One Year Later: Hope is a Garden

 

Facebook shared this memory from October 15, 2020: 

I am working on my latest book, "Hope: A Collection of Essays and Poems From the Pandemic of 2020". Here is my latest creation that I hope will stir the seeds of infinite possibilities in your heart and soul.

 

Hope Is A Garden  

 

Dirt stained knees

spade turning over soil

feelings flutter

tenderly tilling the earth

lovingly placing bulbs

embodiment of expectations and hope.

 

Hope is a gardenRe

holding seeds in hand

awe-some

everything they need to know

ready to burst forth.

 

Patience and perseverance

faith abides

kneeling

knowing no prayers needed

all unfurls in Divine Timing.

 

In darkness hope stirs

light pierces through

as new life breaks ground

yet invisible to the eye

seeds of infinite possibilities

hope the harvest of imagination.

 

I was inspired to write this poem while watching my husband Tom plant tulip bulbs for the first time in 24 years in our yard. The pandemic moved us to plant a flower garden as a harbinger of hope during one of the darkest and challenging times in our history.

 

The poem inspired the title of my book, "Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic" released on March 2nd.

 

I have been deeply moved by how "Hope" has been received. In addition to Editorial and Customer Reviews on Amazon, people have sent me cards and email messages to let me know how much the book has touched their heart and soul.

I was blessed to be a guest on The Cardinal Cafe podcast to share my journey with Greg Chastain,  President and Ed Siegel, Vice President of Voices of Hope Boston. They created the podcast during the pandemic. Even though the theaters were dark, they wanted to shine the spotlight on people and organizations that would bring a message of hope and healing during very challenging times.

 

Dan Thibeault, podcast producer and owner and founder of Fast Twitch Media edited the episode and set the poem Greg read from "Hope" to music.

About a month later, I was a guest on Liz Brunner's podcast, Live Your Best Life. Once again, Dan set the poem that Liz read to music.

He followed up with an email:

 “I think your poetry book would be great as an audio book version with each one read by a different person and music under them. Have you ever considered that?”

 

 I meditated on the idea. Since Greg Chastain had said during our conversation at the Cardinal Café that my poems “hit every note that Voices of Hope puts out there,” I was inspired to make this project a fund raiser for Voices of Hope. Everyone is donating their time and talent to make this project a novel and successful fund raiser for Voices of Hope.

The production is called, "Hope is a Garden: Forty Poems From the Pandemic to Uplift and Inspire You."

We have received an outpouring of enthusiasm and joy from those we asked to participate in the project and renditions of my poems that gave me goosebumps.

We are excited for a holiday release date. 

 

Stay tuned for more details of how you will be able to download this compilation of music and poetry read by these illustrious individuals:

Liz Brunner - Award winning journalist and CEO and Founder of Brunner Communications

Eliza Healey - Music Director, Voices of Hope Boston

Mark Lamourine - Member, Voices of Hope Boston

Bob Halloran - Award Winning Journalist, Author, Movie Consultant, Sports Writer and WCVB Sports Reporter

Ed Siegel - Vice President, Voices of Hope Boston

Denise Audy - Member, Voices of Hope Boston

Jordan Rich - Legendary host at Boston's WBZ radio, award winning podcaster, philanthropist and co-owner of Chart Productions

Candy O'Terry - Boston's beloved radio voice, singer, and award winning podcaster

Karen Nascembeni - General Manager North Shore Music Theater, Director of Corporate and Community Relations at Theater by the Sea and Manager of Cape Live Shows who inspires us all with her grace and grit after surviving COVID and unimaginable losses.

Sean Allan Krill - Award winning singer and actor nominated for a 2020 Tony Award for his role as Steve Healy in Jagged Little Pill, and the original cast recording of the critically-acclaimed Broadway musical was the recipient of the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Dana Siegel - Executive Artistic Director Voices of Hope Boston

Dan Thibeault - Owner and Founder of Fast Twitch Media and the inspiration for Hope is a Garden: Forty Poems from the Pandemic to Uplift and Inspire You

Sue Tabb - Award winning on air Boston radio personality and producer of Exceptional Women

Harry Bouvy - Critically acclaimed Actor, director, teacher, and cocktail enthusiast

Audrey Constant - Award winning Boston radio personality

Joyce Kulhawik - Emmy award winning movie & theater critic CBS Boston 1981-2008, Arts Advocate & 3X Cancer survivor! 

Eileen Curran - Emmy nominated writer, reporter and producer now Director of Public Relations at Franciscan Children's Hospital

Jimmy Tingle - Critically acclaimed comedian and creator of Humor for Humanity

Terry E. Carter - Poet Laureate for the City of Medford, Massachusetts

Jean Chastain - Treasurer, Voices of Hope Boston

Dan Szymczak - Former Baritone of Ball in the House a cappella group and golf instructor in Duluth Minnesota

Lee Woodruff - NY Times Bestselling Author, Speaker, Executive Media Trainer and Co-Founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation

Bob Woodruff - Award winning journalist, NY Times Bestselling Author and Co-Founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation

Mauzy Stafford - Boston On-Air Radio personality, Disc jockey, News and Entertainment Reporter, Radio Talk Show Host and passionate about adopt not shop

 

When I first penned the poem Hope is a Garden, I knew it would be the title of my book. I wrote the book for me to keep me focused on love and light during the pandemic and as a way to move through the darkness with a feeling of hope. 

 

We are excited that now, my creation will bring much needed donations to Voices of Hope Boston until they are able to safely return to their performances to generate money to support cancer research and provide resources to cancer patients, their families and medical caregivers.

