The Senses Report

Linked to Linden:A Fragrance Takes Heart

2009-05-10T10:12:00.003-04:00

In Central Park, on Mother's Day, after a solid week of rain, the lindens and lilacs are leafing and flowering out, and I am in a special state of Spring Giddiness reserved especially for this time of year.

Several Springs ago, after a particularly strenuous set of meetings, I emerged, exhausted, from the nearest subway to a scent reminiscent of....

Reminiscent of something I could not quite account for, but that was powerful and profound beyond words.

Without thinking, I followed my nose across the street and into the park, where I stood under the trees in question and reeled with joy and relief. Stress dissolved while waves of well-being and wonder washed over me. It was as if an abacus-of-the-emotions began recounting -- or rather, reliving -- every encounter with this fragrance from pre-verbal to most recent. Clearly, this was the tree that bloomed behind an old boyfriend’s country house. But it was also so much more.

Determined to know what and why, I returned to the park with my Smithsonian Handbook of Trees guide...and identified…American Linden! Aha! The French use linden flowers (also known as lime blossoms) to make tilleul, a soothing tea that, accompanied by a madeleine, launched Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past.

Being less prolific and more consumer-oriented, I proceeded directly to Whole Foods to purchase linden leaf tea and Provence Sante’s pure linden perfume. Subsequently, a fragrance counter sniff test at Saks yielded the info I sought: Linden is an active ingredient in Evyan's White Shoulders, a perfume my mother and grandmother had worn from my earliest days.

And an olfactory lesson that this winetaster had always known was driven deeper home: No sense travels more quickly or directly to our memories and emotions than smell, which bypasses the reasoning part of the brain and heads straight to the limbic system.

Much more on the sense of smell, how it works, and why it’s key to happiness, health, learning and love can be found at Coming to Your Senses, in upcoming Senses Report posts, and in an olfaction chapter I co-authored with Kevin Zraly for The Complete Wine Course, to be released by Sterling this September.

For now, the linden trees are in bloom! I encourage you to stand beneath them and BREATHE. And I hope you will fill your days and nights with aromas that keep your memories and desires alive.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Spring Giddiness

2009-04-04T07:26:00.000-04:00

Spring Giddiness

By Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

The Wine Workout:Tastings to Train Senses & Brain

2009-03-30T08:58:00.000-04:00

It’s a great time to be drinking wine! Never has the quality been higher, the selection greater, the prices more reasonable.

And it’s good for us, too. Among wine’s ever-growing attributes, studies show that moderate consumption can prevent heart attacks and strokes, aid digestion, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce the risks of certain cancers and degenerative diseases.

Now, The Senses Bureau adds to these benefits through The Wine Workout, wherein tasting wine becomes a training ground for the senses, memory and mind.

Through a series of enjoyable experiences and exercises, savoring wine becomes the practice that:

• Deepens curiosity and elevates learning
• Strengthens the senses, singly and in concert
• Builds a vocabulary with which to express impressions and perceptions
• Enhances the way memories are made, stored and retrieved
• Clarifies personal preferences and style
• Promotes relaxation, conversation, stimulation, realization

While The Wine Workout elucidates the multi-faceted magnificence that resides in each well-made bottle of wine -- the embodiment of time and place, vines and grapes, soil and weather, nature and art -- it also acknowledges that that’s just where the beauty starts! Of equal wonder is what takes place within us when we experience wine -- from anticipation to articulation, from awakened and enlivened senses to the creation, integration and consolidation of memories.

Right and left brain, and numerous other parts of the body and mind, collaborate and communicate in making memories and keeping them alive. But there are few places that they work together as powerfully or as pleasurably as in tasting, describing, and remembering wine.

We hope you will join us for upcoming Wine Workouts that will feature some of our favorite tasters and tastings…and that you’ll invite us to organize a Wine Workout for you and your group.

For details, please e-mail wendy@thesensesbureau.com .

Meantime, happy tastings to you. And please check out Coming to Your Senses, about enjoying wine in and with every sense, and WineSmelling 101, a chapter that Kevin Zraly and I co-authored for his 2009 Complete Wine Course.

