I am home from the Sun/Moon Dance. My spirit lives in the center of the medicine wheel, and part of me will always dance in the arbor, but my integrated life is in my home and community here. The single beat of the drum calls me to action and the three beats to rest, every day. The energy I channeled there trickles into my daily practice. Things are different, better, but imperceptibly so from an unpracticed eye. I am so grateful. Life is so good!

The fulfilling beauty and inspiration of the people, space and spirits with which I danced gave my path a new name: The Beauty Way. From the moment the drum called us from our spaces in the circle, I was danced … I could be. Active or passive in the dance, the resistance was gone and nothing pulled me from the path of the Divine. It was bliss and challenge at once.

The heat, the silence, the needs rose up with demands that all of me had to face. There were so many moments where the thought that the work or environment would break me dominated all others. Then, my very cells cried out for help. Every time, relief was there: a breeze, a drum beat, an eagle cry, an ant, a dancer’s movement, inspiration, the fire, the tree, darkness, light, change of place, a single hug, a pillow, a feather, a cold wet towel (oh the towel angels!), a laugh. Every time, I surrendered more deeply into the Love. It is everywhere and nowhere, nothing and everything. It is every being and every thing, natural and man-made. It is real.

I think the biggest surprise I brought home with me was the awareness of objects I had thought of as inanimate. The movement of the cells in my computer, or the sidewalk I place my steps on, or the chair I sit on, or the car I drive, is something I notice still after nearly a week and am likely to never forget. Have I been disrespecting the life in these things by ignoring the slow speed of their constant motion? Just because it’s formed from natural materials into a shape chosen by humans, does that make it less than natural, less worthy of consideration? It seems not.

At the end of the days that were unclocked spaces of eternity, I feel compelled to bring all this home with me and infuse every moment with connection. The infinite possibility of commitment and surrender brought me back to my daily choices with a deeper understanding of faith that can’t help but form a loving foundation. I want to live a “Thank You, I am here for you too.” And I no longer want to do it alone in a cave of illusory safety and separation. I found a second home in the Island of Misfit Toys and can take my connections outside the ceremony at last. That means, I can make friends with the fascinating, honorable, loving, unique and inspiring folks of the circle, right here in square world. We can have dinners and swim and make things and listen to the wind and take our dogs for walks. We can share stories and worries, thoughts and solutions, food and drink, mistakes and inspirations, laughter and hugs. For a long time I thought that wasn’t possible, but now I hope it can be. Ceremony and friendship can dance on together.

My life is full of words and decisions and recommendations I share with others, but the simplicity has hold of me still. I don’t want to speak or write, just solve problems. Or rather –  be a solution, and let the energy communicate for me. Our world is not there yet, and that is lovely in its own way. It simplifies my actions. There is such richness here, such truth and promise in the business of life. And so, a new lesson of patience and commitment guides my days. It is enough that I can be danced in one place, one time or two a year – for now. The rest of the time I can be with friends and family and colleagues in an easier, healthier way.

Thank you for taking this journey with me.