We become one
The mountain and me.

Sitting Alone on Zhao Ting Mountain

For a poster of this painting that includes the poem below, contact Rod at
rod@herondance.org

Sitting Alone on Zhao Ting Mountain

In the distance birds fly by
A cloud meanders without purpose
We become one
The mountain and me.

With the passage of time
The mountain remains.
    - Li Bai (Li Po, Li Bo) 701-762.

According to legend, while drifting on the Yangtze River one evening, Li Bai reached over the side of his boat to embrace the moon. Inebriated, he fell in and drowned. Other, less poetic, descriptions of his passing also exist. Heron Dance translation.

Nurturing The Song Within explores the inner work out of which creative work and a unique human life evolve. It contains key insights from hundreds of interviews Heron Dance founder Roderick MacIver has conducted over the last thirty years of people who choose their own path in life, and persist through the challenges and setbacks to make their dreams real.

Those interviewed include artists, adventurers, activists, and people who devote their lives to serving others. The book explores the murky waters of deep imagination, friendship with one’s inner world, and how those inspire creativity. In the interviews, and through reflections on both those interviews and his own life, the author seeks to understand the hidden wellsprings that guide and provide the clarity and courage required to create a unique life. This is a book by someone who has done it –- who has been a fulltime working artist for thirty years. Over ninety of the author’s full color paintings accompany the reflections and interview excerpts in each volume of the two-book set.

A human life is an expression of ideas, of dreams, of courage and of discipline. Or the lack thereof. A life fully lived, a unique life, grows out of something deep – the essence of a human being. It evolves out of that which is sacred inside each of us. Its exact source is difficult to explain; it can however be sensed and understood.

There are still a few copies of the first edition of Nurturing the Song Within available. This is a premium art book with a Smyth-sewn lay flat binding. It explores the inner work underlying creative work.

There are still a few copies of the first edition of Nurturing the Song Within available. This is a premium art book with a Smyth-sewn lay flat binding. It explores the inner work underlying creative work.

Each two-page spread includes a painting and observations on living a creative, meaningful life.

  • Hardcover first edition with dust jacket. $95 including shipping and taxes. Order here.

  • PDF $9.99 including tax. Order here.

  • More information here.