In the video above, filmed during her recent Garrison Institute retreat, Joanna Macy discusses the poetry and spirituality of Rainer Maria Rilke. She talks about how the young poet found the sacred in ordinary life, how he had an incredible sense of what the 20th century had in store, and how he tells readers to “let everything happen to you, both the…
Poets Robert Polito and Gregory Pardlo co-led a retreat at the Garrison Institute entitled “Imagining Your Voice on the Page” on December 16 – 18, 2016. The essay below was originally delivered by Polito during the panel Genre-Crossing and Poetic Truth: Lyric Nonfictions, Reported Poems at AWP 2016 in Los Angeles. This is a short talk with a long list inside it,…
Zen teacher John Tarrant recently taught a retreat at the Garrison Institute on koans—teaching stories traditionally reserved for advanced Zen students—and creativity. Before the retreat started, Tarrant spoke with Garrison Institute Retreats Director Jane Kolleeny about how creative pursuits can support our contemplative practices. Tarrant is the author of Bring Me the Rhinoceros and The Light Inside the Dark and…
Alison Moritsugu is an artist whose work explores how our idealized images of the natural world shape our concepts about it. In her log paintings, she paints idyllic landscapes in the Hudson River School style on the cross sections of trees, which, as she notes on her website, complicates the image because “any sense of nostalgia or celebration of nature…
Kathleen Norris is an award-winning poet and essayist. In her books—such as The Cloister Walk and Dakota: A Spiritual Geography—she often explores spirituality in a way that is both personal and historical. We spoke with her recently about the importance of place, the relationship between creative and contemplative pursuits, and the benefits of belonging to a community. This post is…
I recently had an opportunity to speak to some Garrison Institute supporters and friends. I mentioned that one of the things that unites the Garrison community is that we are all seekers. This is our basic orientation; we want to discover, explore, and search, and the Institute is a wonderful vehicle for our seeking. And in seeking, many of us…
Last November, singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin performed at the Garrison Institute’s Insight & Impact benefit. We caught up with her recently to talk about how clearing her mind and the 12 Steps inform her spirituality and creative process, as well as her approach to covering songs. This post is the second in a series of short interviews on contemplation and creativity. Read our…
In honor of National Poetry Month, we would like to share some of Krista Tippett’s On Being interviews with a few of our favorite poets. In her new book, Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living, Tippett writes, “The kind of conversation I spend my life in is, like poetry, a tribute to the human capacity…