and this, sisterbrother, is for you

March 9, 2012 by rachel

Today, March 9, this blog becomes four years old. This post first appeared here in August 2010, titled, “this is for those of us who weep.” This is for those of us who weep, Whose tears hasten the blush of new blooms For the young ones, the elders, for all our relations For the pain that punctuates this planet we call Home For the slings and arrows that have pierced us time and again and again Yet will never breach […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness

more than a year later, still dancing between storms

March 8, 2012 by rachel

In celebration of my bloggiversary this month, I’m revisiting some of my favorite posts. This one first appeared in February 2011 with a different image yet feels fresh as a crocus in the snow. Heads-up: This blog might go “private” in the next few days, as I continue to play with new design themes/templates. If I appear gone, know that I am just away… Surely you have noticed — in your own life as well as in the lives of […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: wisdom

down to the bones for me and my blog

March 6, 2012 by rachel

Nine years ago last month, my life turned upside down and inside out when I rolled my trusty Jeep Cherokee in the desert of south central Utah. Some would label it an “accident,” but I knew better then and I know even better now. No accident. Perfect timing. Invitation to go Home politely declined. Yet another evolutionary growth opportunity in which I was stripped of just about everything and everyone that supposedly mattered. While my body tumbled over and over […]

Categories: blogkeeping, body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality, transformation

trust your heart, they will find you

March 3, 2012 by rachel

these letters dance in spiral rhyme connect the dots, they measure time and space revolves on axes turned, flares reignite in absinthe burned beyond mere words lies roisterous grace faint lines distill ‘cross heaven’s face avert your gaze, soft eyes reveal the truth of what you think you feel deep in the mist of vapored light hands pivot round turned left, then right existence sways, sparks rolling thunder caught off guard now torn asunder the net sewn fine to soften […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: consciousness, faith, wisdom

now tenderly rendered in video: you are the river of love’s tenderness (4:29)

February 29, 2012 by rachel

If you had the pleasure of viewing the video presentation of my piece, “this fragile web: why every moment matters,” you know the skill and grace with which Jeff T (MerhlinsPlace) weaves deeply felt words, images, and music. Jeff and I have collaborated once again, bringing a new dimension to my poetry, “you are the river of love’s tenderness,” which appears in text form in the post directly below this one. Jeff’s ability to elevate my healing journey of personal […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: new paradigm, peace, unity

you are the river of love’s tenderness

February 23, 2012 by rachel

I began this post days ago — telling you of a recent fall that slammed my sacrum into the floor and set me on a healing journey (Again?!?!?!) to recalibrate and realign deeply entrenched physical, emotional, and spiritual trauma patterns I took on in a car crash nine years ago this month. Telling you the facts of the story was just not working; when this piece emerged in its stead, I was finally able to exhale. When I later stumbled […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation

doorway #1, doorway #2, doorway #3: what’s your flavor?

February 8, 2012 by rachel

In my multiverse, today feels like a bust-out day. (At last…) I could share with you the fact that I have been “in session” for days – supported by the energetic healings of Aleya Dao, whose daily “Cups of Consciousness” have become a staple of my evolutionary diet. Her most recent, one-hour “Tall Cups” healing/meditation for clearing Ancestral Issues and Lack has supported me in peeling away layer after layer after layer of inherited hoo-hah. (It’s fast becoming the most […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: ascension, awakening, higher consciousness

do it today

February 5, 2012 by rachel

if you have something to say and you know deep in your belly that it needs to be heard speak it if you have something fresh to begin and like a chick too large for its egg it can no longer be contained start it perhaps you have something to end once and for all, something you have continued to engage in even though it drains or suffocates you let it go do it today if your deepest dreams were […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, empowerment

this is no time for timid hearts (again and again and again)

