"On Being," a weekly interview show about the mysteries of human existence, hosted by Krista Tippett, airs on nearly 400 public radio stations, with more than half a million weekly listeners . From the earliest years of his career, he investigated how emotions are coded in the muscles of our faces, and how they serve as moral sensory systems. He was called on as Emojis evolved; he consulted on Pete Docters groundbreaking movie Inside Out. And we think, Well, what are we supposed to do with that silence? And we read naturally for meaning. One of the most popular episodes in the history of "On Being," the 15-year-old public-radio program hosted by the honey-voiced Krista Tippett, is a conversation Tippett had more than ten years ago with the late Irish poet and philosopher John O'Donohue on the subject of the inner landscape of beauty. And its always an interesting question because I feel like my process changes and I change. And I feel like poetry makes the world for that experience, as opposed to: Im fine.. So I think thats where, for me, I found any sort of sense of spirituality or belonging. And then you can also be like, Im a little anxious about this thing thats happening next week. Or all of these things, it makes room for all of those things. fact-like take the trowel, plant the limp body And I knew that at 15. Alex Cochran, Deseret News. And this poem was basically a list of all the poems I didnt think I could write, because it was the early days of the pandemic, and I kept thinking, just that poetry had kind of given up on me, I guess. No, theres so much to enjoy. We just ask questions. (Unedited) The Dalai Lama, Jonathan Sacks, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr with Krista Tippett. After almost 20 years on public radio at the helm of her award-winning show On Being, Krista Tippett is transitioning the weekly program to a seasonal podcast.. Tippett said that the On Being Project, her nonprofit organization that produces the show, began seeing itself a few years ago "as a media and public life organization and to figure out what it means to be that. and snowshoes, maple and seeds, samara and shoot, Learn more at kalliopeia.org. And I know that when I discovered it for myself as a teenager that I thought, Oh, this is more like music where its like something is expressing itself to you and you are expressing yourself to it. And there was an ease, I think, that living in the head-only world was kind of a poets dream on some level. Krista Tippett has spent more than a decade exploring important questions of life, questions that often involve faith, science and spirituality on her popular radio program and podcast, "On Being." Interesting. Tippett: this is how vitality looks like. And whats good for my body and my mental health. All of those things. During her 20-plus years as host of public radio's "On Being" show which aired on some 400 stations across the country Krista Tippett and her beautifully varied slate of guests . wind? So Sundays were a different kind of practice, if you will, a different kind of observation. They bring our nervous system and heartbeat and breath into sync and even into sync with other bodies around us. Easy light storms in through the window, soft, edges of the world, smudged by mist, a squirrels, nest rigged high in the maple. [laughs]. Many have turned to David Whyte for his gorgeous, life-giving poetry and his wisdom at the interplay of theology, psychology, and leadership his insistence on the power of a beautiful question and of everyday words amidst the drama of work as well as the drama of life. I wrote it and then I immediately sent it to an editor whos a friend of mine and said, I dont know if you want this. And it was up the next day on the website. The truth is, Ive never cared for the National, Anthem. It is the world and the trees and the grasses and the birds looking back. Out here, theres a bowing even the trees are doing. I dont even mourn him, just all matter-of-. And if its weekly, theres a day of the week and you do it. the collar, constriction of living. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and the Art of Living by Krista Tippe at the best online prices at eBay! What happens after we die? And she says, Well, you die, and you get to be part of the Earth, and you get to be part of what happens next. And it was just a very sort of matter-of-fact way of looking at the world. just the bottlebrush alive Limn: And hes like, Are you trying to ask me what the weather is? [laughter] Im like, Yes. And it says, You are here. And I felt like every day Id write a poem was literally putting that little, You are here dot on a map. So my interest, when I get into conversation with a poet, is not to talk, poetry, but to delve into what this way with words and sound and silence teaches us. In generational time, they are stitching relationship across rupture. I feel like that between space, that liminal space, is a place where we were living for so long, and many of us still living in that between space of, How do I go into the world safely, and how do I move through the world with safety and care-take myself and care-take others. If you had thought about it And you said that this would be the poem that would mean that you would never be Poet Laureate. In me. I never go there very much anymore. All came, and still comes, from the natural world. Limn: There was a bit of like, Eww, lover. [laughter], Easy light storms in through the window, soft you can keep it until its needed, until you can Page 20. If you think about it, its not a good, song. Krista Tippett (2) Rsultats tris par. We say, Oh, I want to write about this flower. And then we say, Why this flower? , the galley in the mail from Milkweed. [laughter] But I think you are a prodigy for growing older and wiser. Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living. what you would miss. Our closing music was composed by Gautam Srikishan. Yes I am. But I trust those moments. The phrase mental health itself makes less and less sense in light of the wild interactivity we can now see between what weve falsely compartmentalized as physical, emotional, mental, even spiritual. Limn: Yeah. So anyway, I got The Hurting Kind, the galley in the mail from Milkweed. And when so much of the natural world was burned, and I kept thinking about all the trees and the birds and the wildlife. She trained as a doctor in a generation that understood death as a failure of medicine. Tacos. Because you did write a great essay called Taco Truck Saved my Marriage.. the world walking in, ready to be ravaged, open for business. if we declared a clean night, if we stopped being terrified, if we launched our demands into the sky, made ourselves so big. We prioritize busyness. Want to Read. I get four parents that come to the school nights. And I felt like I was not brave enough to own that for myself. writes the word lover in a note and Im strangely, excited for the word lover to come back. And that is so much more present with us all the time. Every week, the show hosts thoughtful . Theres whole books about how to breathe. Between the ground and the feast is where I live now. That really spoke to me, on my sofa. And if you cant have hope, I think we need a little awe, or a little wonder, or at least a little curiosity. And also that notion and these are other things you said that poetry recognizes our wholeness. [laughs] And I think Id just like to end with a few more poems. So I think there was a lot of, not only was it music, but then it was music in Spanish. And: advance invitations and news on all things On Being, of course. Krista Tippett, host of award-winning NPR program "On Being", and poet David Whyte discusses several of the life-sized concepts addressed in Tippet's book, _. So it felt right to listen again to one of our most beloved shows of this post-2020 world. Find them at fetzer.org. And poetry, and poetry. enough of can you see me, can you hear me, enough And actually, it seemed to me that your marriage was in fine shape. But something I started thinking, with this frame, really, this sense of homecoming and our belonging in the natural world runs all the way through every single one of your poems. and the world. Yeah, there wasnt a religious practice. To love harder? That its not my neighborhood, and they look beautiful. Tippett: Its that Buddhist, the finger pointing at the moon, right? and over against the ground, sometimes. Okay. And its true. And if its weekly, theres a day of the week and you do it. Because there are a lot of unhelpful things that have been told to me. so mute its almost in another year. And then what happened was the list that was in my head of poems I wasnt going to write became this poem. I will trust the world and I will feel at peace. And this time, what came to me as I stood and looked at the trees was that Oh, it isnt just me looking. She created and hosts the public radio program and podcast On Being . Before the apple tree. I dont know why this, but this. And I remember reading it was Elizabeth Bishops. And then it hits you or something you, like you touch a doorknob, and it reminds you of your mothers doorknob. Tippett: Well, a lot of us I think are still a little agoraphobic. On her show she promoted her new book, Einstein's God, and if the show is any indication, this new enterprise promises to be a fun fest for people inclined . Her presence on that stage was electric. even the tenacious high school band off key. Why not that weed? Our entire world is spent that way. Its the . bury yourself in leaves, and wait for a breaking, That arresting notion, and the distinction Rachel Naomi Remen draws between curing and healing, makes this an urgent offering to our world of healing we are all called to receive and to give. When you open the page, theres already silence. what a word, what a world, this gray waiting. Between the ground and the feast is where I live now. That really spoke to me, on my sofa. Silence, which we dont get enough of. Dacher Keltner and his Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley have been pivotal in this emergence. water, enough sorrow, enough of the air and its ease, So at this point in my notes, I have three words in bold with exclamation points. Limn: I think the failure of language is what really draws me to poetry in general. And we were given to remember that civilization is built on something so tender as bodies breathing in proximity to other bodies. I cannot reverse it, the record enough chiaroscuro, enough of thus and prophecy I remember writing this poem because I really love the word lover, and its a kind of polarizing word. And to not have that bifurcated for a moment. Is where that poem came from. a certain light does a certain thing, enough My grandmother is 98. So it was always this level in which what was being created and made as he was in my life was always musical. These full-body experiences of isolation and ungrieved losses and loneliness and fear and uncertainty. Its a prose poem. Why dont you read The Quiet Machine? But I also feel a little bit out of practice with this live event thing. We believe healthy spiritual inquiry propels us outside the boundaries