Lights Out for Earth Hour

2009-03-28T23:29:00.001-04:00

Friends,

Because I was powered down earlier for Earth Hour, and so as to conserve resources and share a truly great experience again, I am repurposing from last year's post:

I seriously need reading glasses. Somehow, I misread the time on Earth Hour's excellent website about when we were supposed to turn the lights out and experience the difference that even an hour of darkness can make.

I invited friends over for the occasion, but none could come.

And so, alone at the appointed hour, I powered down all appliances, lit candles, turned my rocking chair towards twilight, and experienced realizations, revelations, and rewards that I could never have imagined.

Realization: Quiet and calm accompany darkness to a great degree. Nature seems closer when you are calm and quiet.

Revelation: More is less. Soon, I was economizing even candles. And what I could see, hear, feel in the deepening of dusk and descent of night asounded me.

Reward: A raccoon traversed my windowsill and scampered up the netted scaffolding next door.

WOW!!! Did this happen often, I wondered, and I was too busy, noisy, bustling to see?

Was this some kind of sign -- an enticement to spend more time in silence, stillness, observation, contemplation?

Or was I CRAZY?

Later, walking to dinner, I took the park path to see who else was lighting up or powering down. At the gate, I quizzed the local police: Had they been aware of Earth Hour? No. If they had been aware, would they have taken action or encouraged others to do so? Questionable. Could they notice a difference in the city lights from where they stood? Not really. And finally: Could I have been hallucinating? Though I was admittedly alone and drinking in the dark, I could swear I saw a raccoon....

Absolutely affirmative! The police were as excited as I was: They had seen a hefty critter amble out of Central Park at the time in question, in no particular hurry, headed west....

Increasingly, it seems, 'coons leave Central Park to stake out new territories, run errands and the like. One neighbor reported that a raccoon accompanied her to Duane Reade the other day. And I've since been told not to invite them in for lunch, lest they never leave.

Anyhow, I arrived at dinner EXCITED to share my tales of calmness, wildness and wonder with friends...only to learn that Earth Hour was the next night. And I'd get to do it all again....

Spring Is....

2009-03-20T09:07:00.001-04:00

"Spring is in the cock's crow, in the smell of freshly turned earth. It is no longer wise for the nature lover to procrastinate."

So says a favorite, unattributed quote that I found in the early days of FarmHands-CityHands.

And now, you don't have to wait!

Here's hoping you ENJOY the first day of Spring, which officially began this morning, and that you'll find ways of getting your hands dirty and your mind clean.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit aka Biodiesel Babe

Taste of Terroir

2009-03-03T08:37:00.000-05:00

Among the many things I LOVE about wine?

How much complexity and magnificence it can contain.

Each finely crafted wine tells the story of a time and a place, a region and its soil, vines and their age, grape varietals and their characteristics, of a growing season’s worth of weather, of how the maker shaped these elements of nature into art, of how the wine aged -- in what types of steel or wood and for how long, of whether or not the wine will improve with age, and of how the whole hangs together...always more than the sum of its parts.

And that's just where the beauty of wine starts!

It is within us that the story of wine unfolds, its personality is revealed, and its fullest potential is realized.

But before I get ahead of myself and into the full raisons d'etre (reasons for being) of The Senses Bureau and The Wine Workout, let me get quite literally down to earth...and a little below it.

This year, I came to experience more deeply than ever what terroir -- the French term that literally means "soil" or "earth" and that largely encompasses all that that factors into "sense of place" -- can mean to and for a wine.

First, an International Sauvignon Blanc Tasting held by St. Superygenerously drove home how uniquely S.B. can express itself when grown in the alternately steely, stony, gravelly, shaley, flinty soils of areas ranging from California's Napa Valley to the Alto Adige region of Italy, the Martinborough region of New Zealand, the Casa Blanca Valley of Chile and the Stellenbosch appellation of South Africa. From St. Supery's 2004 Dollarhide Ranch wonder -- balancing the lushness of lychee, guava, lime and pineapple with a minerality that the winemaker's notes call "a million polished pebbles" -- to the bracing acidity and elegant austerity of Didier Dagueneau's 2004 Blanc Fume de Pouilly from France's Loire Valley, the world tour drove home the power and importance of place.

