You Resent the Obstacle 

You resent the obstacle 
but through it 
I am showing you the way 

© Crystal Meisaan Chan  

For the full reflection and practice that accompany this poem, step inside the Offering →  

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A New Offering: Curving Toward the Center on Patreon

Dear Friend,

It’s been a long time since I last wrote. Over the past years, I’ve been slowly recovering from Long Covid. The experience has reshaped me – and in that reshaping, something new has emerged.

Curving Toward the Center is now on Patreon. It’s not just poetry anymore – it’s a spiritually inclusive, justice-rooted offering of haiku, short parables, spiritual guidance and transformative practices for those living at the intersection of exhaustion, longing, and awakening.

See what it feels like to begin.

You’ll receive monthly tools for:

  • Peace & Inner Steadiness – practices to quiet anxiety, restore balance, and stay grounded no matter what life or the headlines bring.
  • Healing from Oppression – spiritual and practical support for navigating systemic injustice and remaining defiant with joy.
  • Alignment & Purpose – space to reconnect with your deepest values and live from them with clarity.
  • Spiritual Depth & Empowerment – an inclusive, non-dogmatic space to root into connection, meaning, and renewal that strengthens your inner power.

This is not just poetic or reflective work; it’s a practice-based offering that helps people apply deep spiritual and justice-oriented principles to their daily lives.

I’ll begin sharing haiku here again soon. But the center of gravity for my work – the heart of it – is now on Patreon. There are tiers for every kind of engagement, from a free level to deeper offerings that support sustained spiritual growth, burnout recovery, and justice-centered reflection.

If you’re curious, take a look. See you there!

👉 Click here to explore Curving Toward the Center on Patreon

With gratitude,
Meisaan Chan

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I can take your sadness

Last night, sadness settled on my heart
and woke up with me this morning.
So I went to the lake, early, and saw
a huge ball of fire-love rising, and it lifted
my heaviness with it.


I can take your sadness, the sun said simply

The lake was a mirror, so there were actually two suns
now, both so bright I couldn’t look at them
and marveled at the abundance of this world
marveled at the gulls, so serene
marveled at all of the trees holding their seeds now

just waiting for them to fall

I listened to
the dreams of trees


When feeling disconnected, I go to the lake
I gaze the sky, I remember that I am not the universe
but am an intrinsic part of it;
I ask for the earth mother to give me her rhythm
in my heart, that I live with her pulse

and you know what, she does

every time

© Meisaan Chan

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When the soul has space to breathe

When the soul has space to breathe
it flourishes. That is its nature

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in Buddhism, Christianity, healing, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, mysticism, Poetry, recovery, Spiritual poetry, spirituality, Trauma, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inner Distraction

Inner distraction
Tame me, Lord

© Meisaan Chan

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Retreat TONIGHT: Simplify Your Life from the Inside-Out

I am leading the following retreat TONIGHT – see you there.

March Retreat: Simplify Your Life from the Inside-Out

March 14, 7-8:30pm CT

Want to declutter and clarify your inner world? We will use a 500-year old spiritual exercise to do exactly that. Then, we’ll delve into how this clarity revolutionizes your outer world, including:

⁎ Why and how to say “no”;
⁎ Draw boundaries;
⁎ Deepen into our wholeness in a broken world;
⁎ Align our actions to our spirit’s deepest yearning.

You’ll have private time to reflect or journal, and we’ll process as a group to gain insights and collective wisdom. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to simplify and transform your inner and outer world.

I’m giving mini-retreats every month: Ongoing care for your ongoing life. With my tender, strong facilitation. For you.

Come on over! Equity rates, deep soul care.

Learn more and Join us here.

see you tonight! – mc

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On trust and strange hunger

When you trust in the right source
forever satisfaction

When you trust in the other sources
forever strange hunger

© Meisaan Chan

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The release of sadness

Just as clouds gather, carry rain, and then release
so too my soul, for pain; I let it all fall

© Meisaan Chan

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Please let me in

Please let me in, says the Lord
Pride has shut your door

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in healing, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, mysticism, Poetry, Spiritual poetry, spirituality, Trauma, writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The process of fertility

Death is just fine for me, says the earth
so don’t be afraid to die
gateway to transformation
to becoming fertile dirt:
Fear not the process of fertility

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in healing, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, mysticism, Poetry, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, spirituality, Trauma, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment