dearest local or not-so-local hip tranquil chicks, please save the date for a tres hip and tranquil new year year extravaganza (yes, i’m a planner) on saturday, january 12 in the grand ballroom of the josephine butler house (featured in this photo). this kick-start to 2008 will be held from 10-4 and include yoga, creative play, do-gooding discussions, and more. oh, and did i mention the ballroom has 2 fireplaces? and we’ll have oodles of yummy tea for you to sip the entire day. i can’t wait! stay tuned for more scoop.

in addition, i have a request. any poetry lovers (or writers) out there? i’m looking for some inspiring poetry to share on the blog and in my classes. and, as a novice who is constantly like “i don’t get it” when i read most poetry, i’d love suggestions that cross into my non-connoisseur realm. in the spirit, i want to share one of my favorites:

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.