light – the dream image called to me, compellingly, insistently. In the afternoon of my life, it summoned me on a journey, a kind of meandering quest that is the way of soul searching. The redbud blooms in early spring, a first burst of vibrant color after a long, gray Midwestern winter; it is a fragile and ephemeral blossoming, short-lived, fleeting. It is perhaps in the afternoon of my life that I am called, again, to the rebirth of a new spring. I must, it seemed to say, pay attention. Now.
What is your redbud tree?
What is calling to you?
Soul Play: A workbook to inspire and guide your soul journey
Women who read Patricia Greer’s first book, Breast Cancer: A Soul Journey, asked for a workbook to help them go on their own journeys of soul exploration. This companion volume to her first book provides that guide to discovering inner wisdom. Accessible and conversational, it contains questions, suggestions, and exercises which will be helpful to all those who want to do inner work, to find insights and directions for their lives.
It is based on breast cancer as the central experience of a deepening search, but it can be translated by the reader into any illness, any crisis, any life challenge.
This book does not attempt to explain psychological issues or theories; instead, it offers ways of accessing inner insights and finding direction for one’s life. It can be helpful both to the seasoned journal writer and to the woman who is new to the process of self-reflection.
An example from the workbook:
Seek a symbol.
Or better yet, see what symbol may be seeking you.In your exploration of inner wisdom, it is important to open yourself to the pull of the symbolic world. If this is new to you, it may seem a bit strange, but, again, let the inner critic go for a walk. Away from you.
Begin to notice if there is something that taps on the window of your consciousness and wants some attention. It may be a word, a piece of music, a dream image. . .
One symbol that related to cancer, for me, was a geode, a rock that has an interior space filled with crystal formations. Cancer was like that for me: ugly on the outside, with all the scars and treatments and side effects and fears. But inside, when I was finally able to look inside, there was treasure to be discovered . . . soul treasure.
Do you feel a symbol calling to you, seeking you?
Will you follow its call and see what treasure it may hold for your inner search?