About Ingrid
Poet, Mystic, Celebrant of Beauty and Encourager of Spirit ~
The Short Version:
Ingrid Goff-Maidoff is a poet, artist, author, and anthologist who has shared her love for spiritual inquiry, beauty, and the wisdom traditions of the world through her books, cards, retreats, e-offerings and gifts for more than twenty years. It gives Ingrid deep pleasure to help others feel more whole, more spacious, and more intimate with their own lives. Her books include The Joy Book, The Honey Sutras, Good Mother Welcome, What Holds Us, Moonlight and Remembrance, Simple Graces for Every Meal, The Abundance of Grace, and many quote anthologies. Ingrid lives with her husband and two daughters on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Longer Version…
“There is a place in each of us in which the entire universe dwells-
a place of love and wisdom, truth and bliss.
When you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me, we are one.” ~Namaste
When I first glimpsed the meaning of the Yogic greeting, Namaste, I felt a quickening – an infusion of energy, love and belonging. Here was the description of a place I had long held within my heart and that I sensed we all held – a luminous and warm inner landscape of wonder, love, divinity, peace and joy. By some grace, as a child I had found my way to this place and could return for refreshment whenever I needed to. It felt like a heavenly field which I could go to and rest. More simply, it was a state of being- the essential feeling of loving, and of being loved. It has been my journey and my devotion for many years to find ways to remember and live from this state of being, and to share its presence and practice.
When I was a child, and even as a young adult, I was unable to fit my sense of this loving and joyful field into the confines prescribed, or to find words for it, and so I often felt privately like a wandering gypsy seeking a homeland, yet all the while a universal soul. How to describe or share this feeling of oneness, joy, this bliss of being- the infinite landscape of the heart? For years I felt like a dual citizen, living a daily life, and also sensing the essence of this realm of the heart, this field of the divine- sometimes remembering, often forgetting….
Today I am a modern day householder, and I continue my imperfect yet growing practice of remembrance and forgetting. I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, business woman, bill-payer, poet, artist, partner in a gallery; publisher… the list goes on of real and accepted identities. I do not maintain that these identities are illusions- they seem perfectly real to me, yet they don’t fully define me. I don’t always handle situations as skillfully as I would like to, and I can be as grumpy and out of sorts as the next person. Yet I always come back to sensing that inner essence- that oneness of my soul with the world soul- somehow it feels the most true, eternal, and significant identity of them all.
I live on Martha’s Vineyard with the loves of my life. My husband Jonah and I were college sweethearts, and have been married for over 25 years. We are appreciative and gentle with each other, still in love and the best of friends. We have two daughters whom we adore: Rose who is now in college, and Bella who is a beautiful teen. We have built our house in the woods behind the old farm which has been in my family for over sixty years. My parents still live there today. Jonah and I have planted fruit trees and a garden, and sense that with enough elbow grease and the proper attitude we could create a heaven here on earth. It has been our shared desire to cultivate a home of creativity, love, wisdom and compassion.
As a poet and an anthologist, my life has been a journey of personal experiences, and a rich treasure hunt among the wisdom traditions of the world. Over time, I’ve found a long lineage of mystics, poets, theologians, skeptics and saints from all ages and around the globe who have lived in awareness of oneness and the soul, and for whom it has been a primary passion and concern. I have come to consider them among my greatest teachers, companions and support. It has been my deepest delight to search for their words, study their words, and share their words, gathering them up like beautiful flowers.
Living on Martha’s Vineyard, I am blessed to have access to many wooded trails, lovely vistas and shorelines for walking. This feeds and inspires my days immensely. When I’m not in the arms of writing, I work in my basement studio, filling book orders and also producing hand-sewn limited edition versions of many of my books, as well as cards, inspiration decks and gifts. I enjoy using Japanese papers for their poetic landscapes, and any other papers that might add texture or sensual beauty. It gives me great pleasure to share my work here online, at the Night Heron Gallery in Vineyard Haven, the Artisan’s Fairs of Martha’s Vineyard, as well as at many fine galleries throughout the United States.
SOME PRESS AND PRAISE
“You and your books have been an important and delightful part
of keeping joy alive and well in our hearts and minds!
Reminders of life’s many spiritual treasures greet us by your books
on table and desk tops here throughout our home!” C.A.H
“I LOVE LOVE LOVE YOUR BOOK MOONLIGHT AND REMEMBRANCE!
i enjoyed it so much. I cried and smiled and was certain that you wrote it
just for me. It is FULL of thoughts and feelings i have every day
but alas have not a scrap of writing ability to portray them.
The book is just beautiful, inspiring, and perfect. THANK YOU.” ~W.K.P
“A friend gave me Good Mother Welcome when my daughter was born.
It had a profound effect on me.
I never knew anyone could make something so beautiful.” ~A.S
“I gave the simple graces to a best friend
and she said she cried a couple of the verses were so beautiful to her.
Thank you for making such beautiful pieces.”~A.M.C
“I received the Honey Sutras.
It is already one of the most important belongings in my life.
You make the world a better place thank you so much..” D.L.J
“I love the “Honey Sutras.” I read from it a lot at my yoga classes.” Namaste, Mary
“There is about her the seemly grace of one for whom the spiritual dimension of living is an ever-present reality.” ~Jacqueline Sexton, Martha’s Vineyard Times
“It is as if all that she produces, the songs, the poetry, the cards, books and paintings are the result of an essential essence that emanates from her as personally and naturally as an exhale. And for whatever practical tethers hold her earthbound, Ingrid Goff-Maidoff seems to float.”C.K. Wolfson, Vineyard Gazette
“I discovered the Joy Book when I was struggling to access greater joy in my daily life. Ingrid Goff-Maidoff’s perfectly penned words invited me into a new understanding of joy, one that honored my unfolding self. Each day my heart opened, expanded because of the prose, insights, and artfully arranged illustrations within. It felt like an adventure into parts of myself I’d not explored before. I will always treasure this book. It changed my life.” ~Janice Lynne Lundy, author, Your Truest Self: Embracing the Woman You Are Meant to Be
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
My career and relationship coaching clients and I love Ingrid’s amazing creations. They and I love the exquisite artistry of the outer wrappings, combined with the loving, spirtual inner messages. I am always so happy to share her wonderful work with others–and of course have to purchase gifts for myself as well. I love the images and thoughts in this blog as well!
Suzanne Blake, Blake Coaching and Consulting