Mantra

Tags

Believing, Conscious Living, courage, Courageous Vulnerability, Ecstasy, faith, learning, learning to fly, lessons learned, love, Soul to Soul, spirit, transformation, welcoming

I see myself within the sunlight of my dreams 

I free myself of the shadows cast by the history of moonlight 

I bathe in the ecstasy of deep secrets lost

I release the vibrations of a transformed spirit 

I lean into the winds of change 

I walk forward finding myself in the ever present 

I accept all that comes and allow it in good time

I let go of expectations letting in more than ever imaginable 

I embrace my complete being while living amor fati

Small Moments/Small Breaths

Tags

art, changes, Dance, Dance Appreciation, Dance Forms, dance makers, dance making, dancer makers, dancers, dancing, Existence, faith, humanity, learning, lessons learned, me, observations, sharing, space, thoughts, truth

Small Moments/Small Breaths

Strangled by the separation of bodies in motion in shared spaces and the need to push forward in “uncertain” times I have finally come to a point where I no longer feel confident and secure in pushing forward. Sure, I have had to find the strength and courage to be there for the students and to be able to find the ability to keep on keeping on, but honestly, it has been a lot to carry and at times hard to breathe.

Once classes had ended I found myself a drift in these new spaces and new ways of figuring out what to do. Like so many, I struggled with not being able to be in the same space with all of these incredible bodies searching, striving and living the beauty of a body in motion artfully shaping space with incredible precision and grace. The lack of being present in the moment of transformation hurts the kinetic spirits of a community of movement. And no matter how much I am supposed to be brave, confident and courageous, alas I don’t think I am succeeding.

In  many ways this is good to be able to recalibrate and ask so many necessary questions. I believe this as well as believe that in the end this will be a moment of courageous change and a necessary shift for the field and for how dance lives in academia. Truth be told I have never seen myself as a “company” kind of artist nor one that is constantly academically justifying outcomes in an art form that, for me, is all about the process of discovery.

Within the context of this time, how do we reframe the ways in which we see ourselves within the field, within the our process and within our dreams? When being a body in artful motion has been in many ways irreversibly changed, how does one continue to find the surface of the waters of darkness to just catch a little breath to fill the lungs of hope?

Of course I am moving! I still continue to share EBAS classes with folks from all over finding new discoveries and new ways of being in communion. Sure I take long walks with Beathan and find myself in motion on so many levels. Yet, my heart is broken by the inability to be in communities of movement artists to grapple with new concepts and ideas together while watching and encouraging play and exploration.

As many know I am very much an introvert but being in a classroom either leading or collaborating is the way in which I am able to find connection, compassion and a fulfilled heart. I must say being alone isn’t lonely when the work you do on a daily basis is in community and in the love and passion for your work.

One of the things I love most about teaching is the extremely intimate hands on approach that I engage in with my students. I have healing hands and consider myself more a healer than a teacher, choreographer or artist. Certainly more so than an academic. Be that as it may, when the ability to physically connect and create a space of sensorial exploration and transformation is removed from your daily experience, it is crushing and suffocating to say the least.

So now that having to put on my big boy pants and carry on has come to a close, I must admit I am at a loss now that even the smallest amount of connection to movement and students has dried up. Now it is a matter of asking questions and spending a great deal of time accessing new ways of moving and perhaps new ways of making. Yet, I am not interested in the many forms that people are suggesting and pretending that it is just the way we have to carry on. I certainly understand that we need to move forward and figure it out, but still my heart breaks at the love lost in the ways that have meant so much to me.

Truth be told I am not a dance for camera person. It is a great field and there is so much great work happening, but it is simply just not something for me. Many of the directions we are being asked to explore are not for me nor am I particularly interested in being a part of. There are so many wonderful artists already doing this great work and exploring those avenues. I am just not one of them. No, I am one of those artists that lives and breathes the body and craves the discoveries and all the wisdom that a body in motion shares in that process. Is it so wrong to JUST want to be that? Is it a crime to not want to pretend that I am desperately afraid of losing the kind of physical corporeal wisdom that I value above all else?

