Marilee Pallant's Page

Barefoot in Blue Jeans - Evocateurs of Possibility and Presence

www.thegardenthatgrewher.com

You know the feel of being centered, open -- there’s a flow and with the ease of the wind you belong in the world. Something of your Original Face shines through: it is easy to say “yes”, anchored in soul and guided by SoulSpeak. It is that place of Belonging , of Being and doing with passion what we feel called to do that many seek.

In Jan. of 2008, I found myself called to watch a major TV show one afternoon. I never watch TV during the day, let alone one of those spill-all, capture the ratings, tell of it later kind of shows. Something said, “Turn it on.” One little blip at the end of the show said, “Read this book. Take part in this telecast of thousands around the world.” I bought the book and clicked on. Mind you, never did I chat on the internet -- the whole world watching kind of thing. To me it was like walking naked in the town square and brought up every word of caution my Father had ever “preached” in the old way of stern judgment about what people “should do,” especially women. He was forever squelching my ability to stand tall with my Truth.

The Silence was Broken: there was Voice.

My first forays into the world of Message Boards brought me face to face with button-pushing people talking about what the “spiritual life” “should” look like. It was easy to see that part of my story would not be to their liking. Even having a story was not to their liking. Then I saw a heading that said, “The Garden that Grew Her.” I knew nothing of the woman who shared: “There has got to be another way to walk the spiritual path. I’ve got kids to raise and a job that takes most of my time and energy. I can’t dash off to “eat, pray, and love” in foreign countries and then write about it."

With wit, humor, satire and a River of Soul that moved through her in earnest ways, this woman spoke of wanting to see her former mate land in a bed of alcohol-soaked fondue forks – even owned that more than once she envisioned running over him with a lawn-mower that had rusty blades – anything to end what she later called “death by domesticide” where she had lost her own natural voice and had learned to lie about her authentic needs and her deep Soul Truth. It was evident that spirit was moving through this woman in powerful ways as raw truth shaped from some guidance that even she did not totally understand at the time.

I was truly led to express with Enthos – the Greek passion and inspiration of the gods and goddesses – “Write on, sing on, dance on…give us your story, your song.” I reiterated what one other had said, “Don’t give the milk away. We will pay to read this.”

I said, “I’ll buy the book. Just go write it.”

Zip – back came a private e-mail saying, “You taught creative writing – can you help me here.” My anchored “yes” surprised me in its depth of resonance. I had no true idea then how I would be able to help.

A long story followed– one either I, or both Leslie and I, could write and might. The bottom line: through hurdles, fatigue, illness and unexpected adventures, true Inner Guidance took us on a journey until Leslie completed the book. She left the Cyber Garden, and many of us tended to it while we daily held space for Leslie in heart and Soul. A new Inter-net Garden grew and a huge inter-connectedness formed where people gathered from from all over the world to get barefoot and find Life with new voices as old forms dropped away. We never totally understood how or why the Garden that Grew Her thrived except we knew we were all trying to be there for one another – Evocateurs of Possiblity and Presence.

Suddenly I found myself waking in the dark of night with a new poem right there almost word for word which coincided with Garden searching. Song lyrics unfolded as the initial spontaneous outpourings in the Garden shaped a Cyber Space with a palpable energy of Love and Hope. I shared some of this at a Guidance Workshop with Kathleen and others where I outlined all that might keep me from following through with the enterprise of writing, making a commitment to write whatever sought to be written. Those hours are etched in memory because there was this Knowing, "Something real and satisfying is going to come of this."

Not long after, Leslie wrote and said, “Let’s put the poetry at the end of each chapter. Let’s have a part of the book at the end speak of the way women joined to create a Cyber Space New Community of women (and a few fine men) that focused on women sharing their stories and dropping mind-forged manacles. Leslie and I recognized that via rich and true Imagination in the Garden we had all been living and breathing what Coleridge calls "The Willing Suspension of Disbelief" in barefoot (meaning vulnerably open and surrendered to something natural and original - soul-filled) ways.

On November 15, 2009, the first pre-ordered paperback copies of the book will be available. Right now the book can be down-loaded and paid for by credit car. The book is one woman’s memoir of learning to be Present and living by a deep inner Guidance, walking the path of her Truth. My SoulSpeak is there in the poetry at the end of each chapter.

If you are called at all to explore and see how one woman staked all she had, to live with integrity, make a living selling cars, and then and makes a leap from a Car Saleswoman to a writer, finding again Barefoot wonder, you can click on the website at the top of this post to see a movie trailer and read a chapter of the book.

Meanwhile it is my calling to blog illuminated poetry here and share what now seeks entrance. Call it my apprenticeship to Speaking Truth. It is my way of consciously practicing joy and reaching…. Receiving and giving….. I have no choice. Inner Guidance says, “Write, paint, love, walk barefoot and offer – or perish.” So each day I go to a simple Cabin Life, often in good company – and write and illuminate the text –. Never in 2008 would I have visioned being a Barefoot Blogger. I have such gratitude for Intuition, the Natural Face, Instinct and that deep Inner Guidance -- for the way we can all evoke the hidden and wonderful in each other.

I say to all: write on, read on, sing on, dance on, love well and find the way Affection Forges your hours. Live by what calls you. Perhaps then that is the title of the next Collection of Poems: Affection Forges Every Hour. Blessings to All.

Marilee - sometimes known as The Blue Jean Poet - or Ya Ya