Day 7 Lovin Nelson- Valuable Treasures

Give a kid a break! A beautiful little boy just came up to me while I was editing and offered to sell me a magnet, his friend and he had just made them. He then came down to Oso Negro to sell them. It takes courage to do the cold call thing, to walk up to adults and ask if they want to buy something that was just created. The part I don’t get is, he is only asking asking a dollar each, the room is filled with people drinking 3 dollar coffees and not one person bought one? He steeled himself going from table to table dealing with the “no thanks you’s”. It is not easy being a child in our culture. Kids are generally not seen during the day, they are institutionalized from breakfast till just before dinner. When I am out with my children one of the first questions which is often asked is “Why are you not in school?”. For anyone who has travelled elsewhere you probably saw how in many other cultures children are much more integrated. They go to work with their parents, they take care of each other while playing out in the streets. Kids are seen and heard all the time. They are dispersed within the community.

I want to live more in community. I do live in A community, even a tightly knit, caring community. What I really want though is to no longer live in a house with a yard, next to another house with a yard. I want community gardens, community art projects, space to be alone, space to be together, easy access to everything I need in a comfortable setting with friends all around me. And I want kids, lots of kids, to help out, to experience learning outside of a classroom. I want my children and the children around me to feel honoured and valued, I want them to know that their home-made valentines magnets are worth as much to me as a cup of coffee.

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(picture of my new magnet, and that there is Oso Negro in the background, this is the view from my “office”)

I got this little gem for 2 dollars and 50 cents, same price I paid for my cappuccino. I think I got a hell of a deal.

“How do children show up in your daily life?” is the question in 12 days journal #329

Day 12 Michael Land- So Long and Thanks for the Fish

**Written and submitted by Michael**

Well, this is it. It’s been fun. Twelve days of having a little taste of what it’s like for Bernice to put herself out there everyday, scanning each day for a nugget to spark something meaningful, hopefully, to share. I’ve got to hand it to her, it’s a lot of work to stay on top of the daily public purge or praise.

I’m glad I have had the experience of witnessing her, and taking my own turn. It’s helps to inform my choices about how I carry out my own blog. Yes, it’s true. I started a blog. Go figure! Since I’ve moved to a new community I’ve noticed a big change in my social networking. After living in Victoria for 8 years I had a big, beautiful community and family there that kept me in a steady flow of music, dancing, potlucks, cuddling, creating, and connecting. A strong conscious dance community that we build up over years of putting on events together. And a number of great organizations that I worked or volunteered with.

It’s true that my life is a little more domestic now, but I haven’t found so many of those places in my new town yet. So I’m excited to use this phenomenon we call blogging to call in the pieces of the puzzle I am working on. Only, I won’t be making a writing everyday commitment. I think I’ll keep it a bit more casual. I’ve enjoyed the exercise, though.

I’ve especially enjoyed reading comments from people, some who have been friends from back in Victoria, some people I haven’t met yet.

So I’m coming out! If you know me to be all but invisible on the internet, watch out! New times are coming. I’ve going techie. LOL! KWIM! ; o )
(OK, I had to ask for help with that!)


(This is me blowing you a kiss good-bye!)

Before I go, I just want to say one thing.

Ever since I’ve known Bernice, I’ve watched her strip herself naked for you to witness. It hasn’t been easy for her, I know that, her courageous truth-telling. Imagine if you were doing the same thing. Image your light and your shadow exposed to the public eye. Some people speak about what they think, whether to offer gratitude or praise, criticize or catagorize. Others don’t speak out, but actions and inactions sometimes do the talking. What she is doing takes a lot of courage. Remember that. Remember it when she strips herself naked, vulnerable and raw. Remember she is a strong, powerful woman, with a sensitive heart, and ask yourself, how am I celebrating truth?

“Who do you admire?’ is the question for 12 days journal #298.

Day 10 Michael Land- Circles

**Written and submitted by Michael**

Planets
Do it
With stars

It’s happening all around
Us, inside of
Us, at the centre
 
Our home is built this way
The one we all share
Water and dirt
Stuck to fire
 
Birds build
This way too
Our own egg of conception
Follows its form
 
And we, much more intricate now
Sense the primal call
To come back
To circle
 
Where we see each
Other, within the sacred
Container
 
Gather round
The fire, spirit
Burns like a sun
And we, together here
One
 
In it’s warmth
Hearts open, ears
And eyes, witness of
What is, how we live
So that we may be, as always
Surrounded
By god
 

 
Tonight I’m going to my men’s circle. Sitting in circle is a practice that I believe is as old as consciousness. It is how we come together as tribe in a way where each person can be seen. I believe circle is an integral part of community. Whether it’s to hear what is in each other’s hearts, or to raise our voices together in song, the circle is the container that helps us find harmony and connection, when each voice is heard, and each heart cared for.

“How do you come together in circle with others?” is the question for 12 days journal #296

Day 3 Walkabout- Ashina

I stood today in a room which inspired me to work, love, play and pray. I felt at home. I was in awe. I felt moved to tears by the shear holy magic of this tiny little meditation dome.

Michael and I went out to Winlaw to visit Ashina. Ashina is a multi family intentional community, built on principles of communal living in harmony with nature. We were invited to share a potluck, circle, song and dance. As it turned out we missed singing the songs, and participated in the potluck only by eating leftovers. We did get to dance, and eventually sit in circle, just the two of us, in a tiny temple in the woods.

It is a small cob building, maybe 22 foot in diameter, beautiful wood floor, visible lodge-poles as roof supports. A single beam runs across the ceiling,and in the deep of the night as we sat in whispers the many windows reflected us along with the collection of treasures held within. There were many altars, some small, some much bigger, each contained carefully laid sacred items. A knife made of a goats hoof, many crystals, feathers, candles, a snake skin, bones, statues, many of them likenesses of the goddess. There were piles of pillows, animals skins to lay upon and everywhere the warm glow of the sacred.

I imagined this space belonged to me, or more that it was a shared space which I could use and collaborate in. I imagined it as my “office”, a place I would come for a number of hours each day and dance, write, meditate, sing, talk, plan, cry, laugh, listen; take care of all parts of me, no separation between what I do and what I am.

I make a vow to myself on this day that I will create/manifest/find a sacred workspace for myself and those who I work with, that I will commit each day to moving in the direction of a life lived in community, and co-creation.

And so it is!

“What do you commit to?” is the question in 12 days journal #145