So then why is it I feel I am not connecting to all of these new ways and that I am just not capable of pretending to be “going with the flow”? While I mourn the loss of contact and the physicality and exuberance of training and performing, do I still have to pretend that all of this doesn’t matter? Is pretending that the heart is broken and still carrying on a healthy thing to do or can we breathe and ask ourselves the kinds of questions we need to ask in a more calm, rational and open space?

This is the thing about calamity, we turn into very reactive individuals trying to solve problems that we have no answers for but feel we need to do it in the first place simply because we are falling prey to the corporatization of academia, the field and the prioritization of outcome or product driven models of success. Wouldn’t it be the time to breathe and ask ourselves some deep seated questions about how to move forward while truly addressing issues in the field that have continued to be overlooked? Would it be nice to stop the train and have conversations that are necessary in having to actually work in community rather than work as individuals in a community cloaked in the very models of suppression that exist?

I would most certainly welcome the space and time to share and grapple with how we are all feeling and move from a place of empathetic understanding as the beginnings of discovering the kind of field that is necessary at this time and the kind of field dance has the potential to be. If we find ourselves coupling together in the energy of survival, how are we asking ourselves clear questions through the lens of creative change instead?

In my meditations I keep on hearing the body whisper “small movements. small breaths”. It is a recurring phrase that I hear but am not quite sure how to translate. The one thing I do know is it is suggesting small and conscious steps through conscious movement with conscious breath. I also think it is a response to the broken heart missing movement, connection and the joy of that collaboration. Perhaps slowing down into the present moment of every action with the awareness of that moment is the best way for me at this time to find the courage and confidence to breathe deeply in movement again.

Perhaps this is all I have to hold on at this moment as I figure out where I wish to go next. Perhaps this is the way of asking myself the questions of my intentions within the field and the kind of artist I wish to be moving forward. Perhaps this is the moment to question whether the kind of artist I am is viable at this moment or will the way I have loved working ever have value in the same way. Perhaps small movement and small breaths will be the way in which I am able to answer these questions finding a path the brings peace back to my heart.

Wisdom and Wellness Resides Within

Tags

art, change, changes, courageous heart, empathy, heart, inspiration, learning, life, light, love, loving, observations, shifting paradigm, together, transformation, vulnerablitiy

I have been feeling compelled to sit down and reach out through writing once again. Looking at the date of the last post I realize I have been away for quite some time. I believe the last post was dated October first and now we are over six months beyond that. And boy has so much transpired and has changed since then. This is exactly the topic of thought that has been speaking to me recently and the need for this particular sharing.

Mind you, even despite all the recent and unprecedented shifts that the entire world has been required to take notice of, transformation has been taking place for me on many levels for quite some time now. Change that I feel has been necessary and honestly long overdue. I am just grateful I have been able to recognize the importance of that change for myself and for all of those I have ever or will ever come into contact.

The biggest most impactful impetus for deepening my spiritual and internal relationship with myself was when I began to ask questions about what there was left for me to do now that both of my boys had passed, relationship ended and being no longer in love with dance? It was an empty and bleak time of sadness, grief, and disappointment. What is left when the darkness seems to be holding your breath and your heart hostage?

Lucky for me I was doing a great deal of meditation to cope and to somehow find my breath and my heart again. In one meditation I was doing for the new year I was simply doing my best to focus on breath and to listen to my body as I have always required of my students. This particular meditation brought to  my awareness a line that said a few times “just look”. So after that meditation I felt like I understood what that meant and reached for my computer to do just that, just look.

What was I looking for, I knew I was looking for a love that needed me and a being that perhaps would shake my heart into remembering there are so many beings in need of each and everyone of us and that we are necessary and important energies to and for one another. And in this instance, I knew it was a dog. They have always been significant for me on so many levels and I knew at this point it was what the message was saying. Just look for a dog.

So there I was after my meditation opening a computer to see if there was a dog that was speaking to me; and almost as immediately as I got on the site did my little one reach out through technology releasing the strangle hold on my heart. I knew when I looked into his soulful eyes that he needed me and I most definitely needed him. But what was the likelihood this adorable puppy was still available? Well if you are a believer in synchronicity as I am, you know without a doubt things will be as they need be. And with that and a bunch of simple steps, he became mine.