of the self, into the world. [laughs] Oh my. Do you remember the Colbert Report when Stephen Colbert was doing the earlier show, and he had this one skit where he said, I love breathing, I could do it all day long. [laughter] And I always think about that because of course, its so ironic that we have to think about our breath. Copyright 2023. Talk about any of the limits of language, the failure of language. Yet whats most stunning is how presciently and exquisitely Ocean spoke, and continues to speak, to the world we have since come to inhabit its heartbreak and its poetry, its possibilities for loss and for finding new life. And I was feeling very isolated. The Pause is our Saturday morning ritual of a newsletter. I feel like theres a level in which it offers us a place to be that feels closer to who we are, because there is always that interesting moment where someone asks you who you are, even just the simple question of, How are you? If we really took a minute to think about it, How am I? for the safety of others, for earth, like the flag, how it undulates in the wind I almost think that this poem could be used as a meditation. Becoming whole, she teaches, is not about eradicating our wounds and weaknesses; rather, the way we deal with losses, large and small, shapes our capacity to be present to all of our experiences. You ever think you could cry so hard Tippett: as you said, to give instruction or answers, where to give answers would be to disrespect the gravity of the questions. And just as there are callings for a life, there are callings for our time. Sometimes its just staring out the window. letter on the dresser, enough of the longing and days a little hazy with fever and waiting Because I was teaching on Zoom, and I was just a face, and I found myself being very comfortable with just being a face, and with just being a head. Which makes me laugh, in an oblivion-is-coming sort of way. Yeah, Ive got a lot of feelings moving through me. I think its very dangerous not to have hope. Centuries of pleasure before us and after. as you said, to give instruction or answers, where to give answers would be to disrespect the gravity of the questions. Tippett: And then Joint Custody from The Hurting Kind. Out here, theres a bowing even the trees are doing. We keep forgetting about Antlia, Centaurus, But mostly were forgetting were dead stars too, my mouth is full, of dust and I wish to reclaim the rising, to lean in the spotlight of streetlight with you, toward. Limn: And then Ill say this, that the Library of Congress, theyre amazing, and the Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden, had me read this poem, so. The term "compassion" -- typically reserved for the saintly or the sappy -- has fallen out of touch with reality. I cannot reverse it, the record, chaotic track. That just took me back to this moment in the pandemic where I took so many walks in my neighborhood that Ive lived in for so many years and saw things Id never seen before, including these massive Just suddenly looking down where the trees were and seeing and understanding, just really having this moment where I understood that its their neighborhood and Im living in it. And I think there was this moment where I was like, Oh, Im just sort of living to see what happens next. And the grief is also giving me a reason to get up. now even when it is ordinary. And I always thought it was just because I had to work. Lean Spirituality. What were talking about and not when we talk about mental health. And it was an incredible treat to interview her before 1,000 people, packed together in a concert hall on a cold Minnesota night. Krista Tippett: I really believe that poetry is something we humans need almost as much as we need water and air. Then in 2018, she published a brilliant essay called Complicating the Narratives, which she opened by confessing a professional existential crisis. It is still the river. Or call 1-800-MY-APPLE. And I was in the backyard by myself, as many of us were by ourselves. Why are all these blank spaces? It has silence built all around it. Winters icy hand at the back of all of us. Unknown. Before the divorce. And together you kind of have this relationship. Which I hadnt had before. Yeah, Ive got a lot of feelings moving through me. I write. You said there in a place, as Ive aged, I have more time for tenderness, for the poems that are so earnest they melt your spine a little. And one of them this is also on. And I wonder if you think about your teenage self, who fell in love with poetry. With. It suddenly just falls apart [laughter], Limn: and I feel like there are moments that I travel a lot in South America, with my husband, and by the end of the second week, my brain has gone. And I found it really useful, a really useful tool to go back in and start to think about what was just no longer true, or maybe had never been true. And so, its so hard to speak of, to honor, to mark in this culture. On Being with Krista Tippett December 6, 2016. So in The Carrying, there are these two poems on facing pages, that both have fire in the title. Limn: Yeah. My mother says, Oh yeah, you say that now.. The On Being Project is located on Dakota land. Tippett: So can we just engage in this intellectual exercise with you because its completely fascinating and Im not sure whats going on, and Id like you to tell me. We literally. Amidst all of the perspectives and arguments around our ecological future, this much is true: we are not in the natural world we are part of it. Who am I to live? Right? 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