Stay

In circles we explore what it means to come into contact with reality, this is no easy task in a world that is in deep denial.  Our reality is woven with a despair, grief, rage, love and loneliness that we have been numbing ourselves from.  As young children we are taught to protect ourselves from rejection and our need to be held in a community.  We are separated prematurely from our parents, our homes, the regulating rhythm and cadence of a family or village. The social limbic system.   

We live in an accelerated time, as technology moves us into a cadence I’m not sure our soul can dance to, we might feel out of sync with our internal music, this music is the limbic heartbeat and the pulse of life that regulates our systems. Feeling into our bodies felt sense is a way to research and seek our internal counsel.  

Our culture has encouraged us to get out of pain as quickly as possible, to keep moving, to produce and distract ourselves from our feeling state and our bodies needs and intelligence.  We have become so misatuned to our internal navigation system that often when we stop to listen and to feel we can be flooded with overwhelming energy.  

When others offer us presence, we might feel shame or a combination of wanting to be seen and wanting to hide, we might make contact with our deep need to be praised, or feelings of inadequacy or encapsulation. We might begin to feel the weight of the mask. This is the process of becoming known and developing a real intimacy with a group, a group that can hold both the gifts and the vulnerable parts, a village that desires to hold the multiplicity of pain and pleasure and is taking a firm stance to remain present.  The mask may be heavy and need others to help us unburden from it.  

We are learning to stay, to let the weather patterns pass, to develop the muscle of presence.  Circles are practice grounds for a steadfastness and a stance and orientation that prioritizes depth and can hold complexity. 

In Dream Circles we learn to hold the energy of presence, we learn that presence is the seat of our power, and that it is a muscle that may have become slack from our negligence. It's a big invitation to become present with ourselves, while also practicing what it means to attune to others and the larger web of the world.  

Our work is spiritual, ecological, cultural-- it is seed saving and it is remembering our place in the more than human world.  Our work is to play and laugh, and hold and reflect to tend and to weep together, but mostly it is to show up and remain present with curiosity, compassion and courage.