Anne Peek - Whisperings

Recently on Whisperings

Happy Birthday

July 31, 2019

I love birthdays. Not just my own, but everybody’s--the idea of birthdays. Maybe because I came from a high-achieving family, I relish the idea that everyone has a day once a year to be celebrated, for no achievement, for no reason other than being alive. When else do we do this—at least for people outside our close family and friends--aside from birthdays?read more

A Poem for the Fourth of July Weekend

July 5, 2019

A poem, "In the Fourth of July Parade," by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer for this Fourth of July weekend.read more

Lesson from a Horse: Part II

June 3, 2019

In last June’s blog I wrote about one powerful experience at this workshop learning about love with a dear horse named Shooter. In this blog I’d like share another part of the adventure of that day.read more

Summons

May 4, 2019

My day had changed. The invigorating warmth and cheer in my heart and belly remained. I sent another “thank you” to the Universe for so sweetly breaking my trance of thinking, rushing and planning. Plunging me back into true life. So many things can do it, especially at this luscious time of spring, but that day it was the determined, gleeful babbling of a child (I can see and hear that baby still.)read more

Recognition

April 4, 2019

It’s a truism that we all affect each other. I am reminded how surprising and nourishing a chance meeting with a stranger can be as I recall fondly an incident that happened several years ago. The writer Christina Baldwin calls it the “invisible internet,” the way we sometimes profoundly influence each other by what we do, or say, or by our presence, in ways we may never know.read more

A Search for Home

March 5, 2019

I’ve been thinking about home. And the longing for home. For a long time I have wanted to move, probably out of Minnesota, but when I think about where to go, I get muddled. Because I think there might be several kinds of home, and mine pull me in different directions. Yet they intrigue me.read more

Fragile

February 5, 2019

I’ve been feeling small the last few days. Fragile. Young. Sensitive. I want to be held, snuggled, tended. And I’m tired. And weepy. I’m fighting off a skin infection and I’ve had a busy couple months—that must be it. Why must I always search for a reasonable explanation for feeling under par? I’m disappointed to see how hard it still is for me to truly rest. Without anxiety or guilt.read more

Looking and Not Talking

January 7, 2019

I’m hanging in a wordless space, even as I write these words. Looking and not talking. Yes, I’ve been in this space and do not want to leave it. So this month I offer a few pictures for you to look at and ponder if you choose, with some white space around them…read more

Playtime for a Full Heart

December 6, 2018

As a break from all the emotion--much of it heart-breaking--swirling within and around me, I took a play break to write and draw. Here are the results for your enjoyment. Can you find the numbers from the poem hidden in the drawing?read more

The Day After

November 7, 2018

I am posting this blog on the new moon, the day after the midterm elections. We begin two new cycles--lunar and political--yet much has not changed. I found helpful today the wisdom in this poem, "Revolution the Day After," by Carrie Newcomer so I thought I'd pass it on.read more

Finding my Way in the Dark

October 7, 2018

It’s the dark of the moon, sunlight is waning, and my mood is dark. How to channel my rage and sense of helplessness?read more

Tending

September 8, 2018

I just finished deadheading the petunias around my mailbox. Noticing how much I enjoy doing it. I like to check how the flowers are doing, see whether they have enough water, pause to enjoy their colors and scent. I like to touch them, to talk to them, to spread their stems so that they have air and space (a little like fluffing pillows). Yet there are so many things in my life I do not tend, that I ignore or take for granted.read more

A Tall Order

August 11, 2018

It’s amazing what you can get on Amazon. Recently, when I was in Lanesboro Minnesota visiting my friend, I learned that the nearby town of Peterson, population 200, had taken up a collection and ordered an 8 ½-foot gnome to honor their Norwegian heritage. (Who knew you could get an 8 ½-foot gnome on Amazon?) Well, the gnome got lost somehow en route, so Amazon apologized and sent them another one. (How do you lose an 8 ½-foot gnome?) read more

Incredibly Out of Touch

July 10, 2018

Had an embarrassing “old and clueless” moment at the movies the other night. We left laughing sheepishly at ourselves but also feeling a bit battered. And embarrassed to feel so out of touch (and slightly cranky) with the modern world.read more

Gift from a Horse

June 13, 2018

Nearly three weeks ago I went to a daylong personal growth workshop with horses. The day of the workshop I woke feeling tired, spacey, weepy and fragile. And I was limping a little with a sore hip. The horse taught me something during every activity, and one exercise I believe has changed me profoundly.read more

Liberating Limericks

May 15, 2018

A limerick about struggling to write a blog, and the limericks spoken by the subjects of two pieces of art.read more

Spinning My Wheels

April 14, 2018

I want to post a blog touching on one of my usual themes—wonder, creativity, humor—but today those feel a little scarce. Well, I do feel wonder as I sit today in this blizzard, the worst I’ve seen in many years. I feel kind of muffled and mired, able to do all the necessary daily tasks but lacking the will and energy to do the many things that would probably lift my spirits and vitality.read more

Pele's Cauldron

March 16, 2018

Today I’ve been thinking about Kilauea, the volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii that’s been reshaping the island's terrain continuously since 1983. I’m not sure why. Perhaps I need to be reminded that the blaze of Creation is a deeper, more powerful fire than the smoky flame of anger and conflict we contend with constantly these days…read more

Don't Bore the Gods!

February 14, 2018

I had a humbling Aha! moment the other day. Humbling but also freeing.read more

Turning Toward the Sun

January 15, 2018

Mmmm….bright sunshine is bathing my face, neck, shoulders, chest. I smile, my pulse slows, my shoulders relax, my mind empties: I absorb into every cell this infusion of warmth and light. It’s Minnesota, it’s winter, and I’m fully clothed. But as the sun makes its daily circuit around my house, it shines onto my living room recliner. Can I lean toward the light each day to nourish my body and soul?read more

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Welcome to Whisperings

“There is a place where words are born of silence,
A place where the whispers of the heart arise.”
— Rumi

I will ponder here what whispers to me in the silence. I’d love for you to whisper back; maybe we will all get clearer—or maybe, like in the old kids’ game of “telephone” we will end up somewhere else entirely (which would be fun too)