This change to matter for something or someone changes us. Recognizing that we are in fact necessary for the well-being of others and that we all have tremendous gifts to give, way beyond the value of money, is transformational in and of itself. This kind of awakening is the beginning of understanding our individual ability to access a resilience that is undeniable and incredibly powerful. There is great power within when we allow ourselves to let others in despite the unmistakeable necessity of vulnerability.

Being in this state and recognizing the need for each one of us to understand we have something to offer and that we are capable of so much more than we are able to fathom in this moment is crucial. This along with accepting that we too need others in all kinds of ways to fulfill what it means to be full so we can be fully human. It is after all those that surround us who fill us up with so much that we are able to allow ourselves to have such incredible human experiences necessary for living in love.

So for the past year and a half I have been doing my best to make shifts and changes in my life that welcomes a sense of being present and aware in and of my actions. I have worked at creating more space before I speak or allowing space for others to speak. I have tried to listen to my students more by creating more space for them to feel and to recognize their bodies are speaking to them and that this space for reflection is when we can open ourselves up to this great sensorial listening. The body has so much to say and is such an incredible gift to our wellness both physically and energetically.

Slow and steady revealing of oneself is an effort filled and conscious choice we must make in order to live more energetically fulfilling lives that are well balanced, congruent and more heartfelt. It takes patience and fortitude to build a resiliency in order to give ourselves over to accepting transformation. If we are able to quiet the voice of fear we will be able to turn up the volume of our body. Once we are able to listen, we will be able to transform. It is with corporeal wisdom that we are then able to see more clearly because we are now seeing and sensing from our hearts.

Currently we are living in a frenetic and trying time. So much chaos, uncertainty and fear. And rightly so. It is a new world and one that will need a great deal of breath, compassion, empathy and love to navigate through. Yet, accepting and acknowledging that this is difficult, heartbreaking, uncomfortable and unknown is such a very great place to be in recognizing that we have a choice to welcome and embrace change and therefor be the transformation necessary for our own lives and for the lives of others. This is the time for acceptance of the self and all that we are capable of becoming and learning through being present in the midst of instability. This is resilience and thus becomes resourceful and soulful.

I must admit I am rather excited about having to shift my work into a whole new medium for myself. I accept I have a huge learning curve but also acknowledge that my students do too. We can do this together. I can be a person who might create the space for us to navigate and grapple with these shifts through the training of the body through our EBAS practice as well as creating work and making work work for us. This process is not only artistic but simultaneously is healing and heartening. We will discover what we are made of and that what we are made of is ever so beautiful and divine.

I am looking forward to creating space to allow my students to look within to find their wellspring of heart and of voice. I am looking forward to the changes I will see in myself as I do my best to welcome being present and in being forgiving of self and of others during the process. I am viewing this necessity of change as yet another part of my growth spiritually, emotionally and artistically. I recognize this is something that perhaps I have been needing and that perhaps we have all been needing. I for one am seeing my work with new eyes and with a new heart.

May we all find a way to welcome the wisdom of wellness to speak to us as we quiet ourselves through movement and the changes necessary to thrive. May we reach out if we need help. May we reach out to give hope. May we be with others in ways unknown but yet critically important. May we be the light to fill others so that we all shine for and with one another. May love light this way.

Revealing the Light

Tags

changes, courageous heart, Courageous Vulnerability, development, Existence, fear, friends, humanity, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, life, light, love, sharing, society, thoughts, truth, Vulnerable, vulnerablitiy, Writing

There is light within us all. Regardless of where we come from, what we believe, who we are or what we have done; light resides in each and every one of us and animates our souls. Sometimes this is hard to feel and to know as so many are struggling with so much and simply moving through the day is often a huge weight to bear. And yet, I assure you there is light within. After all you are the light of the universe and that light is in the very essence of your DNA.

So how does one journey to reveal the light within? How is it that we can find a way to peel away the institution of crippling fear? There is no simple answer nor direct path, but there is a place to start. That starting point is learning to claim your light by recognizing that vulnerability is your greatest asset as well as the seed of what makes you uniquely you and gives authenticity to your voice as a beautiful light filled human being with something to offer this world.

Yes, vulnerability is the place where you must live to stand in the face of your fear. Standing on the legs of a courageous heart takes work and it takes pride. Be proud of what you are even if it is not the same as the people around you or like any other person you know. Be proud to state your name, your love, your vision and your truth. Be mindful not to hide away what you deem to be unworthy or not good enough. Doing so will hold you back from what your soulful desires actually are.

