05.14.2008 | 9:15 am | Uncategorized
5/14/08 Forgive My Traspassing
Come and visit me at the White Pine Arts Festival in Stillwater MN from the week of June 17th -22nd, and look up the festival on the web for its busy schedule. I’ll be conducting workshops and doing a reading at Belwin Nature Center on Sunday June 22, at 11 am, after which you can take a nature walk through the center. I have written a whole book full of poems since I was at the festival last year, and I read one of those poems on my current podcast called Forgive My Trespassing. Hope to see you there. Cynthia
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04.9.2008 | 10:03 am | Uncategorized
April 9, 2008
I am deeply disappointed in the latest ELCA sexuality study. I have written a poem called “The Poem That Needs to be Written” and I read it on this month’s podcast (click podcast icon.) Cynthia
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01.9.2008 | 1:05 pm | Uncategorized
1/9/08 Frozen Ground
On my January podcast I read the poem “Frozen Ground” and discuss ways to think about what needs to be thawed in your own life. There is also a poetry prompt in the podcast. What will this year bring that will thaw long forgotten or neglected issues, projects, dreams? Click on the podcast at my home web page and you will hear it on your computer. Happy New Year to you all.
Cynthia Gustavson
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12.4.2007 | 9:37 am | Uncategorized
Quiet Christmas 12/4/2007
It’s only the beginning of December and already the holiday has taken over everyone’s sanity. How do we manage the holiday to our own liking? Tune into my podcast (called Quiet Christmas) where I read a poem about my childhood Christmases and discuss how to keep the beauty in Christmas. Don’t let the world take away your magic, your spirit. Keep it alive. Blessing to you all, Cynthia
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10.25.2007 | 8:11 am | Uncategorized
Thanksgiving and Food 10/25/07
Is food a problem on Thanksgiving? Or is food the solution on Thanksgiving? Tune in to my podcast of the same name and hear me read “Comfort” a poem from my book Re-Versing the Numbers: A Poetry Workbook for Eating Disorders, about comfort foods. I discuss how they can be helpful and harmful, and then I talk about the holiday Thanksgiving, which is on its way soon, and how it can become a nightmare, if we let it. Hope the fall is cool, crisp and a comfort to you all. Cynthia
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10.3.2007 | 9:47 am | Uncategorized
Loss, 10/03/07
It is October and I have been to two funerals already. The days are shorter, the weather is cooler, and the issue of loss is closer at hand. Tune into my podcast, named Loss, to hear a discussion and poem about what loss means to us, and how our culture doesn’t acknowledge that we need time to recover from it. By the way, those who do not have e-pods (such as myself) can still hear the podcasts on their computer. So go to www.cynthiagustavson.com and click podcast, and listen. Enjoy the changing of the leaves, and the cool breezes. Cynthia
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09.12.2007 | 9:00 am | Uncategorized
Body Image 9/12/07
Are you dissatisfied with the way your body looks? Join the human race. We all know our foibles, don’t we? But how important is it to have the perfect body? Listen to my PODCAST called “Body Image” where I read my poem called “Image” from my book Re-Versing the Numbers: A Poetry Workbook for Eating Disorders. After the poem I discuss the concept of body image. Listen in.
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08.22.2007 | 9:49 am | Uncategorized
At the Beach August, 2007
I hope you’ve had some time at the beach this summer. Check out my podcast (of the same name) where I read a poem called Walking on Sand, about different kinds of people at the beach, and then discuss how observant they are. It asks questions about some of the choices we make in life, and how we make those choices. Are humans really the most important creatures on earth, or are we only one of many of God’s creatures? Cynthia
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06.6.2007 | 10:49 am | Uncategorized
Do You Worry Too Much?
Tune into my latest podcast to hear a poem I wrote called “Tiger Lily.” The Bible says that lilies neither “toil nor spin,” but I beg to differ. As a psychotherapist I know that worrying serves a useful purpose, but it can also get in the way of celebrating our lives, especially in this beautiful month of June. Also, if you live near the Twin Cities of MN come see and hear me at the White Pine Arts Festival in Stillwater, MN June 20-24. Look it up on the web for a complete schedule. Enjoy those lilies blooming in the month of June, and take care of those worries. My poem ends:
Tiger lilies are more
feline than flower,
gutsy livers that dare life
to trample them down,
ultimate givers of beauty
to the unaware.
