Based on the anonymous quote 'When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.' Bernie and Charlie Siegel share through their poetic short writings their belief that the imperfections of life are truly what is perfect about it.
Bernie and Charlie remind us that we are all knocked down sometimes by life’s difficulties, but it is the rising back up that counts. That when we dare to experience life to its’ fullest, the imperfections of life are an opportunity for us to grow.
A life journey of wonder and grace unfolds through the sections Destiny, Emotion, Relationship, Nature, Present Moment, Inner Light, and Hello God. Your heart and the hearts of your audience will open as grandfather and grandson weave a conversation of love across the generations, sharing what it means to see beyond the challenges of life to the beauty in life’s lessons.
I had a chance to interview them to learn more.
1. What inspired each of you to write poetry on your views of life?
Bernie Siegel, MD:
when my life was an emotional challenge surgery family illnesses five children etc
Elisabeth Kubler Ross and my wife awakened me to what i was burying within myself and not bringing forth what needed to be dealt with and that i never included funny or happy events in my journal or poetry and awakened me to the good and joyful things i experienced but never wrote about
Charlie Siegel:
My mom Jane started the store and class center called Wisdom of the Ages in Simsbury, CT when I was 3 years old. I was homeschooled and I did a lot of my schoolwork in the back of the store, hearing her work with customers and clients and help them in a heart-to-heart, spiritual way. I would color or play with legos behind her meditation and advanced spiritual development classes, so spirituality has always been an important part of my life. I now manage the store alongside her and teach some of the classes with her. My poetry and my spiritual fiction books blossomed naturally as my own way of helping people by sharing the spiritual lessons I have been blessed to grow up with. My mom’s parents (Bob & Shirley Harrington) were spiritual teachers as well, so the practice of helping others with traditional spirituality is definitely a family trait. And there’s my famous grandfather on my dad’s side that I wrote this book with! :) Seeing the worldwide healing effect his work has had on so many is an inspiration for me, as well.
2. What do you mean the imperfections of life are what is perfect about it?
Bernie Siegel, MD:
I call life perfectly imperfect. we have what we need to survive and thrive if we accept the earth as the home for all living things. we are one family all the same color inside. That comes from my surgical experience. Also I have learned from God that if the world were perfect it would be meaningless. We are all here to live and learn and become co-creators with our Creator. We need to live the sermon and make love our weapon of choice. What i call being a love warrior and re-parenting the unloved
Charlie Siegel:
Our book’s title is based on the anonymous quote, “When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.” Grandpa Bernie and I both wrote our poetry separately and years apart, but when we read each other’s work, we found amazing similarities in the messages and metaphoric language used, as if unconsciously, we were having a conversation all along. And the prevailing message I found as I was arranging both of our collections of poetry into the conversation that can be found in the book, was that we were both sharing that truly life’s burdens and challenges are blessings for us all when we see how we respond to them.
Our bodies gain stronger muscles from climbing mountainous, rough terrain. Trees gain more complex root systems when they work to hang onto a steep ledge. Likewise, our spirits grow stronger as we grow through life’s experiences and see them as opportunities to help us to become the best that we all can be. Even when times seem bad while we are living in them, perhaps we can be that spark of inspiration that makes them beautiful. Life is a blessing if we decide that it can be.
3. What are some thoughts you can share to help others see the imperfections of life as what is perfect about it?
Bernie Siegel, MD:
I learned from my parents who were loving and wiser due to their loving but traumatic childhoods for my mother having to escape Russia to save their lives and my father's father dying when he was 12 leaving a wife and six kids with no resources. Their message to me as i grew up with my troubles: when you have a decision or choice to make: Do what makes you happy. they never took control of my life. When troubles appeared: God is redirecting you. Something good will come of this. ( That drove me nuts as a kid but it is true I discovered.) Also material things and money were not to be accumulated and what life is about. Helping to improve the lives of those in need was what financial resources were for.
Charlie Siegel:
When we look at life with our hearts, as if we are looking down at our life’s path from above, or at the way that our life’s path connects with others’ paths, we can see that life really is a perfect blessing, giving us all the opportunities we need to grow in the ways that we best can grow. It is how we respond to life on the inside that counts. Even when life hands us painful difficulties, it is up to us to see that life also hands us the opportunity to learn a new way to create solutions or team up with others to grow. We can see that our inner Light is stronger than the difficulties of life, and we are here for a reason to grow and love. We can also notice that there are so many beautiful perfections of life, in nature and therefore in ourselves and those around us. It is important that we pay attention to these beautiful little miracles in our lives, and it will help us see the beauty in everything then.
Also, to answer this question, I would like to share one of my short poetic pieces called “The Encounter.”
“I'm looking at the stillness," he said, as I came up beside him.
He was gazing out across the busy street as he stood there, as still as the morning's hush.
"What do you mean? I see only the bustle of the city."
My eyes sped quickly over the scene where so many moved as if attempting the speed of light.
"But watch from where the bird flies," he whispered. "Far up above the noise. Higher up than your eyes will let you see the motion, where all you can see is stillness."
I listened to him in astonishment.
"How are you looking at that from down here?"
"Because I am looking with my heart."
His eyes flashed and the mist of the morning hung around him.
BERNIE SIEGEL, MD is a NY Times bestselling author, lecturer, founder of ECaP (Exceptional Cancer Patients) and a retired pediatric/general surgeon. He has been called a leading teacher of the Mind-Body Connection and is the paternal grandfather of Charlie Siegel. Bernie seeks to help everyone find true health and happiness.
CHARLIE SIEGEL is a spiritual fiction author and poet, as well as a fine art nature photographer. His lifelong study of the martial arts is another facet of his spiritual practice. Charlie is the oldest grandson of Bernie Siegel, MD.
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