Dear friends,
Last night we returned home from a two-week birthday cruise that took us from Lisbon to Barcelona by way of the Gibraltar Strait and up Spain’s east coast to Barcelona. It was an amazing journey with lots of new places and adventures, including a tour through the Dracht’s (Dragon’s) caves, and a camel ride on the beach of Tangier.
But my favorite part of the whole trip was meeting up with our twin grandsons in Barcelona after the cruise. They’ve been studying abroad this semester, Connor in London and Jake in Madrid, and I’ve missed them. We took a brief walking tour to see some of Antoni Gaudi’s magnificent architecture, then enjoyed a fabulous meal at a three-star Michelin rated restaurant. I couldn’t have had a better birthday celebration.
Anyway, all this is to say I’m just now getting to my neglected email and found this notice from the Community for Integrative Learning that I want to share with you. It’s about a presentation I’ll be giving for them in a few weeks. It’s titled Dreams: Your Personal Guides to Psychological and Spiritual Growth.
All are invited. Check it out of you’re interested. If the info hasn’t been posted on their site yet, try again in a week or so. I hope to see you there.
With love and gratitude for your interest, the magnificence of this world, the blessings of a long life, and the joys of family.
Coming Soon
May 30, 2024
7 PM to 9 PM EST via Zoom
Dreams: Your Personal Guides to Psychological and Spiritual Growth with Dr. Jean Benedict Raffa – Author & Educator
Based on her book, “Dream Theatres of the Soul”, Dr. Raffa has created and will present a PowerPoint presentation that explains how a person’s night dreams address various aspects of the psyche and how to identify and work with them to acquire greater self-knowledge.
Also Coming in the Fall, Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Personal Narrative: Transforming Haunting Ghosts into Healing Guests
with Dennis Patrick Slattery, Ph. D.
Welcome Morning by Anne Sexton
There is joy
in all:
in the hair I brush each morning,
in the Cannon towel, newly washed,
that I rub my body with each morning,
in the chapel of eggs I cook
each morning,
in the outcry from the kettle
that heats my coffee
each morning,
in the spoon and the chair
that cry “hello there, Anne”
each morning,
in the godhead of the table
that I set my silver, plate, cup upon
each morning.
All this is God,
right here in my pea-green house
each morning
and I mean,
though often forget,
to give thanks,
to faint down by the kitchen table
in a prayer of rejoicing
as the holy birds at the kitchen window
peck into their marriage of seeds.
So while I think of it,
let me paint a thank-you on my palm
for this God, this laughter of the morning,
lest it go unspoken.
The Joy that isn’t shared, I’ve heard,
dies young.
Jean Raffa’s The Bridge to Wholeness and Dream Theatres of the Soul are at Amazon. Healing the Sacred Divide can be found at Amazon and Larson Publications, Inc. Jean’s new Nautilus Award-winning The Soul’s Twins, is at Amazon and Schiffer’s Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit. Subscribe to her newsletter at www.jeanbenedictraffa.com.
6 Responses
Belated birthday greetings to you dear Jeanie! I hope you’ve had the loveliest of times. Your Spanish cruise sounded wonderful. Good luck with your forthcoming dream presentations. And what a great, uplifting poem by you share that brims over with wisdom too, reminding me of how in friendships, by sharing our joy and sorrow, we deepen them and a little bit more peace falls on us. Thanks for sharing your cup of joy today! Love and light, Deborah.
Thank you, dear Deborah, for the good wishes. I had a wonderful birthday. Spain was beautiful and surprisingly cool, not just for us Floridians but for the residents as well. Everyone remarked about the unexpected cold wave. Perhaps you felt some of it in England. I’m excited about my upcoming presentation. I’ve had a love affair with my dreams for over 35 years and they’re my favorite topic to talk and write about. Plus, creating a new PowerPoint presentation gives me an outlet for my ever-present urge to create something new. What a joy. I imagine you feel the same about your poetry. I hope you’re deep and happily in the midst of your newest project. It sounds exciting. I can’t wait to read it. Sending you much love as always, dear friend, Jeanie
Thank you so much Jeanie for your kind words my lovely friend! Yes, I’m in the midst of writing a new lengthy essay for ‘Croneology’ as we speak … only life has just thrown me an unexpected curveball which is temporarily interrupting the flow. I’ll write more about it when things settle down and I have more clarity. Why, oh why, did I think stepping onto the Crone’s path was going to be simple! Yes, it’s been very, very cold here on the south coast (UK) for most of April. It’s good to touch base with you, thanks for the inspiration! All the love in my heart. x
Oh, dear. I hope it’s not another broken ankle! Take care.
First, I wish you (belated!) an endearing happy birthday, my lovely Jeane. I see you have deserved an excellent gift for spending this valuable time with your loved ones, and to hear from you is also heart-warming.
By the way, thank you for your precious offer to learn more from your wisdom, though I think I am in a deep sleep (I hope so, of course!) in that time zone. However, I wish you a successful meeting.👍🙏💖🌹
PS: That is a beautiful, wise poem that tells us to find the joy we have forgotten! (Synchronicity! I have a note in my new article about child archetypes!)😉💖
Thank you, dear Aladdin, for the birthday wishes. Our trip truly was an excellent gift! It’s kind of you to want to attend my presentation. I certainly understand your excellent reason for being unable to do so. My sleep is very precious to me and I am unable to rouse myself in the middle of the night for anything but an emergency. I will look for your new article about child archetypes just as soon as I’m able. So far, I haven’t had an extra moment. Now I’m off to attend to another obligation. Wishing you love, joy, and peace, dear friend. Jeanie