CHARACTER, INTELLIGENCE, ETHICAL TRUE NATURED INTEGRITY

"It is not for me to presume 

where and how learning happens for you. 

It is not for you to impose where 

understanding may take place, 

or constrain when healing may happen, 

bit by bit for me. 

How we each may learn and heal 

needs understanding, 

and gentle space to let things unfold."

Bridget Russell

On Being Studios · Mary Oliver — Listening to the World

Mary Oliver was one of our greatest and most beloved poets. She is often quoted by people across ages and backgrounds — and it’s fitting, since she described poetry as a sacred community ritual. 

“When you write a poem, you write it for anybody and everybody,” she said. 

Mary died on January 18, 2019, at the age of 83. 

She was a prolific and decorated poet, whose honors included the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. 

In this 2015 conversation — one of the rare interviews she granted during her lifetime — she discussed the wisdom of the world, the salvation of poetry, and the life behind her writing.

Mary Oliver published over 25 books of poetry and prose, i

ncluding "Dream Work," "A Thousand Mornings," and "A Poetry Handbook." 

She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1984 for her book "American Primitive." 

Her final work, "Devotions," is a curated collection of poetry from her more than 50-year career.

a part of you heals every time you follow your soul instead of trends.

— 𝚘𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚏𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢 𓆗 (@yearofthepoets) June 14, 2025

“re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body." 

by Walt Whitman in "Leaves of Grass: