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John's Schedule At A Glance
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POETIC MEDICINE
June 9, 2009
Reno, NV
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RESILIENCE IN TUFF TUFF TIMES
June 12, 2009
Aurora, CO
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POETIC MEDICINE
June 22, 2009
Unity Church of the Rockies
Colorado Springs, CO
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THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
June 24, 2009
Albuquerque, NM
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THE JOURNEY OF THE POET
July 1-2, 2009
San Diego, CA
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THE NATURE OF POETRY
August 24-31, 2009
Canyon de Chelly, AZ
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THE POWER OF WORDS
September 4-7, 2009
Goddard College
Plainfield, VT
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FINDING WHAT YOU DIDN'T LOSE
Oct 30-Nov 1, 2009
Pawleys Island, SC
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______________ AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading
wherever I choose.
All seems beautiful to me;
I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me, I would do the same to you.
~ stanzas from
Song of the Open Road by Walt Whitman
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Dear Friend of the Institute for Poetic Medicine,
This summer, through the fall of 2009, I will travel across America from west coast to east coast. You are invited to attend one of the programs offered. You can contact the Institute to find out more: programmanager@poeticmedicine.org
Spaces are available for the Canyon de Chelly Nature of Poetry retreat at the end of August offered with my wise and dear Diné (Navajo) friends Jon and Lupita McClanahan.
There is room the last weekend of October for the retreat on Pawley's Island, South Carolina, where my gifted friend Sally Hare and I present Finding What You Didn't Lose: Reclaiming Your Hidden Wholeness Through the Healing Power of Writing.
I hope you will take advantage of these opportunities for personal growth and professional development.
What moves me about this path I've followed since the age of thirteen? It remains new to me. The mission of the Institute to "awaken soulfulness in the human voice" continues to deepen. I keep learning, in collaboration with others, what this calling is about.
What moves me is to see people surprised and heartened by their unexpected words and by the unique expressions of another, by the silences that hold us, silence which helps each person deepen their feeling and sense of connection.
Poetry and poem-making help a person trust their inner voice, connect more deeply with whatever it is that makes things green and creative within them, opens a door so that we listen to others with greater attention and care.
This experience is by turns gritty, tender, heartbreaking, simple, grounded, uplifting. Because of the way poetry holds paradox, a poem can express all or some of these together.
I welcome your participation. Please consider taking time for yourself. You could bring a friend.
Kind Regards,
John Fox, CPT
P.S. Please share this email with friends. Soon I will write to you about the remarkable programs of the Institute for Poetic Medicine and how you can get involved.
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| "It's Fox's ability to express with breathtaking clarity,
his inner voice that draws workshop participants to him."
~Washington Post
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JUNE 9, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT
Reno, NV
 POETIC MEDICINE:
The Healing Art of Poem-Making
~ A Writing Workshop ~
Date: June 9, 2009 Tuesday: 1:00PM - 5:00PM Location:
At a private home in Reno, Nevada Fee: $50.00 Please Make Checks Payable To: The Institute for Poetic Medicine
Note: Registration is limited to 12 people. When registering, information on location will be provided.
For More Information:
Please Contact Kathy Jakolat at: Phone: (775) 828-0509 E-Mail: kathyjakolat@att.net
CLICK BELOW:
To Download A Flyer of this Event
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"I attended your workshop at Omega in
the summer of 1998 and I still look back to that wonderful experience
with joy and awe. You helped wake me up to the richness and aliveness
of poetry."
~Dave TrindleNew Hope, Pennsylvania
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JUNE 12, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT & Wayne Gilbert
Aurora, CO
 RESILIENCE IN TUFF TUFF TIMES:
The Healing Power of Poems and Poem-Making
~ A Poetry Reading, Film Presentation
& Conversation ~
Sponsored by Faculty Development Committee
Community College of Aurora
Date: June 12, 2009 Friday: 7:00PM - 9:30PM Location:
Larry Carter Theatre, CentreTech Campus 16000 CentreTech Parkway Aurora, CO 80011 Open to the Public! Donations Accepted.
For More Information:
Please Contact:
Wayne A. Gilbert,
Professor of Literature, Humanities & Creative WritingCommunity College of Aurora 16000 CentreTech Parkway Aurora, CO 80011 Phone: (303) 340-7531 E-Mail: wayne.gilbert@ccaurora.edu A Program in Three Parts:
· Poems w/ Healing Powers ·A lively reading by John Fox and Wayne Gilbert The poems of Wayne Gilbert and John Fox dig deep into the lives we
lead. They raise questions and offer inspiration, cherish silence and
seek to break silencing. · Healing Words: Poetry and Medicine ·(55-minute PBS documentary film)
Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine
is a documentary that tells the stories of patients whose lives have
been dramatically changed as a result of Dr. John Graham-Pole and
poetry therapist John Fox's incorporation of poetry into their recovery
process.
