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Imagine an entire school – students, teachers, and administrators – taking time each morning to turn inward together, and listen to a brief mindfulness prompt and world-class music.
The Well's programs combine best practices in arts and wellness and are designed in partnership with those they serve.
We love collaborating with local, national and international community partners and peoples in a variety of arts programming and mindfulness practices.
We are a small yet mighty team, dedicated to making a big difference with what we have. Your support means the world to us.
Manuel Iris served as the Poet Laureate of the City of Cincinnati from 2018 to 2020. In 2021, he was inducted as a poet into the National System of Art Creators (SNCA) of Mexico. He has published ten collections of poems in Spanish and English, including his most recent bilingual work The Parting Present / Lo Que Se irá (2022) from which he won the Ohioana Reader’s Choice Book Award.
Manuel is a poet that values silence — in his own words, "I believe that silence is the language of the cosmos," silence as a powerful well to draw from for creative inspiration. Read below a short exchange between Manuel and Patrick Raneses from The Well.
Q: We're constantly being bombarded with news, social interactions, and information in general within our day-to-day life, all exacerbated by our constant use of technology and the instability of our ever-changing world. Where can aspiring writers and creatives find inspiration in their day-to-day life amidst the noise? Where do you find inspiration in the everyday?
Manuel: I believe that, especially in the current times, all humans have the need of silence, slowness, and contemplation. We need space inside our hearts and minds for light and the music to exist, for us to truly be.
Silence is, to me, the space for creativity to happen. I find inspiration in silence and observation of the natural world (and every person is part of the natural world). I believe in love, all kinds of love (for others, for nature, for art, and transcendence, to name a few...) as sources of inspiration. A poem is one way to say “I love…” so, love can be the source of any art expression. I believe in love and silence as creative forces.
Q: Like I said in the first question, contemporary life is pretty stressful! As an artist, while I think it's a great thing to find a sense of release by deeply engaging and jumping into one's artform, I also think it's just as important to look outside of one's creative pursuits to find a sense of tranquility. Outside of writing and reading, do you have any practices or rituals you perform to bring you peace of mind?
Manuel: Sometimes, I find peace in community. This is, in small, curated communities of friends. I like to gather with loved ones and talk, eat, cook, walk, share time. I love playing and talking with my daughter. Her childhood is an endless source of joy. And I also like to go on long, contemplative, slow and lonely walks in which I try to think of nothing, to not-think at all. I try to just look at the trees and smell the air of the city. These are all spiritual, creative, and meditative practices to me.
Q: At the same time, being a poet and lover of poetry is unmistakably a part of your identity — you're privy to poetry's indelible capacity to transform ourselves and our emotions. What's a poem that helps you stay calm, stay mindful?
Manuel: Sometimes, that poem is “Under a Certain Little Star” by Wislawa Szymborska. In other moments is the very famous Merton Prayer, by Thomas Merton. These are, somehow, complementary poems for me.
Silence is, to me, the space for creativity to happen.
Manuel Iris, Mindful Poetry Moments 2025 Curator
Manuel has collaborated in Mindful Poetry Moments in the past! Above is a Virtual Gathering he helped to facilitate alongside Stacy Sims in 2022 exploring his own poem, "Miracle."
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Our programs have been nourishing the community since 2005. In 2019, we became the non-profit, A Mindful Moment.
We are a small yet mighty team, dedicated to making a big difference with what we have. Your support means the world to us.