Then, aWines of Germany tasting, Raimond Prum gave me an education about slate, and elucidated how different types of slate can affect a Riesling's taste -- from the red slate that is rich with iron to the blue slate that is colored and flavored by copper to the grey slate, which, containing tin, confers the most elegant minerality of all.

Soon, I was not only tasting terroir as never before, but was also noticing how many winemakers carry their earth and stones with them to tastings, as exemplified by Lockwood Vineyard's Shale Ridge, shown above.

Now, in addition to drinking wines I love, I am collecting rocks...and reveling in the first-hand experience of new knowledge, which is what I live for.

For every good reason, I hope you'll join me!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

Sense of Proportion

2009-02-19T14:44:00.000-05:00

When I can, so as to keep the senses fresh, I shop with love and alacrity. I practice fridge, pantry and plate fengh shui -- arranging foods I enjoy in ways and places that please me. I eat in color, with eyes, with joy, humor, heart and a great senses of gratitude...nourishing self and soul on so many levels.

For every good reason, I hope you will join me...and that we will be breaking bread and sharing wine together soon.

Warmly,

Wendy and The Senses Bureau

All That You Want to Be...

2009-02-09T15:46:00.000-05:00

Friends,

These days, many things are reminding me of a children’s book I’m planning to write: “All That You Want to Be You Already Are!”

“All That You Want to Be” began with the realization that my most heartfelt dreams and projects were born in me a LONG TIME ago.

I see it in kids all the time: The many who sleep with favorite books before they’ve learned to read; who write poems and novels and plays before they've been taught to write; who wake up singing; the chalk artists, dancers, firemen, doctors, police and teachers who play now at what they will later become...which is the continuation, maturation and celebration of what they've always been.

This is not second nature: It’s nature itself! Just like the seed is in the fruit and the fruit is in the seed and it's a chicken and egg world we're living in.

Anyway, I’m feeling especially that way these days, when a new venture -- The Renewables -- represents a return to roots (roots tracing back to age six!) and just the sort of branching out I'd dreamed of.

I’m standing in snow, but I’m feeling Spring.

As experience tells me, it’s been here all along!

What to Wear for Candelmas

2009-02-02T00:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Groundhog Day! Don't forget to CELEBRATE Winter. HOPE for Spring. ENJOY all of the Seasons. REMEMBER to PLAY!

2009, Etched in Snow

2009-01-01T09:16:00.002-05:00

Friends,

May 2009 usher in a happy, healthy, hopeful and wine-filled time.

And may it find us sharing many a fine glass together.

Warmly and looking forward,

Wendy

Great Minds Drink Alike?

2008-12-24T09:23:00.001-05:00

For some, it's has been a year of ups and downs....

But whether these holidays find you with your glass half empty, half full or both, we hope you have something in it that you love.

And we hope that you ENJOY...in every sense!

WineSmelling 101

2008-11-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

The 2009 Complete Wine Course is out. And in it is a chapter that Kevin Zraly and I co-authored on the incredible sense of SMELL, and how key smell is to our enjoyment of wine…and all else in life.

How does our sense of smell work? Why is it so evocative of emotion, so central to memory and so critical to happiness, health, learning and love?

How does smell vary across cultures and evolve and devolve over a lifetime?

How can we keep our sense of smell intact and alive longer, and use it more fully and joyously?

Kevin and I agree: One of the most pleasurable ways to train, strengthen and preserve our all-important sense of smell is through mindfully savoring wine.

For every good reason, we hope you will ENJOY Wine Smelling 101, and we hope you will smell wine with us sometime soon!

Warmly and looking forward,
Kevin and Wendy

Refresh My Memory....

2008-10-28T13:28:00.000-04:00

All I have to do is to hear the pop of a Champagne cork (which I’m about to!) and so many memories come rushing back....Of good work, deep play and the way I plan to “refresh my memory” today and every day.

For now, this Friends of Wine cover -- taken 25 years ago and recently reshot with the doll from France that inspired it -- makes me laugh, and reminds me that of all the senses, sense of humor is often the most important.

Eating in Color

2008-09-29T10:26:00.000-04:00

I was so lucky to be able to give a talk to The Color Association of the United States this week on the importance of Eating in Color.

