Dance Retreat next weekend!

I'm co-hosting my first overnight retreat this coming weekend and I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and hopeful!  I'm wearing a few different hats, like leading a reflection segment within a larger program piece and coordinating all the dance leaders, so there's a lot of prep. 

All in all, I'm excited because this group of people used to gather annually at this retreat center about 20 years ago, and this is the first time since the mid-1990's that the Dances of Universal Peace will be returning to the Villa Maria in Frontenac, MN.  You can just walk in, but if you'd like a meal from the Villa kitchen or a bed/camp site, registering would be good so there's enough for all.  Details here. 

Programmatically, I'm leading reflection times during the Dance for the Healing of Memories through Prayers and Poems on Saturday morning.  This will include silence, discussion, and art!  Not super messy art, but inviting people to take the bodily and emotional experience of singing and dancing and impulsively transferring that to paper (you know, what I used to call Breaktime Doodles and now calling Visual Niguns, a twist on wordless sung prayers from the Jewish tradition).  The pictures I've included here are some that I've created. 

What I'm even more excited about is the context these reflections will be a part.  My LEAD cohort classmate and friend, Mary Martin Lane, has put together what I believe will be a powerful combination of dances, poems, and prayers to tell the story of how the Dances of Universal Peace transformed her life.  I can't wait to see it fully and hear how it is received.  I think it is universal.  Come and tell me what you think of it. 

Blessings on your day.  C~

Poem of Grace: Stephen and Ondrea Levine

By Stephen & Ondrea Levine.

There is a grace approaching that
we shun as much as death.
It is the completion of our birth.

Poem of Grace: Sheba's Hestitation by Rumi

This is the first poem I have ever memorized that wasn't a song.  Surprisingly it was easier than expected. Perhaps it was because I expected to not get it right for awhile, so that gave me permission to fail?  I also identified sections and memorable lines to frame the outline which helped pull me through.

It was after I memorized it and met another grace poem that I realized it was foretelling WotY 2015.  Here it is ...

Sheba's Hesitation by Rumi

tr. by Coleman Barks

Lovers of God, sometimes a door opens
and a human being because a way
for grace to come through.

Word of the Year, 2015: Grace

A few years ago, a friend told me about her Word of the Year (WOTY) where you consider what you want to focus on in the new year, find a good word to capsulate it, and then live with it. I liked the concept and adopted it myself. 

What I like is that it's like a long-term meditation practice. Unlike resolutions which seem to loose steam quickly and get forgotten, WOTY is intended to be long term remembering and forgetting. Without the guilt of having been forgotten. It expects to be forgotten and distracted. But if it was a good word that seems ripe for you during this period of time, it will revisit you as well.

My word this year is Grace. Being more graceful with myself, for others.  It will be challenging, but aren't all growth areas?

I first ran into grace in a Rumi poem in Nov 2014. It kicked me in the pants so I decided to memorize it. The doodle above is inspired by it. I'll share it and other grace poems that have crossed my path soon. (I'm up to 3 poems now) 

I've shared the concept with others and they seem to love it. If you had a WOTY what would it be? Why?

Blessings on your year. -C