As a child I lived in a place of vulnerability and truth but allowed the world around me swallow that innocence and love. Scolded and shamed into no longer trusting the instincts and visions, a young boy became a young man who hid away what others did not understand or even know possible. Hiding the abilities that have been so graciously given strangles the very nature of our true being. And if we are not living in our most honest and vulnerable selves, we are no longer living because we no longer live in the presence of unconditional love. We no longer reside in the place of self love that is necessary for every single relationship we encounter be it romantic and otherwise.

So now I stand in courageous vulnerability to face the fears that have overcome the child within and the wisdom of the heart. Fear is no longer welcome when light shines on its darkness. When light shines it creates shadow. On the other side of shadow is a place for fear for we need to know it is there at all times but our awareness of it is partly what powers and empowers us to stand and face it. Peeling back the layers of a closed heart will release the light that lives in the spirit of the heart. We can stand firmly in the face of fear when we realize there is no greater place to live our lives than to be standing in the face of courageous vulnerability.

And as I challenge you, I challenge myself. As I turn to face my own fears I encourage you to do the same. Yet, do it in the ways that make sense to you and in the ways that feel right for you. We all own our own fears and therefor need to face and embrace them in the ways that work for us. Welcome tiny steps to build the kind of momentum that will transform your being. After all, momentum favors the willing. Be willing and therefor you will be. Be and you shall become.

Reveal the light that you are.

The entire light.

Learning to Recognize the Moment of Transformation

Tags

art, changes, faith, humanity, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, observations, sharing, space, thoughts, truth

There comes a time when we recognize the moment in which our life turns a corner. That realization to face the change with courage, dignity and humility is a quintessential pivot in our consciousness as well as in our well-being. This is a defining moment and one that will transform us and our lives completely.

Often times we are unable to recognize these miraculous moments due to the cacophony of noise that surrounds our everyday existence not to mention the noise residing in our own mind. When we are immersed in such noise we know we have succumbed to the betrayal of our authentic selves and have fallen into the falsehood of intellect rather than the intelligence of the heart.

One way to unravel this strangle hold is to immerse oneself into the reorganization of the physical body through conscious training by cultivating an intimate relationship in which the body is the tool to reestablish our relationship to ourselves. This is crucial to being able to create both the physical and emotional space for realigning the vibrations of a healthy being.

There are so many ways to go about this awakening. So many movement modalities and practices that one can connect with to foster a healthy relationship with mind/body. Whatever the practice you choose, give it time. Patience is a required element in the equation for peace and physical and spiritual well-being. Allowing yourself to explore time in an unconventional way so as to suspend habitual or conditional thinking will nurture a new physical paradigm.

Just as it takes time to train the ears to hear, the eyes to see and the heart to speak; so too is it necessary to give space to time to press open a moment allowing the body to unravel itself through its own weight and its own wisdom. Give yourself to the magnitude of your being so as to recognize the moment when the universe opens the door to the greatest road map for success, prosperity and spiritual bliss.

Lifting Lines Morphing Visions- P3:3

Tags

changes, faith, health, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, life, life unfolding, observations, opportunity, thoughts, wellness

Listen, can you hear it?

Wait, can you feel it?

Quiet, its subtlety is sublime.

Listen, its faint vibration a fathomless expanse of wonder.

Wait, its opportunity an incomprehensible bliss.

Quiet, its meeting you long before you are even aware you beckoned it.

Listen and wait quietly for what is to be your second journey into the first time you allowed yourself to be.

Listen and wait quietly to unleash the wild wonderment of the fathomless you.

No Longer to Speak/Rather to Live

Tags

changes, faith, humanity, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, life, observations, sharing

I feel compelled to no longer speak the truth but rather to live the truth. There is so much noise and so much rhetoric that one can no longer hear oneself think or even feel. Much less to engage in a dialogue in which one grapples with the challenges we face at all levels and on all fronts. Things have changed, and  we need a new way of engaging in the world and supporting that change while simultaneously caring for the self and for the best interest of the heart. It is time to live in radical justice and in fact justice for all.

