Returning to the Wellspring

On an equinox when nothing seems equal, we’re very grateful for the art, videography, poetry, and prose that fill this issue. Our contributors bring their art from Canada, Italy, South Korea, and all regions of the United States, from urban, suburban, and rural locales.

We dedicate this issue to Yvonne Rand, who contributed the essay “On Seeing” to the Spring 2018 Issue. Yvonne gives us a profound account of what can happen when we engage deeply with an art form, in her case, a painting by Agnes Martin. Any art form, from literature to music, has this possibility if the artist and the audience are completely present for the experiences of creating and of engaging.

Where I’m writing these late summer days in Santa Cruz on the Northern California coast, not even the dark and light are equal due to wildfire smoke obscuring the sun. The owls seem confused, calling and flying two hours earlier than they usually do here.

In such times of great upheaval in nature and societies, we know we must turn to the deepest resources we have as human beings. We need to drink from the wellspring of balance, of clear-sightedness, of perseverance, of joy, of creative effort to transform what needs to be changed, to make our world better for everyone.

Making Change in Our Lives and the World

We invite you to read our blog and the essay following it by Buddhist teacher, author, and peace activist Stephen Fulder. It offers compassion and wisdom for these challenging times from his decades of experience. We deeply appreciate the motivation and energy we find in his words and trust they will be of benefit to many.

At this time of great possibility for change, we renew our dedication to bringing diverse voices and visions to our magazine. Black Lives Matter to Leaping Clear. We are a small group of people with both meditation and artistic practices. Our decades of practice have heartened us and humbled us. We know that no one person, no one group has all the answers. Questioning our own assumptions and habits and listening to others with open minds and hearts, we continue to explore how to celebrate and respect different visions. Diversity is the heart and soul of art and creative action. We renew our commitments to openness and looking deeply within and without, as editors and in our daily lives.

Earth Week and Poetry Month

Earth Week and Poetry Month

Earth Week 2020 begins with clean air over many cities on earth, a beyond-metaphorical silver lining to the pandemic. In the midst of global anxiety, many people are noticing that the intricate webs of life on our small blue planet have never been so clear. Thanks to a dangerous unknown virus, received certainties about how we live are replaced with the simple reality that we’re all together on the earth no matter where we are.

Finding Balance in Troubling Times

Finding Balance in Troubling Times

Spring 2020 is one of the least rosy springs in memory. People worldwide are deeply concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, the loneliness of social isolation, and about economic hardship as we try to quell the rising numbers of contagion and deaths. Meanwhile, those of us in the U.S. are in the midst of a rancorous political contest and even unsure as to the outcome of the 2020 primary elections due to lockdowns and reduced voting numbers. for the presidency resulting in polarizing divisions within the electorate. And politics across the globe are showing the rise of anger and mistrust and the hardening of views, sometimes to the point of violence. In addition, there are many who personally face depression, other mental difficulties, or grief due to the loss of loved ones.

Because humans are social creatures, we’re all affected by these events and to some extent feel anxiety and fear. That is one facet of our evolutionary heritage. Another is that we respond to beauty in many forms. Beauty in the natural world around us—city street trees, balcony geraniums, parks, forests or beaches—and beauty in art.

This spring, we at Leaping Clear are especially grateful to the artists who’ve contributed such beautiful work to this issue. We hope you’ll find beauty to respond to in the many art forms here.

How do we as artists, writers, practitioners—and simply as human beings—meet the existential challenges of the moment? How do we find balance despite troubling conditions?

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Fall 2019 Leaping Clear

Each time we devote ourselves to creating a Leaping Clear issue, we’re reminded of how much we’re given. The beautiful work of our contributors inspires us to make a mosaic where the uniqueness of each piece is shown and contributes to a whole vision of art, literature, and contemplation. Each issue is a different vision of many artists from many places working in many forms.

Now, we’re sitting back and enjoying the whole issue, moving from the closeup to the wide view. …

Reading W. S. Merwin

W. S. Merwin was able to speak to many people in his poems, his translations, his memoirs, and stories. After a lifetime of reading his work—always in wonder at each new collection—my sense is that he wrote from the same deep wellspring that led him to Hawai’i and Zen practice in the mid-1970s. He looked for and lived from the open source, the endless source of contemplation, care, respect, and imagination.