Dare to Be You

I am who I am. I deeply want to let this authentic me feel alive both inwardly and outwardly and feel safe, and accepted. Let’s take our masks off for at least a moment and be real. I don’t want to go another day without realizing this experience of completeness in the present moment; this oneness with my truth. I refuse to hold it all inside any longer. I reject all the judgment that goes on. I release my self doubt, my perceptions, my fears. I’m letting it all spill out. Let it be. Let it be…

We had an experience (each of us) at the last circle gathering… nothing any of us completely expected. We show up, bring our authentic selves, and then let what happens happen. On any night, some of us are feeling strong and some of us are feeling on the edge and vulnerable. That is reality.

It was Father’s Day and we spent a few moments checking in with ourselves on the archetype of Father. Many of us went to a deep place in those few moments and ultimately, the circle of women supported those who went deep with love, caring inquiry, and permission to take the time needed to process the feelings that came up.

Our guest for the evening was Claytie Mason, who lead us in an exercise called “Here I am. Here I stand.” Although a very simple exercise, we each found it not easy. It required us to enter the room, stand in front of everyone, be completely still, say “Here I am. Here I stand.” and look each person in the eye and then walk out of the room, remaining in our power the whole time. It’s one thing to look at that ‘assignment’ and feel nervousness or outright resistance about really doing it, and quite another (enlightening) experience to do it and feel what it’s like to stand and be who you truly are with witnesses. It was a very powerful and empowering experience. We will have Claytie back for more.

This week my daughter left this link on my facebook wall and I’m sharing it here, because it’s a video that demonstrates the rawness and boldness of this concept of taking a stand for being who we truly are, regardless of what anyone in the room reflects in terms of support or judgment.

Lori's Birthday Post

        "In each moment we are awake, we can feel what is reverberating within ourselves and respond in a way that lights up the world in either a weird or a wonderful way. Mindful moment to mindful moment, from the very core of our being we contribute to the balancing and rebuilding of the world in wholeness, or contribute to fear and confusion. In moments of distraction, when mindlessness sets in and we lose our balance, the momentum of habit and countless impinging forces propels us. In moments of self-remembering, when we awaken to mindfulness, we at least have a choice.

         As we learn to recognize and repair the rifts and imbalances in our own life we reestablish wholeness within ourselves. As our internal repair work deepens, we are better able to reach out--inwardly and outwardly-- to repair the world around us. As we focus the flow of our dynamic being more into balance, and dissolve the rigid boundaries that separate us from our wholeness, we restore the world to balance. These aren't just nice ideas but a description of the way things are. Our journey of awakening is one of learning to bring more of our natural, clear lucid, loving, radiant, presence into our world."

-- Joel & Michelle Levey from Luminous Mind and also available for Kindle

The above quote arrived in my in box this morning from my good friends Joel and Michelle. Celebrating my birthday today, I am allowing in the things that resonate and letting everything else go.   My plan is to practice this all day.


My your day be filled with love and joy.


Lori

Summer Solstice 2011

Submitted by Circle Participant Billy Appleman, written by her husband Mark Appleman:

In time for the summer solstice (one of the 4 times a year the Universe and our sponsor Earth formally realign) a few forms of encouragement!

En-courage-meant (short form)

Encourage meant for U

In the lexicon of change

And reinvention to New

Perspective issued forth

From each moment

A new I AM presented

Here I Am,

And Here I stand!

So who R U?

In all this rambunctious flow

As Mother Earth

Shakes off old dreams

& Summons new flight

& Can we, be En-courage-meant

& Cleave to the 1 with-in sight?

Long Form

Encourage/ Meant for U

Within worlds unseen

Encouragement waits for YOU;

In the lexicon of change,

Past the borders of wonder,

And reinvention to New…

Perspective issues forth

From the One who lives within,

In I AM magic, new Nows spring forth to awaken…

Awakening codes.

Codes we have carried since the start of time.

Codes that whisper

“My time for release draws near.”

So who R U?

In all this rambunctious flow?

A barnacle on ocean floor?

