Valerie Harms

A lovely group of women attended my Soul Writing workshop on Sunday. They were all so eager for tools for deepening their spirituality. I love to relate to people on that level and am grateful for their energy.

All the major religions now celebrate the rebirth of the spirit, derived from the vernal equinox when the soil becomes receptive, the sap runs in trees, and we too can feel refreshed. I am offering a "soul writing workshop" (see Events) that will enable people to delve into their depths to stir the pot of creative juices. Instead of April being the "cruelest" month, let's permit our spirits to flower along with the daffodils and tulips.
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Am listening to Murakami's 1Q84 with both a man and a woman reading. It's like a play unfolding. I am entranced by this mysterious story.

This excerpt appears in my chapter on the Earth's Soul in current book...
Sex-ecology:
Annie Sprinkle (women’s erotica writer, porn star, educator, activist, filmmaker) and her wife, Elizabeth Stephens (artist and educator), seek to make the environmental movement a little more sexy, fun, and diverse. Switching the metaphor of “Earth as Mother” to “Earth as Lover,” their manifesto is in part: “We shamelessly hug trees, massage the earth with our feet, caress stones.” In public performances they have married trees, the moon, the sun, and the sky. (See loveartlab.org.)  Read More 

Ira Progoff, founder of the Intensive Journal method, wrote this poem I've always cherished:
"If I did not believe
that the wisdom of life
is greater than my own wisdom,
I could not have survived,
It is more than a faith now,
a knowledge.
I know,
that, great as my wisdom is,
--almost as great as my will and my desire --
yet the wisdom of life is greater.
And, as I could not float upon water when I tried to,
now I can float upon life
without trying.
In this is my wisdom
and the wisdom of anyone
to know that I know not
how to carry the weight of my existence.
But the waters of life will carry it for me
In their wisdom.
That is the wisdom of life
from which comes all power
and the ultimate glory.
And the greatness of my wisdom lies
in letting life be wise." Read More 

If you would like a selected resource list on getting published, recommended e-publishers, and marketing, send me $10 for it. P.O. Box 1123, Bozeman, MT 59771.

Greatly enjoyed the abundant creativity of people who attended my Writing & Illustrating Books for Children. It snowed the night before, some traveled long distances; thus these Montanans showed their strong spirit.

Much has been said about how hard this film is to understand. I didn’t find it hard but I am psychologically attuned just as another might be mathematically. (I found “Inception” a lot harder.) Here’s my take on postmodern Paul Anderson’s latest offering.

The film starts with flowing water in the wake of a ship, an image that is returned to at intervals, as though marking chapter breaks or reminding us how we are on a “ship of fools.” Freddie, a young man who’s been to war, is mostly drunken and a bundle of raw nerves. He’s at the same time shy, sensitive, modest, and aggressive. In the beginning he lies on the sand near the outline of a woman, whom he’s tried to fuck (drunkenly); this image is returned to in the end showing how Freddie yearns for love.  Read More 

I went to the Park on a sunny day when the terrain was covered with fresh snow. First, I saw a Golden Eagle by the side of the road. It looked as big as an 8-year-old boy hunched over. It had a very sharp eye. One the way back I saw another eagle; again its sharp eye pierced me.
My heart though was pierced by the sight of a Bison who could not walk on his/her right front leg. I knew it was doomed, either from wolves or starvation. No social security or medicare for wildlife. There's only the law of nature. But I feel everything we can do to protect them is a must.  Read More 

You can get Dreaming of Animals as an ebook from this address:

http://bookstore.iuniverse.com/Products/SKU-000081812/Dreaming-of-Animals.aspx