One Word Week

Tags

acceptance, allowing, becoming, Believing, change, compassion, Conscious Living, empathy, equality, graciousness, harmony, justice, love, peace, respect, seeing others, sharing, supporting

In the wake of all of this goodness, I have been so amazed by the noise that surrounds it all. Saying this isn’t commenting on the perceived positive or negative noise that always surrounds the shifting of times, but rather the amount of outpouring and claiming through celebration. Again, this is not a comment on the pride or needed exhale, but rather watching in wonderment of it all.

And yet, I am realizing for myself that I am absorbing our changing world in a very different way. For me it has been one of great internal reflection. I have observed the amazing things that have been occurring and have been digesting them into my being simply because I often can’t believe that they have actually occurred. If I can swallow them into my body and consume the joy within perhaps I can better believe that they are happening as they have become a physical part of me somehow.

In light of all of this, I have decided to use only one word this week to describe the feelings or thoughts that have been occurring as I process all that has transpired. I am calling it “One Word Week” simply distilling what I need to by choosing only one word rather than a rant or exchange. In doing so I hope to quiet those around me to enter into the simplicity of joined thought while contemplating more quietly through a focused and directed emotion. I realize I always connect better with those around me and those I love when I share what is in the moment without anything extra; stripping away unnecessary noise so that the connection is better tasted due to its simplicity of flavor.

So as I move forward this week I will express in a very succinct way and look forward to the ways in which those around me respond to the dialing back and humbling of the emotions. In addition, I am also very aware that the way we respond to change will help us better to change the other necessary and long over due shifts that need to happen immediately in our country. If we celebrate to loudly or wildly, the noise drowns out  and detracts us from addressing the pressing needs of our brothers and sisters who are also fighting battles of equality and justice. We are all not free until we are all free. We are all not legal until we all are legal. We are all not equal until we all are equal. It is a quieting respect that we offer even in times of great celebration. Our graciousness in the way we celebrate will help to let others know that we will fight along side them as well.

My One Word Week began yesterday with the word love. Simple and profound. Yet universal and necessary and needed for all. Join me in this directed expression and see what happens to your feed or to your exchanges. See what happens when we create a bridge through simple words and thoughts so as to bring people together even if they do not think or feel the same. If we create a platform to welcome others to the table for discussion while seeing them through a simple idea, perhaps we can begin to bring in more love as the walls will have come down. I wonder if we can disarm the fear and anger by simplifying the exchange?

Lightening the Being

Tags

acceptance, allowing, becoming, beleif, Believing, compassion, Conscious Living, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, diversity, equality, justice, porous, present

Leaving behind the past to flow in the great mystery of the present.

So porous the heart that the light and love of the world flows through.

There is buoyancy in a body free from the burden of holding on to the weight of fear.

When there is no longer a need for value or rank, the soul touches equality as the veil of division fades away.

Nothing is Useless

Tags

Balance, brother and sister, compassion, cultivating love, equality, harmony, love, necessary, open eyes, open heart, peace, seeing oneself, seeing others, sustaining, Understanding, useful

There is value in everything. However small something is, it has a significant reason and purpose even if one does not see it at the moment. If we find ourselves too busy to honor something or someones value, we know we have disconnected from reflection and ceased being present.

Yet, despite usefulness of all things, we must remember the balance in our lives as we do not need all the things that fill our lives. Many of us have too much and therefor are being suffocated by the things that overcrowd our internal and external space. If we find ourselves weighed down by this clutter, we know we have lost our faith in simplicity and efficiency.

It is important to recognize the value in all things and in one another. In acknowledging the importance and usefulness that allows us to see one another and the world around us in a much more sacred and interconnected way. This type of seeing allows compassion and understanding and reminds us of the balance and equality necessary for the very system of sustaining life and cultivating love. We see ourselves as equal; brother and sister.

In order to see these things, we must free up the space around us so that we might free up space in our hearts. It is this space that allows us to recognize the light of the universe inside one another and appreciate the value and sacredness of each individual, each being and every living thing. The more open the heart, the more light we see. The more light we see, the more gracious our lives.

Thoughts on today for MLK

Tags

equality, fear, forgiveness, hate, Jr., love, MArtin Luther King, MLK, spirit to spirit, tending the field of equality

This is a day about remembering not to forget that there is still much work to be done in the field of equality. Martin Luther King, Jr. planted many a wonderful seeds in this land and it is up to us to work that land, love that land and to care for that land as if seeing into the fall for a bountiful harvest. During his time was the spring of this movement and now we find ourselves in the hottest days of summer.

 

Although the air is warm while the sun shines bright, we must remember to care for our crop. It needs ever more watering right now as the drought of forgetting has fallen upon us. And in forgetting, what I really mean to say is the complacency of thinking we have come far enough. This is not enough. It is not enough until equality is for all.

 

There is still much work to be done.  With as much work as there is, there is just as much forgiveness and love to be shared. Let us water our spirit with a dream again. Let us give shade for blocking out the burning of fear and hate. Let us carefully tend with kindness while whispering once again about hope.

 

There could be plenty at harvest for us all. There could be so much abundance that we could not possibly imagine the fruits to come of our combined labor. We might not be able to imagine it all, fathom it all, or dream it all; but he did. And because of that, we must remember to take to the field.

 

Moving in the Direction of the Action

Tags

Balance, Ballet, class, contemporary dance, Dance, energetic pathways, equality, following your desire, following your heart, learning, life, modern dance, path, pathways, present, present moment, standing leg, Teaching, Technique

Move into the direction of the action is a familiar saying for me that is often applied in technique classes for the appropriate effort and placement of many technical principles. It is important to have technique to activate the desires of our dreams to dance, as well as important to activate the desires of our life.

What this means in technique is similar to what it means in our lives. When one begins to activate the muscular engagement for low to high leg articulations, one must fully activate the anchoring leg, standing leg if you will, in order to cultivate the necessary balance of engagement in the activity. There must be a little more descending energy applied pressing through the body to press the leg into place rather than by lifting.

The act of pressing allows the leg to float to its proper position through the support of external rotation and proper developmental pathways which support an actively balanced body ironically moving forward in the activity rather than moving back. The retreating of the body is a reaction to improper muscular balance and pulls one off their alignment and away from their desired outcome and task.

The irony here is that we must be present in the action of technique. It is crucial in the articulation and process that we are present in every moment of our reaching to activate the right musculature achieving the appropriate response. We must be in the act of doing by moving into the direction of the action.

Moreover, of course, what is true in technique is true in our lives, for technique is a direct reflection of our actions in other areas of our daily activities. We must be present so that we choose wisely, what is right for our lives and us. We must constantly negotiate the right pathways making sure we are moving in the flow of our own direction rather than the direction of others. We must move into the direction of the action of our hearts.