Poetic Reflections That Renew Relationships:

Taaj is the author of Walking Still:  Poetic Reflections of Friends, Family, Life and Love.  Professor of Education and lives in Seattle, Washington.  She is currently working on her next book Caws to Tweets.

I wrote “Walking Still” while on sabbatical from teaching, it was an opportunity for healing through telling stories that had hardened into painful memories, and to share my softer narratives with pleasure.  I created this website as a blog to create a place where we may all share narratives so others may experience the healing effects of ‘telling a story well’.  Like in Walking Still, I will continue to dig deep for the narratives of healing and invite each of you to share through comments, and posts on this blog.   I will integrate my experiences as a poet, educator and counselor as I share my reflections about friends, family, life and love with you, to continue this very worthwhile journey.

The Book:

A Journey towards self-discovery.

Have you ever taken a journey without packing a suitcase or physically moving from one place to another?  I have through poetic reflections.  Some of my poems examine the emotive journey that each of us experiences from just living.  We naturally reflect on our life experiences.  We attempt to capture these experiences visually in many ways;  digital frames, photo albums, and even in shoe boxes.  These images help us to hold onto treasured memories that otherwise could be lost.  We also attempt to reflect on our experiences through conversations, in our dreams and in the arts, such as music and dance.  Basically, any way we can.

A photograph only captures a moment in time, memories in dreams are distortions of the true experiences, conversations invite other perceptions that may change our own, and attempts to memorialize our experiences through music and dance are limited by artistic ability.  Nevertheless, we continue to walk through our thoughts to relive treasured experiences or learn valuable lessons.

Reflection on our experiences is basic to us as humans; we are driven by ideas, purpose and thoughts of our past.  The ability to reflect on who we are allows us to grow and develop as people, to have empathic thoughts toward others , and to think critically about life or, in other words, to become courageous, compassionate and competent.

Poetic reflections about life’s experiences have allowed me to grow as a friend, wife/mother, teacher/poet and woman.  They have also allowed me to heal as a human being.  It is my hope that when you visit my website, you will start with your own safer reflections of others, which will lead to examining family relationships.  Once we can look back at those close relationships it opens us up to the true journey of self-discovery, where we can examine our innermost feelings about the difficult life struggles.

Whether we express it in poetry, in journals, to our loved ones, or just quietly to ourselves, moments of walking still make it possible for us to still walk.  It is the act of self-expressions that truly sets us free.  It is my sincere hope that some of my poetic reflections speak to you personally.