Everyday Buddhism 115 - Unlocking the Heart with James Crews

I am delighted to have another conversation with James Crews, a return guest who is joining me for a conversation about his book, Unlocking the Heart: Writing for Mindfulness, Courage, and Self-Compassion.

James is the author of the essay collection, Kindness Will Save the World, and editor of several bestselling poetry anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things (winner of the New England Book Award), Healing the Divide, The Path to Kindness (winner of the Nautilus Books for a Better Life Award), and How to Love the World, which has over 140,000 copies in print.

He has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, and in People Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The Sun Magazine, and The Washington Post. He is the author of five prize-winning books of poetry, including Unlocking the Heart, and his poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The New Republic, and other journals.

James lives with his husband in the woods of Southern Vermont.

At the end of September, James surprised me with the gift of his book, Unlocking the Heart and what a gift it was! I'll talk more about it in our conversation, but the book really did help unlock my heart. During February and a time of reflection on my transformative experience after falling and time in the hospital in December, I worked with the book, reflecting on the poems and James' thoughts about them, and using the writing prompts to journal.

Being opened to vulnerability and held by the poems in the book was a special gift.

As you will no doubt hear, James is a gentle soul whose conversation about poetry, spirituality, and life is healing. Both the words he uses and the tender way he speaks them is a balm for our painful and anxious times.

Among other things, we talked about:

• How we are all poets …
• And, as James said, "We are all going around having moments and those moments are asking for expression.
  
  
• Our materially focused culture has caused us to be separated from spiritual practice and poetry can help us build a practice if we keep showing up.
  
  
• Writing poetry is about noticing and giving space to what you're noticing. Reading poetry trains you in the practice of noticing.

Take some time to ease into this episode. I promise you will be soothed and come away craving more poetry in your life….