· A Conversation ·
Considering together how poems offer healing salve, encouragement, strength, and insight during especially difficult times.
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This evening, sponsored by Aurora Community College, is designed especially for those in the helping professions, such as teachers, therapists, hospice workers, nurses, doctors and social workers, spiritual directors, chaplins and pastoral care providers, although others wanting to find successful strategies for dealing with stresses of all kinds will find the program quite meaningful. "As helpers, we are experiencing
particularly difficult times in Colorado. Economic pressures are
unbearable, and our work is more and more stressful. We are often good
at developing programs for those we help, but not as good at taking
care of our own "inner" needs and health. This
evening of poetry, film and discussion will aid helping professionals
to use poetry and the arts for their own well-being as well as that of
those they help. At
a time when Americans have grown cynical about health-care, this film
affirms that poetry and art can build understanding and compassion
between doctor and patient and help facilitate healing among the most
critically ill." ~ Wayne Gilbert
Professor of Literature, Humanities & Creative Writing
Community College of Aurora
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"In my work with 2 cancer wellness and
support organizations in Atlanta, Georgia, I have personally witnessed
John Fox's healing abilities as poetry therapist, writer, and teacher
for over the past nine years. We have been privileged to have John
come for a visit to our facility once per year for intensive writing
workshops for people affected by cancer and our clinical staff who are
deeply committed to their work with individuals diagnosed with cancer."
~Carolyn Helmer, ManagerCancer Wellness at Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, GA |
JUNE 22, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT
Unity Church in the Rockies
Colorado Springs, CO
POETIC MEDICINE:
The Healing Art of Poem-Making
A Writing Workshop
and Film Screening of Healing Words: Poetry & Medicine
Date:
June 22, 2009
Monday:
1:00-5:00PM (Workshop Fee: $65)
5:00-6:30PM (Dinner served on location; included in
workshop fee)
6:30-8:00PM (Film is Free)
Location:
Unity Church in the Rockies
1945 Mesa Road
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80904
For More Information and To Register:
Please contact Constance Davis at:
Phone: (719) 380-7854
E-Mail: C77Daybreak@AOL.com
CLICK BELOW:
To Download a Flyer for This Event
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"John Fox does with words what the mystics do with prayer. He draws people in to participate naturally and from their own being."
~The Reverend Channing R. Smith, Rector,
Transfiguration Episcopal Church, Belmont, CA
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JUNE 24, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT
Nativo Lodge
Albuquerque, NM
THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS:
Embracing the Earth to Tell Your Story and
Discover Healing Connections
~ A Writing Workshop ~
Date:
June 24, 2009
Wednesday: 10:00AM-4:00PM
Location:
Nativo Lodge
6000 Pan American Fwy NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505) 798-4300
Fee: $60.00
Please Make Checks Payable To:
The Institute for Poetic Medicine
For Information & To Register:
Please Contact John Fox at:
Phone: (530) 383-4668
Email: JFoxCPT@aol.com
Note: Registration is limited to 15 people
Earth and poetry both offer us powerful images and metaphors with which to tell our stories. Rather than thinking of the earth's resources as commodities like oil and wood, poetry suggests we consider the more intangible qualities which nature offers us, such as beauty and spectacle, turmoil and order, mystery and predictability.
A sense of beauty - wild and terrible or lovely and breathtaking - can be more healing to us than psychology currently acknowledges.
The stories of the earth - and our personal stories - are interwoven, constantly changing in the cyclic process of birth, growth and death. A language for expressing these deep changes in your life can be found by tuning to the language of the earth and the creative voice within yourself.
Join John for the day to explore these mysteries of the natural world. He will help you reveal your unique voice and imagination. This healing relationship will help you create beauty, delight and meaning in your life.
CLICK BELOW:
To Visit the Nativo Lodge Website
CLICK BELOW:
To Download a Flyer for this Event
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"Thank you for your attention to each participant this weekend. You bring a wonderful sense of joy and purpose
to this work and its power to heal."
~Ray McGinnis
Director, Write to the Heart
Vancouver, British Columbia
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JULY 1 - 2, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT
San Diego, CA
THE JOURNEY OF THE POET:Following Your Thread, Breaking Your Silence~ A Writing Workshop ~
Every real poem is the breaking of existing silence, and the first question we might ask any poem is, What kind of voice is breaking silence,
and what kind of silence is being broken?
