At the writing retreat, beginning each writing session, Susan would take us around the Medicine Wheel, lighting a candle at each of the four directions, adding a layer of information each time. In the circle became a jumping-off line. I sat in the South, where kids play (I'm still having fun!). Here is a portion of what I wrote that day:
In the circle... I become deaf and other senses are heightened. I see clearly my grandmothers in the sky – Gramma Clark with her large welcoming bosoms and Grandma Schaefer, a tiny, birdlike woman with giant energy. Thank you both for your gifts, for your children, for without them I would not have this body and these experiences. I am grateful.
In the circle… I become blind and other senses are heightened. I feel the connection to the Mother, to the Earth, the Heart, the Trees, the Sky – All of Nature. Thank you for your gifts for without them I would not have this body and these feelings of sacred awe. I am grateful.
In the circle… I become dumb, and other senses are heightened. I hear the drumming of the rain on tin rooftops, the clatter of the waterfall from the gutter to the wooden deck, the cooo-cooo from one dove to another, the hum of the refrigerator that holds the food that feeds my body. I hear the pens, scratching across tablets, as nine women join in a silent exercise and express their heartfelt feelings. I am grateful.
In the circle… I cannot smell, and other senses are heightened. I feel the others pain, I see the joy-light in their eyes, I hear the laughter of child-like happiness born-in-the-moment, the stories unfolding over breakfast, sharing intimacies, and sorrows, and creative fictions that delight or daunt. I am grateful.
I am grateful my cup of life is overflowing – I am filled with these women’s expressions that evoke my own, mirror my experiences, support my desires and dreams. Together, we are making music that thrums the strings of my heart, my feet moving and tapping and stomping to the percussive rhythms of the ring of us – joined in a trance. We dance, we create, we laugh, we love. Anything is possible when women like this are in my circle.
You Do It: Anyone reading this post, is in my circle. Your circle could be anything...I'm looking at the circle at the top of my coffee cup this morning, and into that circle I pour Peet's decaf water cured Mocha Java ... and it warms me.
Please post your comments and tell us about your circles. Just take up a pen or pencil, and start with the jump-off line (write it over and over until something else comes, just letting your pen lead you): In the Circle…