Hello, my friends,
I’ve been away too long! This year has been challenging as you must know. However, I am getting back into my soul work. Here is my latest episode. The theme is mental health, and Denise shares her journey of recovery with a lot of great advice and links.
Memoirs of Denise Fletcher (podbean.com)
This episode highlights the memoirs and concerns of the poet and blogger, Denise Fletcher. Check out her author page on Amazon.com and her amazing blog.
Denise Fletcher is a freelance writer and artist. Her creative works have appeared in Bards Against Hunger, Kaleidoscope Magazine and numerous publications in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Blog : Poetry Curator, poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com
Amazon Author Page : https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0084KZMCE
Her book, Thread of Hope, can be found in the link below, and she returns all the profits to aid in causes related to mental illness. The book “explores the boundaries of the mental health system”. It includes “semi-autobiographical poetry, prose, and art which demonstrates the healing power of creativity and spirituality” in mental health recovery.
To access a free copy of Thread of Hope and other free books and materials:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bvXlCPAmVR-1fk03GqB-K86C4k1UwBmK
Mental Health and Wellness Resources Recommended by Denise Fletcher https://poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com/p/wellness.html
https://allthesoftplaces.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/living-with-pain-feeling-through-pain-tips-on-healing-and-self-care/
Depression-free for Life: A Physician’s All-Natural, 5-Step Plan
by Gabriel Cousens https://www.amazon.com/Depression-free-Life-Physicians-All-Natural-5-Step/dp/0060959657
Other Links
CDC Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill: https://nami.org/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-8255
Barbara Harris Leonhard is a writer, poet, and blogger. Her work appears in Phoebe, MD: Medicine and Poetry, Well Versed 2020 , Spillwords; FREE VERSE REVOLUTION; Heretics, Lovers and Madmen; Go Dog Go Café; Silver Birch Press; Amethyst Review; Pillbaby.com; and Vita Brevis. She is the author of Discoveries in Academic Writing , which is based on her years of teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Missouri.
Blog: extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog
Podcast : meelosmom.podbean.com
To submit your poetic memoirs and concerns to this podcast, follow this link for the submission guidelines.
https://extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog/2020/07/31/call-for-submissions-to-poetry-the-memoir-of-the-soul/
Like this: Like Loading...
Published by Meelosmom
I am a poet weaver. I love going within to excavate the bits of my soul that need reassembly into words.
I weave in other ways. I’m also a collagist, assembling snippets of images into a new whole with deep meaning. Each collage is a poem. This year, I've also started drawing neurographica, and since beginning this art therapy, I can't believe how many new connections I've been making and new opportunities. This art form has changed my life and, I believe, my poetry writing.
I can also call myself a memoirist. I have compiled a poetry collection called Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir, which is about me and my mother, who passed from complications related to Alzheimer’s in 2016. Our lives were woven together in amazing symmetry, like a collage, around our mother wounds, our near deaths, and losses that impacted our relationship. This year I found a publisher for my book - EIF (Experiments in Fiction), which is owned and operated by Ingrid Wilson. The book was the #1 Release in Family Poetry on Oct. 15, 2022, and it attained best-seller status in three poetry categories over the next few days.
In Nov. 2022, EIF nominated me for a Pushcart Prize for a poem in my book, “Mom and I Play Lassos with our Hysterectomy Scars”.
In 2021-22, I submitted poems from it with some success. One poem, “Cooking a Life with a Wire Spine”, was published as a featured work on Spillwords, and in August 2021, was nominated as Publication of the Month. Also, in September 2021, Free Verse Revolution: A literary magazine, published two other poems from my collection, “Hestia for Hire” and “Mermother: A Rogue Dream Poem”. Kristiana Reed, the editor of Free Verse Revolution: A literary magazine, kindly writes in an email, “The portrayal of a parent/child relationship in both pieces was incredibly raw and moving.” My poem "Marie Kondo Cleans My Purse at Starbuck's" was voted publication of Jan/Feb in 2022.
In June 2022, I was honored to have two poems from my collection published in what became an Amazon best-selling anthology Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (Gabriela Marie Milton. ed., also published by EIF - Experiments in Fiction).
It is humbling that my poetry is getting recognized in other ways. In the anthology Well-Versed 2021 (available on amazon.com), “Picasso Dreams Broken Glass” won Third-Place in Poetry and “From Your Son” received Honorary Mention.
This year I've also enjoyed interviews with Eri Nelson with SheShedStudios on VloggingPod (June 2); with Victoria Onofrei for "Victoria in Verse" on Bloomsbury Radio (August 14); with Thomas Whyte for Poetry Mini Interviews (a 5-part series in August and September); with Paul Brookes for Wombwell Rainbow (July 22); and others are forthcoming.
In November, Gabriela Marie Milton asked me if I would succeed her as Editor for Masticadores USA, and I really love it!
My husband Dierik is a musician of Bluegrass, Cajun, and Country music. He's also a wonderful music teacher. We've rescued and lost many cats over the years. Our last set of three cats is now down to one, Jasper, who was the youngest of the three. JoJo and Saga sadly succumbed to cancers since the pandemic started.
Catch me at...
Facebook: Barbara Leonhard
Twitter: @Barbara.Leonhar4
Instagram: @meelosmom123
Why Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver?
Weaver is Source, who connects all things.
Strings and threads are cloth woven for wear.
Sunshine is Source, who reaches out rays
Like fingers to heat and heal,
To create Spring, spiritual connection,
To nurture Gaia,
To create rain as food,
To dream life,
To forge love
And evolve Source.
Extraordinary is this mystery.
All extends from Source as fingers of light
To nourish and thrive,
And as night falls awake so do all
Return to Source.
©2022 Barbara Leonhard
Unless otherwise stated, all published works are the original works of the author and are copyrighted. Contents of the blog may be re-used either for personal or commercial purposes, in part or whole only with permission and the author duly acknowledged with links to the blog embedded.
View all posts by Meelosmom
Audio , Call for Submissions , Healing , Memoir , Podcasts , Poetry , Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul , Prose , Publication , Writing
Bipolar Disorder , Mental Health & Healing , Vitamins
Post navigation
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 
Leave a Reply