Yesterday I had the honor of facilitating a workshop on wellness called “You Sure?: Cultivating a Deep Well of Resilience and Brilliance for Graduate School and Beyond” for a cohort of brilliant emerging community accountable scholars at Barnard College at Columbia University (my alma mater!)   We used poetic activities to get past the “what is your project?” paradigm and to share what renews us, what wakes us up, and who makes us possible.   We also talked about the 4 p’s of navigating wellness in academic institutions (wouldn’t you love to know what those are

Toni Cade Bambara was the guiding ancestor-intellectual for our process and we drew both on her enduring question from The Salteaters about deciding whether we want to be well and on her story about her mother encouraging her to do the important work of daydreaming.  This poem is from our closing group activity designed to share with you what renews us for our ongoing intellectual adventures. 

daydreaming is a renewable resource

(after and with Toni Cade Bambara)

 

by the 2014 Mellon Fellows and their graduate student mentees during the “You Sure?: Cultivating a Deep Well of Resilience and Brilliance for Graduate School and Beyond” workshop at Barnard College.

 

love is a renewable resource

strength is a renewable resource

courage is a renewable resource

 

laughter is a renewable resource

listening to children is a renewable resource

conversations with old people are a renewable resource

hugs are a renewable resource

 

breath is a renewable resource

laying on the floor is a renewable resource

closing ones eyes is a renewable resource

sitting in darkness is a renewable resource

sleep is a renewable resource

 

forgiving is a renewable resource

being with others is a renewable resource

deep conditioning my hair is a renewable resource

 

finding and re-finding balance is a renewable resource

pain and recovery are renewable resources

 

petting cats is a renewable resource

smelling flowers is a renewable resource

 

sunshine is a renewable resource

creativity is a renewable resource

trying new things is a renewable resource

music is a renewable resource

 

a good meal is a renewable resource

a good meal with good people (indigestion notwithstanding) is a renewable resource

 

chocolate is a renewable resource

color, patterns and textures are renewable resources

holding babies (and being able to give them back) is a renewable resource

 

going back home (wherever that may be) is a renewable resource

singing is a renewable resource

hope is a renewable resource

daydreaming is a renewable resource

 

 

 

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