2/9/2022

We are close to a release date. All tracks are recorded. Here is the final list of poems with readers:

 From my heart to yours

In health and wellness,

Mary

Be sure to visit my website at https://marymcmanus.com to learn about my journey to health and wellness in the wake of paralytic polio and trauma

Visit the News and Events tab to listen to my inspiring and uplifting interviews

My books to motivate, uplift and inspire you are available on Amazon

 

 

 

Recording a Podcast In Person: Hugs Are Back!

 If it weren't for the pandemic Liz Brunner, award winning journalist and TV news reporter turned CEO of Brunner Communications, might never have started her podcast "Live Your Best Life." If it weren't for the pandemic, I might not have been as persistent as I was sharing my story and asking to be a guest on her show. In person speaking engagements had been off the table and I knew that my passion and purpose were to continue sharing my gift of poetry and my journey of transformation as told in my latest book, "Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic."

And if it weren't for the pandemic, I might not have been as anxious as I was venturing out to meet with people outside of my family for the first time in 16 months in an indoor setting.

Ever since I prepared to take that leap of faith 14 years ago and leave my career as a VA social worker to heal my life from the effects of paralytic polio and trauma, I imagined myself sharing my story with major media interviewers. I have been blessed to be featured on Channel 7 Boston news, radio shows and podcasts through the years. In the context of the pandemic, I felt an urgency to share my experiences as one who contracted paralytic polio and endured years of trauma but was able to emerge triumphant from those horrific experiences and, to quote the title of Liz's podcast, "live my best life."

In the days leading up to recording the podcast I visualized how I wanted the experience to be. I did a 'dry run' to the recording location to scope out parking. I imagined a parking space being available for me on 'game day.' I listened to Liz's podcast as she interviewed other guests and reviewed my website celebrating my journey of transformation.

We were in the middle of a heat wave but fortunately we have air conditioning in our home and car and there were no power outages! I took my time with hair, clothes and make up as I prepared to be interviewed by Liz who had interviewed President Obama, Barbara Walters and many many famous people during her tenure as an award winning journalist. We chatted briefly on the phone before setting a date to record our podcast and she was warm and inviting during our conversation. Right before we recorded the podcast I said, "I must admit. I'm a bit starstruck." "I'm just Liz," she said with warmth and humility.

My parking space was waiting. A doorman asked me for my name and moved the revolving door for me. The concierge with smiling eyes beyond the mask she wore stood behind plexiglass. "Would you like me to put on a mask? I'm fully vaxxed." "No you're fine," she said. She had me follow her to the door of a conference room and knocked.

Dan Thibeault greeted me with a huge smile. As I said, "Hi Dan. I didn't know you were going to be here," and Liz said, 'Oh yes he's my digital producer,' he swept me up into a huge hug. I couldn't stop smiling as Liz stepped forward and embraced me in a warm hug. Dan and I met when I recorded a podcast with Jordan Rich at Chart Productions. Coincidentally, he is the podcast producer for The Cardinal Cafe. As the host, Greg Chastain read one of my poems, Dan set it to beautiful music.

To calm my nerves I said, "I brought a sweater because I didn't know if the air conditioning would be turned on high." They asked if I needed the air turned up because they keep it low to not interfere with the sound of the recording. I told them I was fine with the room temperature.

I shared with them that I chose to wear the scarf that Patricia Mills painted to celebrate Billy Mills 80th birthday that I won in a Facebook contest. Billy won the Gold in the 10,000 meter in the 1964 Olympics and no American has ever won that event since then. "He's a champion and so am I. That's why I chose to wear it today!" They both nodded in agreement.

We started the session with Dan taking photos:

I love how our colors complement each other and how Dan captured our radiant spirits in the photo. He was incredibly attentive and complimentary which warmed my heart and soul. Liz had copious notes prepared and asked me if I would feel comfortable reading my poetry. Her copy of "Hope is a Garden: Poems and Essays From the 2020 Pandemic" was well loved with paper clips and yellow highlighter. I told her I'd prefer it if she would read my poems. Liz gave me tips of how to relax so that my nerves would not hijack my message which is what she does best at Brunner Communications.

Love and compassion flowed and Spirit's presence palpable as Liz and I engaged in conversation about my journey of transformation for her podcast "Live Your Best Life." Liz took my hands in hers after we finished. Dan took more photos and after a brief conversation we said goodbye with several more hugs.

The last time I experienced hugs outside of my husband and daughter was on March 8, 2020 when we hosted the water stop for our running club training for the marathon. While the pandemic wreaked havoc in so many ways in so many lives, the lack of in person social contact and being able to hug each other wreaked havoc on our hearts!

While I've done podcasts via Zoom to experience the "face to face" contact while recording audio content, being together in the same room and feeling the physical presence of another complete with hugs almost surpassed -- I said almost -- surpassed having this incredible opportunity to share my story on Liz Brunner's Live Your Best Life podcast now in the incredibly talented hands of podcast producer Dan Thibeault.

Stay tuned for when it will be live!

From my heart to yours
In health and wellness
Mary

Be sure to listen to my conversation with Greg Chastain and Ed Siegel on their Voices of Hope podcast, The Cardinal Cafe. From Greg Chastain: The latest episode of The Cardinal Cafe is up! On this episode we meet Mary McManus. Mary is a motivational speaker, author, poet, 2009 Boston Marathon Finisher, polio and trauma survivor. She has a remarkable story of resilence, healing, Hope and possibilities. Once you hear her tell her story you will want to rush out to purchase her newest book of poems “Hope is a Garden” which she wrote during the recent pandemic. So please join us for this incredible story.

For more information about my journey from childhood polio and trauma to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and beyond, visit my website.  

Be sure to check out my website's News and Events page for upcoming and past interviews where I share my remarkable and inspirational journey as a survivor of paralytic polio and trauma.

My books to inspire and uplift you are available on Amazon.