Daily Nourishment for December 10, 2024: In Memory of Nikki Giovanni with Her Poem “Dreams” and The Raelettes

Daily Nourishment Read Time: 45 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes


Today’s Daily Nourishment is in memory of Nikki Giovanni who died on December 9, 2024 at the age of 81.

Pause.

Take a few deep breaths with a six-count inhale and a six-count exhale. Then listen to “I Believe to My Soul” by Ray Charles and The Raelettes

 

Prompt.

Read “Dreams” by Nikki Giovanni. Read it a few times. Read it aloud once or twice if you like.

 

Practice.

Write for 10 minutes about a childhood music memory. What sensory details do you remember? What do you remember thinking at the time? How did you feel the music in your body? What do you feel in your body now?

How does thinking about your childhood help you connect to this present moment?

Make It Advent:

How does thinking about your childhood December memories help you connect to the season of Advent?

Want More?
Listen to this Raelettes introduction by Ray Charles

And here’s a Raelettes playlist

And here’s another favorite poem by Nikki Giovanni and here’s another one read by Giovvani

*

Upcoming Workshops & Gatherings
—Advent Resources: Throughout Advent, I’ll include a new resource each day. For today, read the poem below by Nikki Giovanni. Then think about how Advent prepares you for Lent and Easter, how you experience community in Advent, how Advent helps you wait for Lent and Easter.

Winter Poem

by Nikki Giovanni

once a snowflake fell
on my brow and i loved
it so much and i kiss
it and it was happy and called its cousins
and brothers and a web
of snow engulfed me then
i reached to love them all
and i squeezed them and they became
a spring rain and i stood perfectly 
still and was a flower

​Presented with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Art in Transit Program.

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—New Resource: Parenting with Art® Lectio Divina Cards Information about ordering these cards can be found in my Books + Spiritual Direction + Retreats & Gatherings email newsletter . To stay in the loop on all of my work, writing, book recs, and more, subscribe to that weekly newsletter at charlottedonlon.com/subscribe.


Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.

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Daily Nourishment for December 11, 2024: A More Human Dwelling Place

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Daily Nourishment for December 9, 2024: Be Here Now