these words will not wait til i am gone

December 18, 2010 by rachel

As befits the days and nights leading up to Winter Solstice (not to mention the approaching Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse), I have turned inward to explore new directions my creativity may take as the new year draws near. Clarity seemed elusive — until this piece of poetry made itself heard and my Aha! moment surfaced. I’m excited to see what will take shape, and will share more as appropriate.these words will not wait til i am gone, fate springs […]

Categories: poetry, writing & creativity • Tags: awakening, living words, mysticism, words

don’t words deserve to have a life, too?

May 19, 2010 by rachel

I’ve been following conversations about blogging, writing, and the writing of blogs. Absent minor modifications, this post originally ran in May 2008 under the title, “the secret life of words revealed,” and offers a perspective not often heard. Enjoy this while I percolate with another, related post more specifically attuned to writers who blog (and bloggers who write). As someone who has always danced with words, I frequently face this conundrum (BTW, one of the greatest words ever, no? ). […]

Categories: inspiration, writing & creativity • Tags: blogging, language, words

the 7 words of well-being for men (redux)

May 18, 2010 by rachel

The ground is shifting under the feet of us all, but perhaps even more so for men determined to release themselves from old ways of being. Someday, the gender distinction will likely prove itself irrelevant. Until then, this feels like a good time to revisit this post, which first appeared in April 2008 and again in February 2009. Even though my books and writing may be labeled “for men” or “for women,” these distinctions often reflect publishing-world realities more than […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, men, personal growth, transformation • Tags: empowerment, masculine, men's work, personal growth, words

the 7 words of well-being for men (redux)

February 16, 2009 by rachel

The ground is shifting under the feet of us all, but perhaps even more so, for men determined to release themselves from old ways of being. Someday, the gender distinction will likely prove itself irrelevant. Until then, this feels like a good time to revisit this post, which originally appeared in April, 2008. *    *    *    *    *    *    *    * Even though my books and writing may be labeled “for men” or “for women,” these distinctions often reflect publishing-world […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, men, personal growth, prose poetry, spirituality, transformation, word of the day • Tags: awakening, body mind & spirit, consciousness, empowerment, eros, healing, hero's journey, higher consciousness, inspiration, life, masculine, men, men's groups, prose poetry, sanctuary, spirituality, transformation, truth, voice, wisdom, word of the day, words, work

five words of wisdom for entrepreneurs of heart & spirit

January 27, 2009 by rachel

I created this piece and presented it at a local Leads Group meeting last year. Now, more than ever, independent businessowners need to bring head, heart, and spirit to the table in equal measure. In business as well as personal arenas, it’s time to Be Whole Now! ASK Ask yourself the tough questions. Ask why you are in business. Why you are in this business, in this place, in this time. Ask yourself if you truly love what you’re doing. […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, word of the day • Tags: body mind & spirit, business inspiration, business poetry, business wisdom, conscious business, consciousness, entrepreneur, independent business, inspiration, personal growth, small business, spiritual entrepreneur, spirituality, succeed, success, wisdom, word of the day, words

what do obama, oracles, polygamy, NASA, and the secret life of words have in common?

August 10, 2008 by rachel

They’re all part of this admittedly eclectic post celebrating the 5-month bloggiversary of be whole now and unashamedly testing a new frontier of search engine optimization. Total Views To Date 5,600 (certified by the firm of Me, Myself & I): This number would have been much, much higher if it weren’t for skabillions of people choosing to do something other than visit my blog! Top Posts To Date: Other than some of the Pages at right that answer the questions, […]

Categories: barack obama, body mind & spirit, eclectica, health/healing, humor, inspiration, ordinary oracles, personal growth, writing & creativity • Tags: barack obama, body mind & spirit, eclectica, Eldorado Texas, Gustav Klimt, inspiration, NASA photo, new paradigm, oracles, ordinary oracles, secret life of words, words

feed your hunger for words & reduce world hunger

May 24, 2008 by rachel

Here’s a great link for all you lovers of words, word games, crossword puzzles, and the like. Click here to go to http://www.freerice.com — a website committed to the cause of ending hunger around the world. You get to test your vocab skills, learn new words, and develop more than a modicum of humility while donating rice (grain-by-grain) to the United Nations World Food Program. The game is very smart, quickly adjusting to your level of proficiency and continuing to […]

Categories: writing & creativity • Tags: donate, feed the poor, free rice, game, play, UN World Food Program, vocabulary, word game, words, world hunger, writing

what there is to love about a man: presence & wonder

May 20, 2008 by rachel

This post was inspired by a conversation over here at Malcolm’s blog. These two excerpts are from my out-of-print book, What There Is To Love About A Man (Sourcebooks, 1999). Remainder(perfectly imperfect) and used copies can be had for cheap around the Internet, in places like this website and this website. Presence How we feel gifted when a man is truly present. Eye to eye, heart to heart, tete-a-tete. Right now. Right here. Fully engaged in the moment and distracted […]

Categories: health/healing, men • Tags: appreciation, body mind & spirit, empowerment, honor, masculine qualities, men, personal growth, presence, transformation, wonder, words

the secret life of words revealed

May 11, 2008 by rachel

As someone who has always danced with words, I frequently face this conundrum (BTW, one of the greatest words ever, no? ): In one way, words mean everything to me; from another vantage point, they increasingly mean nothing at all. In my reality, every letter, every sound, each phrase, each word, is a living organism. They breathe, vibrate, sing, dance, live, die and are reborn. They inhabit some vast otherwordly universe, awaiting deployment. Some bide their time patiently — others […]