It is not only possible to eat with the eyes: Sensorially and nutritionally speaking, it’s brilliant…especially at this time of year!

Seek out all things green, yellow, orange, red and purple for a diet rich in phytochemicals, vitamins, and other nutrients.

Listen to what pleases the eye in buying, preparing, eating and sharing apples, arugula, avocadoes, beans, berries, cabbages, carrots, citrus, grapes, greens, lettuce, melons, parsley, peas, peppers, peaches, plums, pumpkin, sprouts, squash, sweet potatoes, salmon, tomatoes, zucchini, zests (of lemon, lime, orange, etc.) and more.

Within each of these, there is an enticing array of varieties and tastes.

Make your own A – Z list and savor what happens with your senses.

ENJOY visits to gardens, farms, markets…and even your own fridge. Frequent the restaurants that serve best of local.

For guides other than your appetite and eyes, we also highly recommend Power Foods by Stephanie Belling, M.D.

And let's not forget drinking in color! We followed it up with a wonderful red, white and sparking Wine Workout that had us tasting in with every sense....

To your happiness and health!

Warmly,

Wendy and The Senses Bureau

Don’t Just SMELL the Flowers

2008-07-08T10:26:00.000-04:00

Next time, don’t just SMELL the flowers.

Touch them with your lips and fingertips, and provide a fragrant and multi-faceted feast for SKIN...our largest sensory organ.

ENJOY!!!

Catching Whiff! & Towards SCENTworld Expo....

2008-06-18T07:10:00.011-04:00

Friends,

I met Russell Brumfield at Martin Lindstrom’s BrandSense Symposium a few Springs back.

We guessed in tandem as to what made the box of Crayola’s in question so clearly counterfeit: Smell! The knock-off artists had failed to capture the crayon aromas that so many of us know and love.

We went on to share many conversations on the importance of smell to all aspects of health, happiness, learning and success…including in-depth discussions of what it might mean -- marketingwise and otherwise -- to couple the primal powers of smell with the holy grails of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Now, Russell has a compelling new book and an upcoming conference on these subjects:

Whiff: The Revolution of Scent Communication in the Information Age, written with James Goldney and Stephanie Gunning, was just released this week.

And SCENTworld Expo, which will take place at NYC’s Marriott Marquis June 29 – July 1 features Russell Brumfield, James Goldney and many other leaders from sensory marketing realms, among them NY Times fragrance critic Chandler Burr and Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.

From noon - 1:15 on June 30, I’ll be moderating a panel on Creating Multi-Sensory Environments that will feature experts Kate Smith, Jeff Mariola, Wilbert Hirsch and John van Roemburg.

For me, this is a culmination of so much that I’ve implicitly known from my earliest years (creating gently changing scapes of smells, sights, sounds and sensations so as to enhance learning, recall and the enjoyment of it all) as it applies to the art and science of building multi-sensory experiences, environments and brands.

As always, I look forward to sharing what I know and learning more.

And for every good reason, I hope you’ll join us.

Registration is still open for SCENTworld Expo and there will be many opportunities for us to raise a good glass at it.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit and The Senses Bureau

A Call to Open Farms!

2008-05-26T08:48:00.000-04:00

Friends,

I could not be more excited about what's in the works!

As a first call-to-action from The Renewables: Thinkable is Doable!, we are busy building out A Call to Open Farms.

A Call to Open Farms couples the tactility of my first non-profit -- FarmHands-CityHands, formed 22 years ago to link farm and city for the social, cultural, economic and environmental enrichment of both -- with the immediacy and reach of today’s technology.

This growing season, A Call to Open Farms will encourage and enable folks from all walks of life to visit as many area farms, farmers' markets, country and county fairs, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture as possible.

It will:

* Educate people about the importance of local food and farming, and about the opportunities for farm-city links.

* Guide participants to area markets, farms, wineries, breweries, distilleries, fairs, festivals, stores and restaurants that support local agriculture, including ways and means of getting there.

* Give them the tools to provide creative and profuse Proof of Presence (PoP) -- allowing them to post a vibrant array of videos, photos, stories, songs, performances, poems, recipes and more at www.therenewables.net and www.farmhands.org.

