Metrics
Metrics
What if our metrics for well-being included birdsong, the crescendo
of crickets on a summer evening, and neighbors calling to each other
across the road?
—Robin Wall Kimmerer
What if we included moonlight
rippling in a birdbath, and how long
we spent staring out at that silver water?
What about crocus and daffodil buds,
almost more beautiful before they open,
just a hint of color showing at the tips?
What if my well-being hinges on seeing
our neighbor’s house glowing at night
like a hearth between bare trees,
lit windows I can warm my hands by?
Two men in love just like us, though
decades older, who walk these same
rutted dirt roads while holding hands,
who left us a pungent bundle of sage
from New Mexico in our mailbox
as a thank you for watering their plants.
What if our Gross National Product
included love, connection, joy,
and counted how many times today
each of us gave something to another,
expecting nothing in return?
As Robin Wall Kimmerer suggests in her wonderful new book, The Serviceberry, it is not impossible to re-dream a world in which we measure the health of our collective society not by how much wealth is accumulated, but instead by how much we choose to share. My own daily writing practice often points me toward what I most value, those moments that matter far more in the long-run than achievement or mere accumulation. These are some of the many things I will miss when I have to leave this life—seeing the moon-silvered water in the birdbath whenever I wake up in the night; noticing our neighbors’ house aglow each evening, like a small hearth, smoke streaming from the chimney; and finding a simple, thoughtful gift from those two men in our mailbox, in gratitude for watering their plants during a long vacation over the winter. I sometimes fail at the practice of prioritizing my own well-being, getting caught up in a sense of financial scarcity and fear for the future of our country and world. Yet each time, I am brought back to the abundant present by the physical and sensory details that make our lives so miraculous and rich—the pungent scent of that sage bundle when I tore off the wrapping paper, or water flowing into the bone-dry soil of a basil plant whose leaves I rub for an instant, or stopping to check on the slow progress of crocuses and tulips in their beds. All of it is waiting for us when we choose to live by a different set of values than the ones that clearly govern our culture right now. We may not be able to force everyone else to follow such metrics, but we can embrace them today, placing generosity and a wild trust in each other above our own personal worries and concerns.
Invitation for Writing & Reflection: What might your own specific metrics of well-being include at this moment in time? How might you shift your thinking to measure life by reciprocity and abundance, instead of a sense of scarcity?
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Below, please also find some ways to gather during National Poetry Month and beyond!
I'm thrilled that the earth-centered and renowned poet Jacqueline Suskin will be joining me for the next session of my Monthly Pause Writing Community via Zoom on Wednesday, 4/9 at 1pm ET. Please consider subscribing, if you're not already a member, for monthly infusions of sacred conversation and supportive writing time from prompts that we share. You can find more info here, and every session is recorded for later viewing in a member portal.
Some other upcoming opportunities:
The Medicine of Poetry: A Reading with James Crews, Zeina Azzam, Melinda Burns, Carolyn Chilton Casas, and Cristina M.R. Norcross on Wednesday April 16th at 7pm ET/4pm PT. FREE via Zoom, recorded:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-medicine-of-poetry-tickets-1298215731199?aff=oddtdtcreator
Love & Verse for Now: A Reading & Conversation with James Crews & Jacqueline Suskin, offering a sneak peek at my latest anthology, Love Is for All of Us, on Wednesday, April 23rd at 7pm ET/4pm PT, FREE via Zoom, recorded:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/love-verse-for-now-tickets-1298213303939?aff=oddtdtcreator
Grateful Anyway: One-day In-person Retreat at Meadow Park Building in San Luis Obispo, CA with James Crews & Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Thursday, 5/1 from 9am-3pm $200:
https://www.jamescrews.net/news/z735x25roc0sz1n3dp5jac4sxul5pa
Oh, Broken-Open Heart: A Mother's Day Poetry Gathering for Mourners with James Crews & Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, $0-30 sliding scale, via Zoom, Thursday, 5/8 at 7pm ET/4pm PT recorded:
https://letsreimagine.org/76768/oh-broken-open-heart-a-mothers-day-poetry-gathering-for-mourners
Beautiful, James. Unfortunately, these are the questions that we often only think to ask when times are tough. I’m grateful for saints like Mary Oliver and Robin Wall Kimmerer who remind us that the beauty of connection was there all along. Thanks for this invitation to wake up to this reality again today.
what a beautifully uplifting call to connect to what truly matters in this lifetime, thank you james. living at “the speed of soul” kept coming to mind as i read your poem. my own metrics at the moment include the number of times in a day i can mindfully take long, soothing deep breaths when shallow breathing has snuck in amidst a stress storm, to be able wash the dishes and only think about washing the dishes (!), and how many people i connected to in any modality to remind them i love them just to make sure they remember it like a song that keeps playing rather than a tune they once heard long ago on the radio but is a faint fade now.