Inspiration for the Heart's Journey

Joanne Sprott

Last updated on January 18, 2008

Who Am I?

In any given moment, I choose to be:

unconditionally and compassionately loving, without expectations;
happy alone, without the need for someone else to make me so;
free in my loving, without jealousy or fear of any sort;
pure of heart—knowing my responsibilities and those of others, and being responsible for all and only my feelings and actions;
honest about my feelings and actions, without motives of fear or manipulation;
inspirational in my own creativity through poetry, prose, speaking, and music.

So, this is who I am (when I'm fully aware, of course :)). Here's what I do to remind myself of who I am and to open a space for the folks around me to find their souls and express their creative selves.

The Poetry

I write and recite poetry on people and places that have moved me, the spiritual journey and the heart's search for love, using metaphors from mythology and the natural world around us. I discovered after one performance that I'm really a storyteller disguised as a poet (shhh, don't tell). On my poetry page, you'll find one of my verses--I still consider myself very much the student, but I do have some interesting imagery and stories. Meter and rhyming are my biggest challenges. Recently, my husband, Matthew has collaborated with me on a number of poems and helped me edit my own, with amazing results, so, you'll see his name along with mine on the poetry page depending on the piece. You can also see more of my poems on my MySpace blog at http://www.myspace.com/muselady.

I've noticed that the modernist phase of poetry, where people outside the ivory tower seemed to have no access to understandable narrative verse, seems to have passed, and poetry is returning to its troubadourial and storytelling roots. In response, I've started a poet of the month series. For January, check out Tony Hoagland on the Poetry Forum. He's got an awesome, quirky way with words that reminds my of my husband's verse. I really liked "A Color of Sky."

I also highly recommend Garrison Keillor's book, Good Poems, based on his daily readings on NPR's The Writer's Almanac. If you think poetry is obscure and stuffy and weird, take a look at Keillor's choices and you'll be moved, amused, and inspired.

The Music

I'm involved in the acoustic music community in Houston, Texas, as a fan and volunteer. You can learn more by visiting the music page.

The Prose

I write essays and give talks based on those essays. I include poetry, prose, and meditation for a holistic experience of spirit working within and among us. I cover a wide variety of spiritually-related topics, with an emphasis on culling the universal lessons from mythological stories and my own experiences, and applying them to our search for meaning in the present day and beyond. My material is designed for those approaching the spiritual pilgrimage with an open mind and heart.