February 2, 2012 by rachel

Sometimes I wonder if I should just sticky-post this piece, since it always seems to “be time” for these words and the sensibilities they offer. May you find encouragement here to step out from behind that big boulder that has for far too long hidden the most potent and succulent parts of yourself. Speaking of “time” (whatever that means), a friend and I were talking and she spoke the adage, “Time will tell.” Hmmm, I wondered: Then why are we […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment

leaping into a voidier void and finding the heaven inside

January 19, 2012 by rachel

Clearly, this is no time for poetry. In fact, as I transition into 2012, I can practically see my poetry drifting out to sea, carried off by gentle waves. I’m not sure where it’s headed or when it might return to shore, and I’m okay with that. Much of it now feels prehistoric and somewhat irrelevant, in an age-appropriate sort of way. (As in, “The Ages,” not as in that chronological number braceleted to my wrist at birth.) I have […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: faith, higher consciousness, wisdom

the world needs you now (classic)

January 3, 2012 by rachel

I can scarce remember when I wrote this. It seems as though it has been circulating here and there forever, and there is always a new wave of people ready to hear and embrace it. This past year, the piece was translated into Russian (and perhaps other languages as well?). I envision a crowd-sourced video version in which many different voices and languages (including ASL, eurhythmy, and other nonverbal expressions) are stitched together, woven into a global tapestry of personal […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, life, wisdom

the most important things i am learning right now (classic)

January 2, 2012 by rachel

I first wrote and posted this poem in June 2010 and have edited it a bit here. (Some learning lasts a lifetime.) i’m learning that i’m not learning anything new – only choosing to remember a vast universe that I heretofore chose to forget (whether it was some intergalactic, ancient conspiracy or the fact that my slightly agoraphobic father kept us home if there was any possible chance of a thunderstorm within a 200-mile radius, doesn’t really matter) i’m learning […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, higher consciousness, life, sacred, wisdom

prayer for this time: i am the miracle (classic)

December 25, 2011 by rachel

I wrote this poem in 2002, and first posted it on this site in 2008. Seems as true as it ever was. May all of us be the truth of who we are. No more, no less. Once again, the Hubble Telescope provides a tailor-made image: “Brilliant white core encircled by thick dust lanes…” Sound like anyone you know? In this time of miracles I recommit to faith To the power of All There Is To seeing beyond the physical […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: higher consciousness, prayer, wisdom

the best gift: a rhyming storypoem (classic)

December 17, 2011 by rachel

I first posted this poem here in 2008, though I wrote it back in the last century. It makes for a wonderful recitation at winter seasonal gatherings, and assuming that proper credit is given, the reader will receive a cornucopia of unimaginable treasures. (Even better, invite me and I’ll present it myself!) the best gift by rachel snyder I Dawn awakens, morning time When Lovers of Peace keep pace with the rhyme Of the heart’s own beating, the drumming within, […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: ascension, storytelling, winter holidays

this fragile web: why every moment matters

November 18, 2011 by rachel

My tiny rural town of about 65 people has been beset with death, illness, and injury lately. One after another, a generation of elders is passing or rapidly declining. Several receive in-home support from a hospice/palliative care group; two family members with MS are in need of additional home support. A dear friend of mine in her 40s – who assists others with cleaning and cooking — remains comatose at a hospital 140 miles away, receiving dialysis and plasma replacements […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: death, higher consciousness, life

let it go: now the barren gives way to the blossom (classic)

November 2, 2011 by rachel

It was only six months ago that I first posted this poem, albeit with a different Matisse painting (“Open Window, Collioure” 1905). Today, the words carry a slightly different resonance, and so a new image invited itself onto the page. now the barren gives way to the blossom if you but untie the limp strings of your torn and tender heart and let it go the mountainous terrain of the past heaves and crumbles and in its stead soft valleys […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: higher consciousness, letting go, mysticism, surrender

prayer for radical patience

October 28, 2011 by rachel

For every moment I have waited, Let me wait ten thousand moments more! Let me delight in the glory of the waiting And the exquisite expectancy it tenders. For every instance I knew the now was near Yet for reasons untold it was not mine to receive, Let me know that divinity still presides over a vast and loving universe And that patience rides a chariot whose name is endless joy. May trust and courage override the niggling fears that […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, patience, prayer