Categories: inspiration, spirituality, writing & creativity • Tags: creativity, language, literary, living organisms, living words, Margaret Magnus, phonosemantics, secret life of words, spirituality, words, writing

the seven words of well-being for men

April 20, 2008 by rachel

Even though my books and writing may be labeled “for men” or “for women,” these distinctions often reflect publishing-world realities more than anything else. Each one of us resides (and from time to time, slides) along a masculine/feminine continuum. Much of the work we undertake to be whole now, involves integrating our inner masculine and inner feminine in a divine marriage. Liberation from cultural and family oppression and repression is not the province of any particular gender or lineage: It’s […]

Categories: inspiration, men, spirituality • Tags: empowerment, eros, fertility, fire, inspiration, life, masculine, men, prose poetry, sanctuary, spirituality, truth, voice, wisdom, words, work

tacos and words (including mine!) on the menu at neruda poetry festival

April 15, 2008 by rachel

I am participating in a Literary Salon as part of the three-day 9th Annual Neruda Poetry Festival this weekend at El Centro Su Teatro, Denver’s 35-year-old Chicano/Latino Cultural Arts Center. The salon, Tacos & Words, takes place Saturday, April 19 from 4pm to about 6pm (including the taco bar!). Four writers (primarily poets, primarily Xicano, except for yours truly) will share their work and their views on the literary life, in a facilitated roundtable. I plan to share 1-2 poems […]

Categories: poetry, writing & creativity • Tags: Denver, El Centro Su Teatro, Lab at Belmar, literary life, Literary Salon, Neruda Poetry Festival, poetry, Sandra Maria Esteves, tacos, words

unleash, unravel, untie: transformation’s triple crown

April 11, 2008 by rachel

Truly, all I wanted to do was select a word for the day. A single word. But these three refused to be separated. Conjoined triplets, as it were, they kept needling me: “Take one of us, you take us all!” So here are your words for the day, the day, the day, straight out of Words of Wisdom for Women, which (I kid you not!) is part of a Buy Two, Get One Free sale going on now, click here, […]

Categories: inspiration, transformation, word of the day • Tags: Albert Einstein, inspiration, life, personal growth, Picasso, threes, transformation, unleash, unravel, untie, wisdom, words, words of wisdom

poetry & the creative om: in the flow, out of the way

April 8, 2008 by rachel

This post is about the creative process — or at least it started out that way. If you have ever (1) solved a problem, (2) made something out of nothing, (3) improved or adapted a process, (4) improvised, or (5) pondered the what if, why, or why not of a situation… … this means you. Doesn’t matter if you call it beekeeping, art, writing, flyfishing, music, leatherwork, risk management, healing, entrepreneurship, parenting, or activism. Ultimately, it’s all poetry. Doesn’t matter […]

Categories: poetry, spirituality, writing & creativity • Tags: creation, creative process, creativity, get in the flow and get out of the way, Jalaluddin Rumi, Kabbalah, letters, love, opening heart, poetry, secret life of words, spirituality, Sufi Mysticism, words, writing

your word of the day: breakthrough

April 4, 2008 by rachel

If you’re sufficiently tuned in, you may have noticed that a lot of people, organizations, governments, companies, and ways of living and being and doing are falling by the wayside. Truly, a new “everything” is ready to come forth, in ways that you may or may not understand intellectually. Not to worry. It’s not important whether your view leads you to declare, “The whole world’s going to hell in a handbasket” or the slightly more expansive view of, “Grand-scale human […]

Categories: health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, transformation, word of the day • Tags: birth, breakthrough, personal growth, rebirth, spirituality, transformation, word of the day, words

your word of the day: endure

April 2, 2008 by rachel

Go through the darkness and come out the other side. When you think I can’t stand another minute of this, know that you can. When you think I won’t make it through another day, know that you will. When you can’t take another moment of the pain and the fear and the feelings of hopelessness, take another moment anyway. Endure the heartache and come out heartstrong. Endure the tremors and the grief and the isolation and come out sturdy and […]

Categories: buy more rachel now!, inspiration, personal growth, word of the day • Tags: Barnes & Noble, book, endure, inspiration, life, personal growth, Rachel Snyder, wisdom, words

your word of the day: rise

March 23, 2008 by rachel

Rise up to your highest potential and help others rise to theirs. When small-minded thinking and toxic opinions threaten to bring you down, rise above them. Rise up singing. Rise up in joy. Rise every morning grateful for the promise of a new day. Rise above what you thought were your ultimate limitations. Create a new, higher level of limitations, then rise above them, too. When idiots spew their hateful venom your way, rise above it. Take a higher road. […]

Categories: buy more rachel now!, inspiration, word of the day • Tags: inspiration, spirituality, words

your word of the day: move

March 21, 2008 by rachel

Your address, your body, your bookshelf. Shake out anything in your life that’s rusty, stiff, or stuck and get it into motion. Take a walk, take a hike, take a step away from stagnating jobs, relationships, and life patterns. Change perspective. Move closer to people who meet you with authenticity and who nourish your wildest dreams. Move away from everybody else. You don’t have to move mountains; shifting a single pebble can work wonders. Make your move — any move […]

Categories: buy more rachel now!, inspiration, word of the day • Tags: inspiration, wisdom, words