~ Adrienne Rich
from Art of the Possible
Dates:
July 1 & 2, 2009
Wednesday (7/1): 10:00AM-5:00PM
Thursday (7/2): 10:00AM-5:00PM
Fee: $110
Please Note that Pre-registration is Required.
Location:
Home of Lynn Pollack & Ilan Auerbach
San Diego, CA
For More Information, to Register and Workshop Location:
Contact John Foos at (760) 938-2717;
or RebeccaSpeer@cox.net
There's a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn't change.
~William Stafford
from The Way It Is
This workshop offers a question:
What do you value because it helps you stay
true to yourself? What is your thread?
Or, asked another way:
What is your lifeline, your path,
when it comes to living a life with meaning?
And what of silences in your life?
Do some oppress, others enrich?
There are holy silences. Those moments where deep listening opens the heart and enriches community. And there are oppressive silences, when what is true
and just is squashed or ignored.
The poet in you is in touch with both of these silences. We know society can ignore this powerful voice within us but all too often it is ourselves who ignore it! It is our intention to help you break through oppressive silence and savor the silences which fertilize and honor your creative voice.
Please join us for this retreat that allows us to reclaim, rediscover and remember your creative voice. This workshop is appropriate for experienced writers and for anyone who wants to explore writing as a modality for healing.
CLICK BELOW:
To Download a Flyer for this Event
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AUGUST 24 - 31, 2009
Offered with John Fox, CPT
Jon & Lupita McClanahan
Canyon de Chelly, AZ
THE NATURE OF POETRY
At Canyon de Chelly
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In beauty may we dwell.
In beauty may we walk.
In beauty may our male kindred dwell.
In beauty may our female kindred dwell.
~from The Diné Beauty Prayer
__________
Dates:
August 24-31, 2009
(A 7 day retreat with space for 15 registrants)
Location:
Canyon de Chelly, AZ
Fee: $1,150.00
This
writing workshop is a rare opportunity for non-Native people to be
welcomed for a long period of time into this sacred place. We will
stay with Diné (Navajo) who honor the four elements and directions on a
daily basis. The wisdom stories of the Diné originate in and around
the stunning beauty of Canyon de Chelly. Our hosts, Jon and Lupita,
will share these stories and their ways of life during the day and
around the campfire in the evening.
For More Information & To Register:
Please contact John Fox at:
Phone: (650) 938-2717
E-mail: john@poeticmedicine.org
CLICK BELOW:
To Download a Flyer/Registration Form for this Retreat
To Learn More About Our Diné Hosts, Jon & Lupita McClanahan, CLICK BELOW:
FOOTPATH JOURNEYS OF CANYON DE CHELLY
Above Photo Courtesy of Tad Gielow. To View Tad's Previous Group Photos from The Nature of Poetry, CLICK BELOW:
TAD GIELOW PHOTOGRAPHY |
"After 30 years in the classroom and a decade of jazz poems in clubs, coffee shops and art galleries, I needed spiritual and creative renewal badly. A recent Parkinson's diagnosis had also taken me to dark places that scared me. From the first hike down into the Canyon itself, I felt a powerful compassionate presence. During the week, I awakened each morning beneath a pictograph of a red horse and her colt. One morning a shadow formed a huge Kokopeli on the canyon wall above my tent; he was playing Coltrane. At Spider Rock, I saw a wild horse gallop across the creek, and John Fox fall to his knees in gratitude. The week challenged me to go deeply into myself. My spirit awakened; I belong to a new tribe of poets. A full year later, the Canyon is present to me!"