* Reward them for their involvement -- from the intrinsic pleasures of digging in, helping out, making friends and being the farm-city link to prizes like FarmStay getaways, flower bouquets, private wine tastings, meet-the-chef meals, and more….

* Celebrate the results with exciting events like Eaters' Appreciation Day, Giving of Thanks Soiree, and more.

We're now finalizing plans for in-city FarmFests, biodiesel bus tours, up-country FarmDays, and for a program that we think will herald a delicious and propitious bonding of people, call to nature and use of technology.

We'll of course keep you posted!

A Call to Open Farms will be a wonderful ride. And we want you with us on it from the first!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe

Those Who Prey Together....

2008-05-18T07:15:00.000-04:00

“Those who prey together stay together!”

So claims Green Chimneys, one of my favorite organizations.

And they should know! For 60 years, Green Chimneys (GC) has been a leader in animal-assisted therapy.

As part of their residential flourishment program, youth sent to Green Chimneys by New York City and State enjoy a hands-on brand of education where, among other things, they grow and sell organic produce, have a robust culinary arts program, tend rare breeds of barnyard animals and rehabilitate injured wildlife.

On Sunday, June 1, Green Chimneys students will help host a full day’s Birds of Prey festivities that will culminate with the freeing of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk back to the wild.

If you can, please get yourself up Brewster way for Birds of Prey Day. And please join me in supporting GC at their 60th Anniversary Celebration on June 5 in NYC.

Meantime, a shout out to the magical Josephine Monter, whose eagle eyes are pictured above. She will be hosting mask-making workshops at Omega on July 13 - 18 and August 10 - 15.

THANKS to Green Chimneys, Josephine…and to all of you…for working wonders and for playing with us when you can.

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit, aka Biodiesel Babe

SxSWente

2008-03-22T06:35:00.007-04:00

Friends,

I am fresh back from the SXSW music fest in Austin, Texas. And I am rejuvenated, inspired, impressed!

I was there thanks to the exquisite Heidi Richman, Program Director of Wente's Discover the Wine, Discover the Music campaign.

Founded in 1883 by C. H. Wente, Wente Vineyards is California's oldest family owned and continuously operated winery.

For more than twenty years, the Wente Family Concert Series has hosted headliner artists ranging from Ray Charles to Buena Vista Social Club at their stunning Livermore Valley ranch.

Discover the Wine, Discover the Music puts a new spin on the Wente Family's passion:

Spearheaded by Karl Wente -- fifth generation winemaker, fine musician and exceptionally evolved human -- the program pairs Wente's 100% estate-grown wines with breaking new artists in innovative ways. For example, neck tags on participating Wente wines include codes for free music downloads and info on how songs like Under the Influence of Giant's joyous "In the Clouds" pair with the crisp and honeysuckled notes of Wente's Riverbank Riesling; how Jesse Dayton & Brennen Leigh's
"We Hung the Moon" mesh with Wente's appley, oaky Morning Fog Chardonnay.

It's a program that sings to me in every sense. And I wanted to be part of Heidi's high-profile promoting of it, built on her years of experience and success, at SXSW.

After all, I impressed upon her, I can pop, open, pour, have been talking and writing about wine since long before it was legal for me to drink, and have not ceased from exploration. And somewhere in the midst of it all, I entered the music industry....

And so, happily, I was invited along for what has proved one of the most pleasurable rides of my life.

While I savored Wente's ripe, luscious Riva Ranch Chardonnay and their long, smooth Southern Hills Cabernet on the front porch of a gracious Garden Street home, Karl and fellow Front Porch singer/songwriter Megan Bradford played covers of my favorite songs (John Prine, Bob Dylan, Counting Crows, Tom Petty), introduced me to new ones (Brothers Lekas, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tally Hall) and knocked my socks off with their own work.

On March 13, at The Moonshine Veranda, Wente treated musicians, industry execs, lifestyle and entertainment press to one of the most intoxicating blends of standout wines, spicy food and mellow tunes that it has ever been my privilege to experience.

And then, it was time to get on the bus!