Hope to see you at the Arts Festival. Cynthia
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04.4.2007 | 11:40 am | Uncategorized
April and War, 2007
It’s April, the most beautiful time of the year with dogwoods and azaleas and tulips and daffodils. The grass is greening and the trees are that incredible yellow-green. It’s the rainy season so when I dig in my soil it feels alive and ready for seeds. But the war is still going on, and that’s all anyone talks about on the radio. How can we concentrate on new life when we put all our resources into killing life. Check out my April podcast called Tomatoes in Cages, where I read my poem of that name, from my book Con-Versing With God, and then discuss the balance or imbalance of spring and war. Peace to you all, Cynthia
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01.31.2007 | 10:31 am | Uncategorized
Valentine 1/31/07
Tomorrow is already February, the time to think about valentines. After the thinking is done, can you really say that your actions are different because of it? Maybe the best valentine’s present is to say you are sorry for all the hurtful things you have done, or left undone in the last year. And then to try to do better. Listen to my podcast, called “Valentine”, for a poem and discussion about what love means. Cynthia
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01.13.2007 | 1:19 pm | Uncategorized
Psalm 36, Love and Justice January 13, 2007
I hope 2007 is starting well for you. I am starting it with a new CD called When Love Is Real. You can order it from CD Baby.com. On it I sing my favorite songs, accompanied by my son, Kent, who also sings harmony. There are two songs on the CD that I wrote the words for, and Kent wrote the music. (He’s a PhD in music composition!!!) The title song, When Love Is Real, was written when my husband was in the hospital after a near fatal car accident. It is my reflection on old love, in contrast to romantic love. The other song I wrote is Your Love Reaches to Heaven, based on Psalm 36. I discuss both of these songs on my podcast. By the way, Kent has a songbook for sale, of all the psalms put to his beautiful music, translated into inclusive language, and singable for all kinds of services. Check it out at www.kentgustavson.com. My favorite song on the CD is Precious Lord, Take My Hand. I find the words and music calm my harried soul and give me respite. Peace in the New Year. Cynthia
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12.8.2006 | 5:34 pm | Uncategorized
Christmas Poem 12/08/06
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season. I know that is not always possible. Click onto my podcast to hear me read a poem I wrote last Christmas. It’s a little different slant on the season. Cynthia
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11.10.2006 | 4:23 pm | Uncategorized
Stress Management 11/10/06
Is your eye twitching? Your ulcers aching? Your headache ever-present? Has your doctor told you to manage your stress better? Or maybe even told you to relax or else??? We all live with stress in this world. Even good things can be stressful, such as all 6 of my books being accepted by Ingram for distribution to bookstores nationally. But what does that mean other than MORE WORK AND MORE ORGANIZATION? So, none of us can get away from it. But how can the busiest of people manage it well? Watching diet, exercise, friendships, priorities. That certainly helps. But I really love deep breathing and meditation. Click onto my podcast called Stress Management to hear me read my poem of the same title. Relax. Enjoy. Cynthia
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10.5.2006 | 9:11 am | Uncategorized
10/05/06 Breast Cancer Awareness Month poem
Tune into my October podcast and hear me read my poem called “Double Helix Twisting,” dedicated to my mother Dorothy Jorgenson and my sister Roxanne Bieber, both breast cancer survivors. It is a long poem about my experience with doctors and waiting and fear of breast cancer. Hope all of you out there check yourselves often for lumps. This is a mostly curable disease if you catch it early. Take care. Cynthia
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09.20.2006 | 8:28 am | Uncategorized
Dialysis 9/20/06
It is fall and the time of year to reflect on the cycle of life. I am in autumn, hopefully winter is still a long way off, but autumn’s beauty and autumn’s fury always get me thinking. “Dialysis” is my first nationally published poem, published in the Christian Century Magazine in 1984. It is a spiritual poem as well as a genuinely human one. Listen to me read it aloud and comment on it in my new podcast, entitled “Dialysis.”
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08.4.2006 | 1:48 pm | Uncategorized
August Tomatoes 8/3/06
I have just made a new podcast called August Tomatoes. In it I read two of my poems I have written about tomatoes (both from my book Con-Versing With God: Poetry for Pastoral Counseling and Spiritual Direction.) One poem is about how wonderful tomatoes can be, sweet and ripe, when they are picked from your own garden, or given to you from a friend’s garden. The other poem is very different, called “Tomatoes in Cages” it talks about living in a time of war. I hope your summer is blessed with ripe tomatoes, and that this war we are in ends soon. Peace, Cynthia
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07.10.2006 | 9:33 am | Uncategorized
7/11/06
Think Globally Act Locally
If you haven’t seen it yet go to Al Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, a stunning look at the way our planet is heading in terms of global warming. It’s not just gloom and doom however, the film is positive that we can reverse the damage and live peaceably on this planet. I’ve just made a podcast in which I read a poem from my book Con-Versing With God about thinking globally, acting locally. Think about one thing this week: Garbage! How many garbage cans do you put out weekly, and what size are they? Do you recycle? Do you reuse? Do you live simply? Do you compost? (I just bought a small composter from the Gaiam catalogue. It turns like a wheel. It is by far the easiest composter I have used. There are NO composters at any store in Tulsa, OK. That surely says something about this town doesn’t it?) Please join me in preserving and loving this planet. Alice Walker, the poet and novelist, says of the earth, “Her blue body everything we know.”
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06.14.2006 | 12:11 pm | Uncategorized
6/14/06
Abuse and Neglect
Check out my podcast called, Abuse and Neglect, where I read the poem “Night Secret” from my 2 Fe-Vers books, for children and teens. This is a serious and growing problem in our culture. That is why I have included a whole chapter about the subject in those two books, poems written to enable children and teens to talk about or write about these issues.
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05.10.2006 | 1:13 pm | Uncategorized
5/8/06 Fibromyalgia
Check out my podcast about fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic pain, and a poem from my book Re-Versing The Pain.
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