An Interview of Jennifer Hahn <br> by Roderick
MacIver
Excerpts From An Interview of Jennifer
Hahn
by Roderick MacIver
Ocean Kayak Guide, Elakah! Kayak Tours, Bellingham, Washington
I remember paddling in the Baja through some perfectly smooth, jade green water. On the bottom were sea cucumbers, rock scallops, some beautiful sea weeds. Everybody started to go very slow. We had been paddling hard, but everybody slowed down and just started looking. I got inspired to write some poetry, so I pulled out my note book. After about fifteen minutes of quiet, we picked up our paddles and started paddling again. There was so much power in that silence, that the next day we did the whole day without talking. In silence there is a lot more access, I think, to the spirit, to spirituality, to the soul.
There is a little voice in all of us that is just a whisper. A tiny whisper. When you go into nature, into the wilds, especially alone, the whisper can come out and talk. When you are in the city, you always have a list of things to do, to watch on TV, to think about and so you can't hear the whisper. But when you are outside, you have much less to distract you. This little voice is our true self. If we listen, it gets louder. Eventually, that whisper becomes our normal voice. That's when I really live. That is when dreams become reality--when I live from that deep intuitive place.
I used to think that if I did a certain kind of work, I could become a certain kind of person. Now I realize that I have to continually do whatever it is that will allow my work to come out of that deep place, where that poetry came from when I was floating over the still water. If my work comes from there, then whatever I do will somehow be supported.