i suppose we are here for each other

October 26, 2011 by rachel

I suppose I am here for you, to hold your hand in mine and in the other, an outstretched lantern penetrates a narrow causeway And so gingerly together we take each step toes probing the darkness anticipating a slipslide of all we have believed is solid all that we believe will lift us out of the muck and into the miraculous all that we believe. I suppose you are here for me, to fill the bellows of my heart to […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: higher consciousness, love, surrender, wisdom

knocking at locked doors holds nothing for you now

October 16, 2011 by rachel

i no longer need to knock at locked doors they hold nothing for me now and the scars on my once-bandaged and bloodied hands have healed nicely (thanks for asking) i walk with honor through arched openings into the waiting arms of gracious invitations i stride smiles greet me, borne aloft by the weightlessness of opening hearts what took you so long? (the universal echo seeks no answer) i’m done working, striving, hoping, wishing waiting to be shown the unmistakable […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, higher consciousness

have you forgotten you are creation’s favorite lover?

October 1, 2011 by rachel

As some of you know, I am never sure when rhyming poetry will show up, though it often brings with it a consolidating, smoothing energy after periods of static, confusion, or upheaval. Since I consider my poetic work to be divinely inspired, I simply let the words lead the way — and today, they want to rhyme! If this speaks to you, you may also enjoy the video featuring my poem, “What If An Angel Took Hold Of Your Hand?” […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: angels, awakening, faith, higher consciousness

this is no time for timid hearts (redux)

September 28, 2011 by rachel

New season, new moon, (Jewish) new year, whew! I’m observing some people get smeared all over the carpet – and others gently moving toward greater clarity and understanding of their next steps, new steps, you-can-do-it-too-steps. Even though this poem first appeared in August 2010, it’s bright and shiny and new for today.  And you? This is no time for timid hearts For holding back your most precious gifts in the face of fear of retribution For wedging yourself into a […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, new paradigm, wisdom

your body is not a storehouse for pain and suffering

September 23, 2011 by rachel

if you are seeking to be told which way to go, you are not truly seeking if your hanging on the hook is punctuated by a grasping need for ironclad elucidation, you have not yet surrendered your ego in service of the greater cause when you insist that your path resemble that of another, that your very evolution keep pace with your plans and appointments, that each and every pebble rapidly align itself in geometric symmetry, you will find yourself […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: higher consciousness, surrender, wisdom

the promises i make myself

September 9, 2011 by rachel

I promise to walk the path that I always knew, deep inside, was mine – even when I was blinded by interference, fogged by hypnotic illusion, and momentarily forgot my way. I will remember that the map is etched upon my heart and readily accessible if I choose it so. I promise to trust the inklings of my heart and the urgings of my spirit without hesitation. I will invite my mind to the party as well, recognizing that wholeness […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness, life, wisdom

let yourself be led

September 2, 2011 by rachel

let yourself be led, not as sheep to the slaughter nor guided by a feeble hand gnarled by lifetimes grabbed and grasping the blank canvas possesses a multitude of expressions, and when you unloose seduction’s illusion of control, divest yourself of the implacable quest for understanding, revelation will shower you with a gentle, knowing mist. reason’s antediluvian yoke shoulders you unfailingly along a highway marked by fevered rutting, memory’s danse macabre holds you hamstrung in its spell, your impassioned struggle […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, higher consciousness, mysticism, surrender

dealing with widespread uncertainty? drink here the gentle wisdom of robert wilkinson

August 23, 2011 by rachel

Robert Wilkinson is so much more than a world-class astrologist – and this post, A Letter To A Spiritual Warrior Dealing With Widespread Uncertainty In Many Lands, reflects his wise and insightful approach to life. There’s not a single word of astrology here, though he does bring in some of his Eastern/Buddhist thinking while maintaining a universal tone. After being awakened in the night by a small yet unsettling earthquake in my tiny Colorado hamlet, these words of Robert’s brought […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: change, consciousness, higher consciousness, new paradigm

sweet, juicy & inspiring: pink martini’s winsomely delightful ‘hang on, little tomato’ (music video 3:48)

