WholeHeart Inc.
Poems as companions for listening

Poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer served as featured guest of WholeHeart’s recent Poetry As Portal event online. She and Holly Wilkinson conversed about poetry as “companion” or a “living presence” that can accompany us through our most challenging days, providing passageway into our own hearts and souls. Enjoy this recap of the June event!

Poems as companions for listening
WholeHeart Inc.
Feeling the poetry of everyday life

Dru Roessle, of Danville, Vermont, brings deep insight to the WholeHeart board of directors and beyond. She works as a facilitator of groups and teams problem-solving some of society’s most intractable problems. Dru centers relational justice in the spaces she engages in, believing that we already have what we need to create just systems that are designed for care, reciprocity, and collective well-being. Enjoy this provocative, inspiring interview!

Feeling the poetry of everyday life
WholeHeart Inc.
Bringing tenderness to light

On the eve of a full moon, WholeHeart launched its newest program series, Poetry As Portal, featuring Julie Cadwallader Staub, a poet from South Burlington, Vt. More than 40 participants gathered on Zoom, March 25th, to participate in the event, part-poetry reading, part-conversation with the poet, and part-listening exercise for attendees to reflect upon their own lives.

Bringing tenderness to light
WholeHeart Inc.
Living our life like a prayer

What does it mean to live one’s life like a prayer? Heather Omand, of Huntington, Vt., is pioneering a different human way of being in the world as a Queer person, mother, partner, and caretaker of agricultural lands. Read about their insightful journey. Listen to their prose, “What Queerness Means to Me.”

Living our life like a prayer
WholeHeart Inc.
Listening to land whispers

What does it mean to be in deeper relationship with the land where one lives? Three friends spent last summer wandering in the mountains of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, coming to know the plants/medicines growing on the land, preparing meals with the foods harvested, and learning to navigate the wind and waves off the coast of Maine. This story encapsulates some of their heartfelt insights gained.

Listening to land whispers

Inspiration and Activism

Inspiration and Activism

“….It can be hard to get behind issues that don't directly affect you - your fruit isn't rotting from the inside on your farm, your town isn't being flooded - but a lot of kids were able to get past their privilege and join in to stand up for something beyond their protected, safe experience." —11th grade climate activist, Kai Gilbert

The Elegance of Paradox

The Elegance of Paradox

I've been thinking a lot about paradoxes lately.

This fall I had the great fortune of spending 3 days at a Courage and Renewal® Circle of Trust retreat in Burlington run by WholeHeart. The focus of the retreat was about scarcity and abundance. We spent a lot of time talking about and reflecting on the idea of paradox and I continue to ponder on it.