Everyday Buddhism 98 - The Wonder of Small Things with James Crews

What a delight it is to have James Crews joining me for a conversation about the book, The Wonder of Small Things: Poems of Peace & Renewal, which he edited.

James is the author of the essay collection, Kindness Will Save the World, and editor of several bestselling poetry anthologies, including The Wonder of Small Things, Healing the Divide, The Path to Kindness, and How to Love the World.

He has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, and in People Magazine, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, The Sun Magazine, and The Washington Post. He is the author of four prize-winning books of poetry, and his poems have appeared in Ploughshares, The New Republic, and other journals.

As you will no doubt hear, James is a gentle soul whose conversation about poetry, spirituality, and life is healing … His words and the tender way he speaks them is a balm for our painful and anxious times.

Among other things, we talked about:

• • How we turn to poetry during difficult times like these precisely because as James expresses it, "poems are such small but spacious containers that hold so much with just a few powerful sensory details" …. And, he says, "Poetry heals because it is so embodied."
  • Poetry as spiritual practice. How poets do what they do with language.
  • How poetry helps us transcend dualistic thinking.
  • How poetry creates connection and compassion.

Take some time to ease into this episode. I promise you will be soothed and come away craving more poetry in your life, even if you never appreciated it before.