It is important to give voice to issues that face us and crush so many. It is even more important to live in the light of support for all of those that need it. Even more so. Just repeating the lip service is not enough. We all know the catch phrases and the buzz words can certainly mask so many a things, specifically the ego and the narcissism behind the facade of love and support. Be mindful that love sometimes is shared in the act of love and not behind the veneer of words.

We are conditioned to perceive love and support in ways that are not necessarily honest or real. So many times we have been expressly told whom we can and can’t love. And this more out of fear rooted in hate and ignorance. And remember, people of all walks love in very different ways. Let them, as opposed to forcing your view on the way in which you think love should be shared. When I realized the depth of my fathers love, I finally realized I had to see him and his love for the only way he knew how to show his love for me. Then, and only then, was I able to release the need that he love me the way I wanted but that he could not.

The same is true in all of our lives. The loudest person in the room yelling at you and expressing that they love you and would do anything for you, might just be the facade they need to help them feel that they in fact are loved and so desperately need your acknowledgment simply because they are blinded by the strangling of themselves. Might love be expressed in all kinds of ways? Might love even be expressed more through the quietude of the moment that two people share a space? Might we experience this love and this truth by simply being and sharing?

I feel compelled to no longer speak the language of love but rather to live love in the quietest ways that work in the ways in which my heart speaks. The truth of the radical heart might not be the loudest, but perhaps the one that surrounds you in a blanket of belief.

Thirty Day’s of Thoughts: Day Fourteen

Tags

ageing, changes, Existence, faith, health, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, life, me, observations, space, thoughts

The Boy Within

 

This morning I leaned in and asked myself who this salt and pepper faced man was in place of me at my bathroom sink. I stared into his eyes as a razor peeled back the faint hint of myself. It is me who stands in this mans body. It is I, the boy within. When did I become this man I do not recognize as self? Who’s body is this that I cannot feel as my own? When did the feelings of a boy become the body of a man?

 

It is a funny feeling to recognize oneself and yet not feel as if you are the person that stands in front of your reflection. Time has passed and yet it has not changed the youthful and inquisitive spirit within. I don’t feel as if I am any different on the inside than I did when I was young man embarking on a life of physical kinetic bliss. I still believe I am capable of so much physical articulation and authenticity. And yet, time has been speaking to my body and I have not been paying attention.

 

Am I naïve to think this boy within is telling me the truth or should I listen to the shell of myself and fall to the prescribed image and generally accepted truth that ageing is unkind? Should I listen to my heart that speaks of laughter, joy and love and the willingness to be open to love or should I accept that I will be alone and loveless simply because of the face staring back at me seems to be weary with time?

 

Do I lie to myself that I am beginning once again and that to be in this space of renewal is a part of a positive outlook on life or should I swallow the truth of the world that encourages me to grow old gracefully? Does this mean I acquiesce to the idea of aging? Has my spiritual belief system clouded my reality with the idea of living energetically well ignoring the fact that time still passes and ravages the physical?

 

I pulled myself away from the mirror to continue to get ready for the day ahead. A day full of movement guided by a consciousness that only I can know of myself. What I see on the inside is a body open and willing to do what I request. What I see on the outside is not the external representation of that thought.

 

And so I go forward to begin again; to become again. I am a beginners mind in a experienced body. And if I listen more keenly, might I understand more readily the needs of this physical self. May I reintroduce myself, this boy within, to the man that carries him around.

Thirty Day’s of Thoughts: Day 10

Tags

changes, compassion, faith, family, gender, learning, lessons learned, life, love, Love Between Men, love for all, me, norms, observations, sexuality, Trans, truth

I find it difficult to understand people that fear the differences in others. I truly do. I am not sure why I didn’t get that gene that allows us to hate one another simply because there might be differences or that I should fear others simply because I don’t understand or see them for who they are.

In light of all of the trans-phobia that seems to be being stirred I find this especially difficult as it is wasted energy on something that has little to no significance in anyones life except for the pain inflicted on those who identify as trans or gender fluid. What does it matter how one identifies oneself or has come to understand the peace they feel when the find a safe place and an identity that works for them? It doesn’t matter to your life one bit. Not one single bit.

