“APPROACHRain is falling. Winter approaches. I drive towards it. In the slow rain. In the semi-darkness. Cello music is playing in the car. The deep sad sound of the cello. It almost swamps me. Routine endeavours to swamp me. The everyday paying of bills.But I paint men walking in a city of icebergs and crystal. Some of the icebergs are red. I paint a woman swimming in green wavy water. Surrounded by desert mesas. Bright orange in the sunlight. With darker orange for shadows. I paint two people. With purple and pink and yellow and blue circles overlapping the boundaries of their bodies. Dancing.Life is not ordinary. When I see you tonight I will press my lips to your eyelids. Each one in turn. I will rub my fingertips over the skin on the back of your hands and around your wrists. I will sigh. I will growl. I will whinny. I will gallop into your smile. One sharp foot after the other.”
Jay Woodman“Green and living jewels drip into my eyes" from the poem "All Green and Living Things" in the book "Terra Affirmative”
Jay Woodman, Riding the Escalator and Terra Affirmative“I never think of myself as an attacker, only as a defender - usually of rights - mine and others.”
Jay Woodman“I don't have to be safe to feel safe, I always feel safe at my core.”
Jay Woodman“We are the wilderness withinScreaming out for true expression.Even when we’re sleeping,There’s no escape from this obsession.”
Jay Woodman“be the calm eye of the storm where nothing phases you, focus on your centre to remain balanced, let your life flow like a stream of wind”
Jay Woodman“Don't be afraid to be authentic, show up in the world as you truly are.Be as you mean to be, but be light with it. Love it, give it, share it, laugh at it, walk everywhere with it.Be in the world but not OF it.”
Jay Woodman“Spiritual counselling is helping people find the deep root of stillness in themselves, which is also a connection to everything else.”
Jay Woodman“Fly (poem from the book Blue Bridge)Delicate, / butterfly winged, / we vainly push against the sky, / each trying to find our place.Yes, we are going to die, / let's not beat about the bush. / Maybe today, maybe tomorrow, / maybe even years from now. Meanwhile, / we have someone who loves us, / someone to love. / Surely there is no need to hesitate.”
Jay Woodman“Sometimes it's better to show our vulnerability / pain / regrets so others don't think us impervious / unapproachable - be real / open”
Jay Woodman“I honour the clarity of the present moment, and the stillness at the centre of being (mine & others), even in the midst of so much doing.”
Jay Woodman