Poetry And The Life Of The Imagination with David Whyte

MP3 Download

From the outer landscape to the inner one, Whyte takes us on a poetic journey of the soul. He describes the Irish culture as one that refuses to choose one context over another. He says, "One of the useful things about the Irish psyche, or the Celtic psyche you could say including Scotland, Wales and Brittainy is that it refuses to choose one context over all the others. It is always about not choosing, but holding different worlds together. I think that is very useful for the post modern world where our focus is so fragmented. Whereas the old native Celtic tradition would tell you that you can actually hold many different things together, but you must have a deep interior focus in order to actually do it. You must have an internal foundation which is able to anchor you in the world while you are involved in all of these different layers and levels." He tells the story of the Tuatha DÈ Dannan who are supposed to have lived betwixt and between things and how, in the Irish myth, they turned sideways and disappeared. Whyte encourages us with his storytelling and poetry to live in the world without engaging in conversations that make you too small for yourself; to not be pinned down by the names others put on us or, we put on ourselves. (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

David Whyte grew up among the hills and valleys of Yorkshire, England. A captivating speaker with a compelling blend of profound poetry and insightful commentary, he is one of the few poets to take his perspectives on creativity into the field of organizational development. He holds a degree in Marine Zoology, and is an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School at the University of Oxford. In 2008, he was awarded an Honorary Degree from Neumann College.

He is the author of several books of poetry and nonfiction including:

• River Flow: New & Selected Poems Revised Edition (Many Rivers Press 2007)
• The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America (Currency 1994)
• The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship (Riverhead 2009)

To learn more about the work of David Whyte go to www.DavidWhyte.com.

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• Why we are drawn to pilgrimage sites
• Why genius is not something we have to become, it is something we are
• Why dementia may not be such a tragedy as he realized through the death of his father
• How it takes a village to help a person die
• How time is not rigid
• How traveling to a new geography we can better see anew our own inner geography