~Wayne Gilbert
Aurora, Colorado
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SEPTEMBER 4 - 7, 2009
Offered with John Fox, CPT
and A Diverse Group of Keynote Presenters
Transformative Language Arts Network
Goddard College
Plainfield, VT
THE POWER OF WORDS
Liberation, Transformation & Celebration
Through the Spoken, Written & Sung Word
Dates:
September 4 - 7, 2009
Location:
Goddard College 123 Pitkin Rd. Plainfield, VT
Fee: Visit Website Link Below for More Information
John will present with a diverse group of keynote presenters. Explore how we can use our words - written, spoken or sung - to make community, deepen healing, witness one another, wake ourselves up, and foster empowerment and transformation. Organized by the Transformative Language Network, and founded by Goddard College, this conference features experiential workshops on a wide range of the expressive language arts and right livelihood, performances, open readings, and celebrations. Make community with others who share your passion. Keynoters Include:
Kayhan Irani - Performer of the Theatre of the Oppressed and creator of Artivista, an organization that combines art and activism as a form of political expression and engagement John Fox - Poet, author, poetry therapist, and founder of The Institute for Poetic Medicine; author of Poetic Medicine and Finding What You Didn't Lose. Lewis Mehl Medrona - Author of Coyote Medicine, Native American physician and psychiatrist and professor of family psychiatry who calls himself a post-modern, semi-urban neo-shaman. Dovie Thomason - Award-winning Native American storyteller, recording artist and author Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg - Founder of Transformative Languages Arts, and award-winning author of several books including Write Where You Are and Lot's Wife, who will be debuting her memoir, The Sky Begins at Your Feet. Sherry Reiter - Poetry therapy pioneer and drama therapist presenting a workshop on the possibilities inherent in poetry therapy. Callid Keefe & Kristina Perry - Facilitators-in-residence and writers on Theopoetics and the Quaker meeting tradition. Terry Hauptman - Artist-in-residence, painter and poet, and author of On Hearing Thunder; Rattle; and Masquerading in Clover. CLICK BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TLA:Transformative Language Arts NetworkCLICK BELOW TO REGISTER:
Conference Registration
Please Note:
The Early Bird registration deadline has been extended for two more
weeks to ensure an opportunity for you to enjoy this special rate! |
"This dance is about embracing paradox, about being in life in a way that is not either/or, but both/and. It's a lifelong dance between who we are and whose we are and what we are here to do; a lifelong dance co-creating our Work in the world, developing our birthright gifts so we can use them in service of the community. Through the process of this lifelong dance, we are constantly constructing and co-constructing the Individual and Community and Work."
(An excerpt from Wintering into Wisdom: The Dance of a Lifetime by Sally Hare, Still Learning, Inc., Professor Emeritus Coastal Carolina University)
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OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 1, 2009
Offered by John Fox, CPT & Sally Z. Hare, PhD
Sea View Inn
Pawley's Island, South Carolina
FINDING WHAT YOU DIDN'T LOSE:
Reclaiming Your Hidden Wholeness
Through the Healing Power of WritingDates:
October 30 - November 1
Friday: Begins 5:00PM
Sunday: Ends with Lunch
Location:
Sea View Inn
Pawley's Island, South Carolina
Registration Fee: Before September 1: $799 After September 1: $889 Note: The fee is all-inclusive; covering workshop fees,
lodging, and meals. FLYER/REGISTRATION AVAILABLE BY CLICKING HERE: Pawley Island Registration
Note: Space is limited to 22 participants and
typically fills well before deadline!
Dr. Sally Z. Hare:
Phone: (843) 238-9291 Email: sally@coastal.edu
John Fox, CPT:
Phone: (650) 938-2717 Email: john@poeticmedicine.org
In this unique 3-day retreat, poet John Fox and teacher Sally Z. Hare come together to explore the intersection of their work. They invite you to experience a circle of trust, grounded in Sally's many years of working with Parker J. Palmer's formation theory, and the healing power of writing, based in John's own work in poetry therapy. The safe space of this retreat offers you the opportunity to glimpse your own hidden wholeness, to rejoin soul and role, to reconnect who you are with what you do. This is a creative endeavor that asks us to reclaim our deep voice and express what matters to us; or in the words of John Fox's poetic medicine, to awaken soulfulness in the human voice.This circle of trust retreat is for persons from diverse professions: education, health care, psychology, law, philanthropy, religious/spiritual life, and nonprofit and community organizations. In this retreat the skilled facilitators will help create a quiet, focused, respectful space, in which the noise within us and around us can subside, and we can meet stillness. In large group, small group, and solitary settings, we will explore the intersection of our personal and professional lives, making use of stories from our own journeys, as well as insights from poets, storytellers, various wisdom traditions - and inviting our own writing and poetry to emerge.
CLICK BELOW:
To Learn More About Sally Z. Hare, PhD
CLICK BELOW:
To Learn More About the Sea View Inn
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| "The generous space you create opens doors and windows for all of us to
express in our own voice what is calling to be shared of the human
story."
~Linda Alexander,
Bayfront Hospital,
St. Petersburg, FL
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The Language of Air
When people, who, with hearts
and minds engaged take care
with one another and long enough
to pause, to let silence
(and words spoken from the heart)
have a deeper share
of whatever time is given them -
so that breath, mine and yours,
enriched by our listening, touches air.
That element becomes a living presence
which breathes in silence, breathes
in our words, our voice, and then,
when breathing out, opens us up to life,
a sense of grace. As if what we breathe
together in this way is a language
of a universal quiet wherein we understand
one another and even when we don't,
are aware of how it joins us here.
~ John Fox
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