A gatekeeper to Earth’s enlightened core?

An intoxicated co-creator begging for more?

A Vortex/Vorsex/Context to adore?

As Earth

(Aka Heart with its letters, appropriately scrambled)

Shakes off her old dreams

And shudders down the runway

Of enlightened future…

She offers us en-courage-meant:

“U” she says, “Arise and stand.

Oneness is Life’s true soup de jour;

The Singularity is at hand,

And the One within sight beckons.”

Support Feels Great

With support it is much easier to move forward into the next logical step.

It feels important to share an experience from within the circle from this week.

Sunday, one of us shared that she wanted something to be different in her relationship with her parents.  We all discussed this in circle and she felt very supported and as a result, early in the week this week, she decided she wanted to have a conversation with her parents about the subject that had stirred in her.  As she made a commitment to herself to take the step to set up the time for the conversation, she shared both the commitment and the nervousness with the circle on-line.  Within moments, she received this response from another circle member: “I would love to get a call from you afterward to hear how it goes. Will you call me?”  In that moment, she felt deeply held and celebrated for taking this courageous action, and the nervousness dropped away.

She had the conversation and experienced completely unexpected, amazing results.  Today, she offered the support of a “Would you be willing to call me because I would love to hear how it went?” phone call to another woman, who was both moved and overjoyed at the opportunity.

This is a very simple example of what this circle is for.  Not exclusively by any means; the circle is for supporting each other in everything in life.  I am grateful for the women in this circle and for all of the women who meet in circles all over the world.  We make a difference.  Each of us can say with confidence "I make the world a better place to be."

Group Event Full Moon Hike

Tuesday, June 14, Check-in: 7:20 and hike begins: 8:20. We have to register in advance. Let Lindsay know if you can make it and she'll RSVP this friday, June 10th. Click on the blog title for a link to more information.

Steppin' Out

"It has always been scary
to step into the circle of firelight,
to show up in the company of strangers,
to ask for entrance or to offer it. Our hearts race---
Will we have the courage to see each other?
Will we have the courage to see the world?
The risks we take in the twenty first century
Are based on risks human beings took
Thousands of years ago.
We are not different from our ancestors,
They are still here, coded inside us.
They are, I believe,
Cheering us on."
--Christina Baldwin in Calling the Circle


In Center Circle, we see the trepidation as women answer to call to join the circle. As each individual reaches her own personal comfort level of "being" in the group, she gently unfolds a bit like a rose bud opening, and shares a bit about the experience of pushing through the fear of judgment and the wondering if she will fit in, or more importantly, be accepted for who she is.  We receive testimony after testimony of the relief in finding acceptance, love, and then a sense of belonging and the building of trust and bonds.  It is a process as ancient as the stars.  Come, join us.  You are being called.  Answer the call.

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.


~ John O'Donohue ~


This came across my in box this week, and it ties nicely with what our theme was for conversation in our last circle gathering. We continue to support one another in breaking the patterns we no longer wish to continue and discuss the process of starting new patterns. There is so much emotion surrounding these changes, and it is so helpful to see that each of us are working on different details, but that the emotional work is so similar that we gain tremendous benefit in sharing the practices, progress, and breakthroughs. We listen with empathy, encourage one another to stand up for ourselves, and we are fed by the common ground that we all grow from.

Resonance in Circles

“In sacred circle, each participant is encouraged to take
guidance individually by listening to her inner voice. Each guidance, soul and life experience, when offered to the center, begins to resonate throughout the circle and creates what we experience as a resonant field. This unified field operates as a source of light that illuminates our individual blind spots, makes us grow and find clarity. It is one idea perceived from multiple perspectives at once allowing it to evolve to its most profound wisdom in that moment. In this way, the power and energy that flows through circle is guided by divine grace. Energy that we might otherwise experience as “local” or limited to our own perception becomes universalized and "global" through a balanced and refined process of circle. We discover, then, that we are as one, learning, living and sharing one spirit in a divinely orchestrated, authentic way.”

Susan Amari Gold, ESSENTIAL WISDOM