August 19, 2011 by rachel

I don’t know a single person who – consciously or unconsciously – isn’t feeling challenged, stressed, bewildered, or downright slammed these days. So here comes my Kiwi friend KE, who introduces me to this precious ditty by Pink Martini. (I especially admire all those beings who find divine guidance in a song inspired by a 1960s-era ketchup ad.) What’s not to love? Stay cool, stay grounded, stay true, sweet hearts. (And, of course, remember that “hold on” is often just […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, transformation, video • Tags: life

thank you, peoplepassion, for making a video of my poem, ‘what if an angel took hold of your hand?’

August 12, 2011 by rachel

Finally, some sensitive and talented folks created a youtube video featuring one of my poems, and I am thrilled! If you did not see “what if an angel took hold of your hand?” when I posted it on January 27, 2011, you can find it here. The full text is also included at the youtube site. The peoplepassion channel is definitely worth a visit, as well; they have produced a powerful series of videos to heighten awareness of the drought […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: angels, earthangels, empowerment, wisdom

it is always within your province to create perfection as you know it

August 11, 2011 by rachel

it is far too easy to decry the actions of others the wringing of hands produces no music brings no pleasure to the soul, what blossoms can possibly be born of the grit-filled soil of derision? looking the other way may quell your anxious and marauding mind yet it is wise to choose carefully the mise en scene upon which your gaze may fall~ relegate your thoughts to the barren and your cornucopia withers under the weight of the chimerical […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: mysticism, opening heart, wisdom

prayer for radical forgiveness (a summer re-run for this time of endings and beginnings)

July 25, 2011 by rachel

If ever there was a time to clear your slate and actively begin to create a new and artful life, this is it. Forgiving yourself for all transgressions – real or imagined — is an essential first step. You are an evolving human living in an upheaved world; be merciful and cut yourself some slack, okay? Forgive me for not sharing fully in your pain for my own basket has been filled with seedpods of blossoming sadness and ripened fruit […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, forgiveness, opening heart, prayer, wisdom

triple play: poetry for the slightly dry and disheartened

July 18, 2011 by rachel

Many of us seem to be baking; considering whether we might fry an egg on the soles of our upturned feet. Here, a triad of poems, connected by their seeming ability to quench, to splash, to sprinkle a bit of moisture on whatever slightly disheartening notions might be visiting you in the heat of the day or the heat of the night. Pick one — or do as they do in America and gobble down everything in sight. now is […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: awakening, consciousness, prayer, wisdom

relax: evolution continues with or without you (classic)

July 12, 2011 by rachel

This post appeared last year around this time, with a different image. Perhaps it will say something new to you – or echo something familiar in a surprising new way. please take a number and commit to remaining in line until service is rendered allow yourself simply to wait maintain a measured distance from the impatience that roils beside and beneath you, and know that your moment hangs imminent with arrival please relax every reflex that whiffs desperation unclench your […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, higher consciousness, surrender

warrior love vow, et cetera

July 4, 2011 by rachel

This seems a curious post after being away for a while, but it would not be denied. No, I have not met the outer masculine being to whom these words may be directed, and as usual, it may be me communicating with other beloved parts of myself. (Or perhaps this poetic drumbeat will call him in, eh?) As well, wildland fire season is a-roar here in the American Southwest, raindrops are few and far between, and I admit having watched […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: divine union, empowerment

i’ll leave the light on and the key under the doormat

June 10, 2011 by rachel

For a good many years now — and use of the term “good” could be debated — I have known myself to be a highly sensitive, empathic individual. I have wept not only for myself, but for the world. I have, within the confines of my own body and my own soul, carried, expressed, released and healed, the fears, wounds, and distress of group consciousness. When a friend (whose spiritual proclivities are aligned with a strict Biblical approach) looked at […]

Categories: blogkeeping, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, southeastern colorado, transformation