The Growing Edge Newsletter & Podcast with Poet Ross Gay—December 1, 2023
Thoughts At Turning Of The Year
• The Growing Edge December Podcast: Rebroadcast of Episode 28, “A Reason For Delight—A Conversation with Poet Ross Gay”
• Notes from the Edge
• Community Question of the Month
• Parker’s Online Appearances
• Carrie’s New Album, “A Great Wild Mercy” & “Singing In the Dark” Video
Notes from the Edge
A Note from Carrie
In December the sun is at its furthest distance from the northern hemisphere of our world. The leaves have fallen exposing the beautiful sculptural lines of each tree that lines the hills and ridge tops around my home. The days have grown short and and street lights come on by 6pm in this western edge of the eastern time zone. All of nature is nearly settled in for the winter months of dreaming. The harvest has come and the great circle completes with a long sighing exhale. But like our breath, it does not end there but prepares itself for the next turning of the wheel and intake of crisp January air. It is now when the skies are filled with frosty stars, many cultures return to sacred traditions. We gather in circles holding the night at bay, reminding one another that we are not alone, affirming that even now in the darkest days of the year, we are loved and treasured. In our rebroadcast of our conversation with poet/essayist Ross Gay, Parker and I discuss holding and beholding one another, recognizing how we have all arrived to the holiday table bringing our joys and sorrows. In these times when the news is filled with messages of division and fear, how important it is to lean into this season of mercy, behold one another in all our messy humanness with a sense of generosity and clemency.
As we head toward the threshold of 2024 may we all embrace what we love, even when it feels risky. May we acknowledge our losses and release what has lain heavy upon our hearts in the past year. May we honor our inner life and welcome our outer communities of trust. May we step across the threshold with a sense of wonder, curiosity, hope and love….always love.
A Note from Parker
I simply want to say “Amen” to Carrie’s lovely meditation on the changing of the season and the ongoing dance of darkness and light. At this time of year, I always remember the closing lines of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales,” by Dylan Thomas. After telling the colorful story of that special day—full of snow, aunts and uncles, and hijinks—young Dylan settles in for the night: “I turned the gas down, I got into bed. I said some words to the close and holy darkness, and then I slept.” May we all experience this season of darkness as close and holy, and may we all be given healing and renewing sleep…
The Growing Edge Podcast
You can listen here, or on Substack, I-Tunes, Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts!
The Growing Edge December Podcast: “Rebroadcast of Episode 28 A Reason For Delight - A Conversation with Poet Ross Gay”
In this episode Parker J. Palmer and Carrie Newcomer revisit favorite episode with Author/poet Ross Gay, who has touched countless readers with his books Catalogue of Unabashed Gratitude, Be Holding, The Book of Delights, Inciting Joy, and The Book of (MORE) Delights. This episode was recorded in December of 2020. In it we discuss finding, noticing and experiencing delight as a daily practice, joy as an act of resistance and the importance of creating a connection to one another and to the natural world. We’re happy you’re here to join us for this "delightful" and thoughtful conversation.
Parker and I will return with a new episode of the Growing edge on February 1, 2024.
Visit our website for the full archives of The Growing Edge Podcast.
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Question of the Month
Now in the season of mercy, what are your blessings or wishes for our continuing Growing Edge community?
BOOK NEWS! Early in 2024, an updated edition of Parker’s book 2011 book Healing the Heart of Democracy will start shipping—just in time for the start of the 2024 election year. In this era of nonstop divisiveness and threats to our democracy, many have found this book a practical and inspiring guide to citizen action. If you pre-order now (HERE) you’ll receive one of the first copies off the press and help the book along at the same time.
Thank you for being an engaged citizen of the American experiment in a government of, by, and for the people. To quote the book, “The democratic experiment is endless, unless we blow up the lab, and the explosives to do the job are found within us. But so also is the heart’s alchemy that can turn suffering into community, conflict into the energy of creativity, and tension into an opening toward the common good.”
Parker’s Online Appearances
A few months ago, I sat down with Jenna Abdou, host and producer of 33 Voices, “a global conversation about things that matter in business and in life.” Jenna is one of the young leaders who have been enriching my life for the past quarter century. It was a great pleasure to talk with her, and feel the good energy that can emerge when younger and older folks make a creative connection. If you’d like to see what we have to say about “the soul’s imperative”, check out our conversation HERE.
This one goes back a while, to January, 2019, but the ground Beth Buelow and I covered is ground I’m still walking today. Credit for that belongs to Beth, a skilled interviewer, who has an instinct for the right questions. HERE you can listen in as we talk about holding conflict creatively to build stronger relationships.
I loved talking with Heidi Brooks, Senior Lecturer at the Yale School of Management. She told me she wanted to talk about my book Let Your Life Speak, which she called “the scariest book I have ever read.” How could I turn down an invitation like that?! I’m so glad I said yes—it was a great joy to talk with her. Listen in HERE.
A Great Wild Mercy on Apple Music, Spotify & All Streaming Platforms.
I hope you check out my new album A Great Wild Mercy on Itunes, Apple Music, Spotify or where ever you stream or purchase your music!
Here is a video link for a song written last December with my friend John McCutcheon. It’s called Singing In The Dark.
To learn more about the story of this song you can check out my personal substack page Here
AND as always….when you purchase from my website store you directly support the work I do and art I create! Much gratitude to you all! Here’s a link to my website store
The Growing Edge is a gift that keeps educating, sharing information, wisdom and Love 💕. Thank you 🙏 I feel grateful to be part if this community.🌍