The Wine Bus, that is -- festooned with Karl's image and his “Discover the Wine, Discover the Music” tag outside, and offering up a cool, acoustically correct, wine-laden lair within.

Karl, Megan, Simi Sernaker of Suffrajett and Jason Russo of Hopewell played music while we made our way to the hottest (and I’m talking 95 degrees that day) venues. At stops that ranged from the swank Whole Foods Lamar St. parking lot to the controlled chaos of Maria’s Taco Xpress, festival goers, fellow musicians and VIP press would get on board to play music, drink wine, conduct interviews and such. I popped, poured, talked about the wines that I had come to know and love, and held my own (that particular time).

Then my official "tour of duty" was over!

I was free to soak up all the strangeness and beauty that is SXSW (1500 bands, 400 films and an embarrassment of parties) in Austin, Texas (a town I love so much I could live there) in Spring (redbud, wisteria, birdsong, splendiferous beyond words).

Mostly, I hung out on the Garden Street front porch and imbibed all the Simi, Karl and Megan music I could.

I bought running shoes and cowboy boots, but spent my time barefoot.

It felt SO GOOD!

Flying home, I read an endnote that Kevin Smokler had written for Austin Chronicle:

“How Your South-By High Can Last Through the Rest of the Year:

Was it a dream? Where do I go from here? What’s this business card stuck to my toothbrush?

Where, in little changes or giant swings, can you draw on SXSW as the start of something new instead of just letting what happens in Austin stay in Austin?”

I think I know....

In significant (and not unSchrodingerlike) ways, I’m still on the bus, inside the music, drinking enough Wente for all of us.

And if they'll have me, I hope my Livermore friends will keep their corkscrews handy:

When next I can, I’ll wend my way West for more of their wine, music, kind.

Meantime, from my perch to their porch, I send admiration, appreciation, LOVE.

For me, this party is so not over! In fact, it’s just begun....

SPRING Into Action....

2008-03-20T06:48:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Spring, which officially began this morning.

And here's inviting us to do wonderful, meaningful things, this season...and always!

Warmly and looking forward,
Wendy Dubit aka Biodiesel Babe.

Schools, Food, Community

2008-03-18T23:36:00.004-04:00

Friends,

I encourage you to join our group of practitioners, parents and advocates for Schools, Food and Community -- an inspiration and action-packed day and a half of panels, workshops, resources, entertainment and networking.

The program -- produced by Baum Forum and the Nutrition Program of Teachers College -- takes place on April ll and 12th at Teachers College of Columbia University, Broadway between 120 and 121st St.

It will focus on strengthening the resolve and ability of children to eat nutritious, fresh foods by:

* Connecting holistic food and nutrition messaging in our classrooms, cafeterias, after-school programs, homes, and neighborhoods

* Fostering relationships among children and their communities that focus on food, cooking, and gardening

* Exploring the nuts and bolts of cross-sector (i.e. health, education, food service, and agriculture) public and private collaborations

* Committing to actions we can take.

Last year's program sold out. So here's hoping you will register soon and looking forward to seeing you there!

Warmly,
Wendy

Leap Year!

2008-02-28T00:53:00.004-05:00

Whatever you do with this year's LEAP DAY, may it hold leaps of faith, love, learning and life for you. And maybe a little wine, too?!

Sense of Wonder

2008-02-08T14:28:00.002-05:00

Lindaa and I walked silently along the Cliffs of Mohr. It was Spring and Winter all at once...and so off-season that even Gifts of Mohr was closed.

Driving back to Logues, we rolled down the windows so as to better see, feel, smell and hear sunset, dusk, deeper darkness, rain, sleet, snow, manure, meadow, sea, animals, ocean.

It was one of those times that remains alive and enriches in every sense.

Wintering....

2008-02-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I arrived in Ireland forJohn O'Donohue's memorial service. Lindaa and I drove from the airport to Co. Clare through snow so fresh that our tracks were the first. Later, we learned that Feb. 1 is also the first day of Irish Spring.

It found me remembering a favorite quote from Diana Kappel-Smith's Wintering:

"In the winter, everything out of doors seems to be gone. But...we know that nothing is gone, and that all the rich life of a June morning is out there on a January morning."

