About Chris Heeter

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So far Chris Heeter has created 149 blog entries.

Grappling With Wild Dissonance

After long summer days, fall equinox is upon us.  School is back in session.  It’s the Jewish New Year.  It’s the season of warm days and cool nights.  Time to bring in the harvest, to process and preserve.  It’s also when many conferences take place, along with leadership meetings, staff trainings, galas, and other events.  […]

By |2023-09-23T08:03:16-05:00September 23, 2023|Work Wild|

There is more to this world

By all that you deem holy
find something blooming
on this early September day.

Hunt, if you have to, for blooms of purple
or the lavender of dawn.
Seek out bursts of sun gold
or soft yellow, glowing in daylight.

Whatever you find,
greet these fine beauties
with the respect and reverence they deserve.

Get down low,
head on the ground if necessary,
until you can see […]

By |2023-09-06T16:30:13-05:00September 6, 2023|Wild Poems|

All that we carry

Pick one.  The options, surely, are plentiful.  Pick something that troubles your heart, your mind.  It could be global, national, closer to home, or deeply personal.   Now, hold it out with a little distance between you and this chosen source of distress.  Examine it with just enough reserve to be nearly, but not quite, dispassionate.  […]

By |2023-08-21T08:34:14-05:00August 21, 2023|Work Wild|

Small Wonders

Small wonders happen every day–
the kind we assume,
like waking from sleep
or the sun rising and setting,
and the kind that surprise us,
like the unexpected phone call
or the shock of color in the garden
on a summer morning.

Small enough to go unnoticed
bright enough to feel abundant.

I’m not so sure there are “big” wonders,
maybe just a […]

By |2023-07-12T14:41:50-05:00July 12, 2023|Wild Poems|

Holistic Efficiency

We have been taught to glorify speed and efficiency.  As if they were the same thing. As if getting more done faster is the pinnacle, other perspectives, different work styles, creativity, and connection be damned.

This approach leaves no room for reflection, it speeds past the opportunity to collaborate or consider the way things have been […]

By |2023-06-21T14:31:54-05:00June 21, 2023|Work Wild|

Stillness

We watched a hummingbird buzz around, then land on her nest.
A nest so small there is zero chance we would have seen it otherwise.
A tiny cup of lichen and probably dog hair woven together by spider webs,
soft and expandable to accommodate growing chicks.
A miracle, plain and simple.
And that’s before they fly 4000 miles to their […]

By |2023-06-21T14:26:38-05:00June 21, 2023|Wild Poems|

Already Enough

Maybe it’s been like this for a very long time, but it feels as if I am running across writing, workshops, podcasts, and all manner of yearning by many of us to feel and believe we are enough.  The surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, has identified this as a component of the epidemic of loneliness […]

By |2023-06-06T12:23:12-05:00June 6, 2023|Work Wild|

The Pause

There’s a moment in spring
where everything seems to pause, just briefly.

It’s as if the season takes one big inhale
and then spring thunders in
with its special shades of green
and bright colors dotting the dull brown landscape.

We two-leggeds feel this in our bones
breathing with spring
brimming with anticipation.
Ready to emerge from winter’s grip
we shed layers, and not just […]

By |2023-05-08T15:11:00-05:00May 8, 2023|Wild Poems|

Spring Sun, Spring Storms

Snow has given way to spring.
Only patches of ice remain
where sun rarely touches
or where snow was piled high.

Daylight lingers.
Mud reigns.

Ducks and birds return from their winter get aways
as early spring skies fill with their wings and their songs.

Spring is a boisterous jovial time, after the hush of winter.

It is not without care, though, as we […]

By |2023-04-14T12:38:30-05:00April 13, 2023|Wild Poems|
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