When I reflect on my life and who it is I am, I am continually reminded of how much I had to hide my identity so to avoid the hatred and negativity. Ironically, I didn’t have to hide it all that much as I suspect many others around me clearly knew that there was something a little different. I mean how many young men ride the bus with their football team and are able to engage them in a victory sing along? Yes, that did happen. And yes, the young men, in their boisterous song made me strong.

What really stands out to me is a moment when I was named a female label by my nephew. Yes, my nephew somehow was confused by what he should call me or what was expected. Although I am not so sure he was confused at all. This child was clear about one thing, this relative was not like the others. What was interesting is that he insisted on calling me Auntie Scott. A female title followed by a male name.

Mind you, he would do this without batting an eye. It was as if this was as normal as Uncle Lee who was my brother. And yet, something was different. And it was. He was right. There was something not only different from a labeling standpoint of me being gay, but something energetically different and understandable to him and how he related to me. I was all things to him. Not all of this, and not all of that. I was in between.

Ironically, this never once bothered me. It bothered my sister a bit, but not too terribly much. I think she wanted to do her best to correct him, which she did, but something about it, something within him would not let it go. And so, it stuck. For some time I was Auntie Scott until he made the decision to follow the societal path and recognize gender as static or linear.

So life went on. Nothing harmed. I was fine. He was fine. We all were fine. And love still surrounded us all regardless.

These days I find myself using all kinds of varied pronouns and gender descriptions. One of my dearest friends and I call one another Sista or Gurl. He even refers to me to his dogs as Auntie. Seems as though there is something significant about that title that will stick with me a life time. And as it should. Perhaps I am an Auntie to those that need me to be such. Perhaps I am an uncle to others. None the less, I am still me.

I am a gay male who identifies himself as someone who lives in the in between. I live in a space of love and can love anyone I choose. I have relationships with men who inspire and energetically add to my well being. I express my love physically in ways that matter only to us. It is a private matter of love and affection shown in ways that satisfy the physical manifestation of love and light. It matters nothing to you. Just as yours matters not to me.

I suffer not because of who you are. In actuality I benefit greatly as the more others are able to find peace with themselves and how they see themselves in this world, the more peace there is. And the more peace there is, the more love. And if you need someone to see you as you, you have a safe place with me. There are safe places in this world so seek them out. Seek those people out who will love you and see you as who you are. Surround yourself with the kind of people who show the love and light of this universe. There you will find peace and there you will learn to love yourself for all that you are. Perfect!

Thirty Day’s of Thoughts: Day Nine

Tags

changes, faith, health, humanity, inspiration, learning, lessons learned, life, me, observations, sharing, society, space, thoughts, truth

There are moments when you observe the overwhelming convergence of goodness in your life confirming your hearts desire. Time and again we are being encouraged to keep going and to keep moving forward on the path of light we have chosen. If we are not careful to listen, we may miss these omens and grow discouraged about how the journey is proceeding. Listen more carefully to what the universe whispers and you will be reminded of where you are and what is next.

What is really amazing about all of this is that in so many of our conversations with people, friends or simply just acquaintances, you will recognize the truths that are hidden in plain sight. You will also recognize images and moments that insight is being dropped in your lap. There is confirmation that you are on the right track all the time. Lifting our head out of our phones and into others eyes will be a first step. Opening our ears to the quieter moments and the silences in between will also find us many a clue.

And if you are finding yourself in troubled times at present, there are whispers for you too. The question is, are you willing to do what is being asked of you? Are you willing to take the action necessary to turn your ship around? Are you willing to be patient enough to let the solution come to you in ways that will right the sails of your life? Correcting and recalibrating are also part of the many gifts being sent our ways on a daily basis. Being present enough to listen is the key once again.

It is much like the training of dance. How does one listen to the body to know truly where it is in space and if in fact we are in true alignment with ourselves and not just being held hostage by the perception of the body in conditioned space. Yes, we have been conditioned by so many factors outside of ourselves to blind us to who it is we are and what this physical gift is actually trying to accomplish. Becoming acquainted with your true physicality with a keen consciousness, you will find the shift and change of both the physical and emotional self with far less energy output and more energetic recycling.

And this of course is the truth with all physical practices and modalities. Find yourself in the true nature of your being letting yourself feel who you are, and you will experience great joy and fulfillment. Being present to be able to listen to the lost language of space. So much information about the secrets of the world live inside the silence of space.