In this episode of Poetic Pause, we sit with a stanza that asks us to reconsider our relationship to desire, discipline, and freedom.

So often, we are taught to mistrust our wanting—to see desire as weakness, indulgence, or moral failure. Over time, this denial becomes normalized. We learn to equate suffering with virtue and to place pain at the center of our lives, offering ourselves up at its altar.

This stanza invites a different orientation: what if freedom begins with honesty? What if owning our wanting opens a pathway out of unnecessary suffering?

Stanza:

It is only through owning our wantingthat we own our freedom,that we own the possibility of escaping suffering.To deny our desires—We worship pain over pleasure, placing at itsaltar, sacrificed souls.

This episode is not about excess or indulgence. It is about noticing where sacrifice has become reflexive, unquestioned, and costly.

The Practice Is Simple

Pause for 30 seconds

Read the words

Sit in silence as long as you need

Reflection Question

Where in your life are you sacrificing too much?

Thank you for pausing.Nothing more. Nothing less.Just a pause.

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Poetic Pause — Heaven Is Where the Heart Is

Sweet Dirt Journal Podcast

Episode Description

Welcome to Poetic Pause.This is a space to help us breathe—to hold the weight of crisis, conflict, and uncertainty without being consumed by it.

Sometimes the only thing we can do is pause.To stop for a moment, sit still, and let silence remind us that we are still here—and that another way of being is possible.

In this episode, I share a stanza from my poetry collection—something small to sit with, reflect on, and allow to unravel gently.

The practice is simple:

Listen to the words

Pause

Sit in silence as long as you need

Today’s Stanza

Heaven is where the heart is—meadows of singing lilacs and daffodils,lush grass that chimes in the wind,await those whose hearts are free.

This stanza has been a lantern for me in dark moments, a reminder that freedom is not always found in certainty, but in listening—deeply—to the heart.

After listening, I invite you to take a breath.Let the words settle.And sit into the silence.

Reflection Question

What might become possible if I stopped searching for certainty and trusted my capacity to adapt?

This episode is part of Poetic Pause, a public poetic memorial inviting us to stop—even briefly—in the midst of uncertainty, crisis, and conflict, and to imagine a world beyond violence.

Thank you for being here.Nothing more.Nothing less.Just a pause.

Get full access to The Sweet Dirt Journal at cbcconnect.substack.com/subscribe

Episode Title: Poetic Pause: “The Days of Self-Denial Must Cease”

In this Poetic Pause meditation, I read a stanza from my poetry collection:

“The days of self-denial must cease.We must indulge in delight if we are to do more than simply survive. We must not fear our yes.”

This meditation invites you to sit with the words, pause for 30 seconds, and consider how reclaiming delight can be a form of healing.In a world that demands endurance, pleasure becomes resistance. Saying yes becomes an act of liberation.

The practice is simple: Listen to the stanza. Pause for 30 seconds. Sit in silence as long as you need. Let one question rise to meet you.

Reflection Question: What pleasures do you deny yourself? And why are you afraid of your yes?

Thank you for pausing with me.Nothing more. Nothing less. Just a pause.