Beth Backes & Cathy Lee

The Anna Jinja Show

Finding Your Way: Adoption, Mindfulness, and Poetry
Unraveling the threads of identity, healing, and self-discovery.

Ever felt lost or disconnected? Join us for a transformative conversation that explores the intersection of adoption, mindfulness, and the power of poetry. In this episode, we delve deep into the experiences of adoptees, the healing practice of mindfulness, and the cathartic nature of creative expression.

Our guests, Beth Backes, a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, and Cathy Lee, an English teacher and occasional poet, share their insights and wisdom on finding peace, purpose, and belonging. Discover how mindfulness can help you navigate the complexities of adoption and foster care, and how poetry can serve as a powerful tool for self-expression and healing.

Don't miss this thought-provoking episode. Tune in now!
Creative Content: Poem by Cathy Lee
Is there grace in the silence?
In the pause between clock ticks,
Or when the second-hand pushes us all forward again,
Is that where grace lies?
Is it in the dancing dust particles
Gleaming in the sunbeam?
Is it in the wordless eyes of the dog
Who looks at your face,
Knowing in ways you cannot know?
Is it in the smell
of fresh-cut grass
And the smell
in the binding
Of dried glue
In an old library book?
Is there grace
in the taste of
Bitter and sweet combined?
Is pure sweetness a lie,
not to be trusted?
Is it in the air pulled deep into our lungs,
The soft whish through the nose,
The lift of the chest,
And then it’s heavy fall back
At the end of our exertion?
Is it in the physical pain
From scabbing our knees on the playground,
From falling off our bikes,
The sore muscles when we’ve pushed to the limit,
that reminds us
we are yet still fully alive?

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