The Space Between Us? Blessings To, For, From John

2008-01-15T23:29:00.002-05:00

In Tribute to Poet, Philosopher, Friend John O’ Donohue….
Jan. 1 1956 – Jan. 4 2008

Our last e-mail, on Jan. 1, was just Happy: Happy New Year! Happy New Book! Happy Birthday! Happy Everything!

I know he went Happy.

But all of us in his circles -- intimate, expanding, infinite -- are bereft.

On Jan. 4, we lost our beloved John O’Donohue.

Or have we? Because as John always said, “Nothing is ever lost or forgotten.”

And he gave us more to remember, think about, hope for and grow towards than anyone I know.

I had the privilege of working with him last year.

Amongst phone calls, e-mails, meetings, we had fun thinking, talking, laughing, drinking, challenging each others’ beliefs and expanding each others’ horizons.

John is a spiritual mystic, Irish philosopher, prolific writer, part-time farmer and former Catholic priest.

I am an urban, agnostic entrepreneur.

In the birthing of his latest book -- Benedictus (to be published as To Bless the Space Between Us in the U.S. this March) -- we talked a lot about love, life, death, and everything before, after and in between.

“The dead,” he would say, “are nearer than they seem.”

I could grasp this in the same way that my Dad lives on in me through DNA and jokes we tell...as well as from a particle physics perspective: “We are in the universe. And the universe is in us. Isn’t that enough?” (Neil DeGrasse Tyson)

But anything beyond that would have to seen to be believed....

“You’ll see," he would say, "In the Celtic landscape and all over. Someday....”

Who knew how soon someday would come?

I don’t usually ask for signs. Or see them when they're there, but....

On the night of Jan. 3, in a rare effort to clear clutter, I came upon obituaries, eulogies and wills from one branch of my family tree. I was moved beyond words...into that reverent space where the sadness of loss balances perfectly with the appreciation of presence.

I can’t put my finger on why, but on a train ride north, I read poems from Linda Pastan’s An Early Afterlife, and was struck by these lines:

“Why don’t we say good-bye right now
In the fallacy of perfect health
Before whatever is going to happen
Happens….”

Hours later, I received the devastating, unexpected news: John had died peacefully in his sleep while on holiday in the South of France. No further details were available.

Immediately, hearts all over the world went out from his group of friends, fans and colleagues...all of us to each other, and most of all to his family and Kristine. Sadness, memories, stories, love and consolation were shared in unbelievable concentration and constellations via e-mail, on the Internet, over the phone. Tributes went up…on www.johnodonuhue.com and elsewhere, from friends and colleagues like David Whyte, Gareth Higgins, Jesse Kornbluth and from venues he appeared at often, like Miriam's Well and Kripalu. We were able to hear his voice on NPR, BBC and elsewhere.

Those who could gathered in Ireland, where he was laid to rest. I took solace in the thought that two soul friends, Linda and Loretta, might be bookends that would bring true a line from John’s “Blessing for Death” from Anam Cara: “May your going be sheltered and your welcome assured.”

Me? I drank whiskey in his honor, and prayed as best I could at the time...including for a sign.

Bizarrely (though I’m sure it wouldn’t have seemed so to him), a lovingly inscribed copy of Benedictus: A Book of Blessings, arrived on the day of his funeral: He had sent and meant it to be there by Christmas. But it had gone to a wrong zip...sitting at that post office for a bit before finding me at just the right time.

It was one more way for John to say: “You are never alone” -- a proof point of the paradox, merriment, bedevilment, fulfillment, embodiment, humor, joy and generosity that is John....

Almost all the words I can find to express my sadness and hope are in that book and his others.

If you haven’t already, I hope you will go to the sources to hear, read, share the soul-satisfying stuff he is made of.

Here, I’ll simply end with Stars, a poem that I hope brings comfort and that perfectly expresses what I've come to know and believe about the universe, those that we love in it, and the way they live on....

Stars

By Hannah Senesh

There are stars whose radiance is
visible on earth
though they have
long been extinct.

There are people whose brilliance
continues to light the world
though they are no
longer among us.

These lights are particularly
bright when the night is dark.

They light the way
for human kind.