Dear Dancing Friends,
This world is so precious, vulnerable, wild, and beautiful. My life is forever changed from the humble, clear, and dedicated people I met and the complex work I was graced to do on the African continent. These mighty people who seemingly had so little, are so brilliant and steadfast, creating lives of dignity and vision, turning barren soils into gardens abundantly serving their communities … on every level. The full stories of this golden bridge being built will emerge over time.
For now, my return from this 5 weeks in Africa leaves me with the awareness that … Every Body has a Dream.
Whether working with young girls in the townships outside of CapeTown seeking to learn about their menstruating bodies and what they can do other than make babies … or working with young people dedicated to growing gardens in their townships and refugee settlements so that they can eat living and clean food … or working with brilliant refugees living in hostels who have seen horrific violence and want to create public policies that dismantle corruption … or working with youth leaders teaching the arts in their local community centers so that their children can have options they did not … it is clear that everyone has a dream.
A dream breeds hope.
A dream focuses a life.
A dream inspires learning.
A dream heals the past.
A dream opens up the future.
A dream gathers community.
And … A dream needs support.
As I return to the soils of North America, I am called more than ever to build golden bridges across divides that separate us and keep us from sharing the resources that we all need to make our dreams a reality. I look forward to dialogues about how our shared dreams are highly interwoven and what we want to do about that.
How can we serve one another so that resources and intelligence are liberated and allocated for the well being of all?
My dream is to build a sacred pathway between the youth and the resources they need to practically and positively create a world that is different than the one they inherited.
My dream is to gather with diverse and feisty women who know something about rebuilding the village and are actively in the process of doing that, despite it all.
My dream is to collaborate across the genders, harnessing the true power of masculine and feminine intelligence, lovingly, practically, and sustainably serving Life.
What is your dream?
The dance remains one of the finest portals around for awakening to what is living in the soils of our souls. It is a doorway into the truth of our hearts. It is a direct and intimate way to connect with not only what is within but what is all around us … the shining stars, the fertile earth, the heart of humanity. It is a way to remember our dreams. The dance is a way to move from idea into action. The world needs that from us now.
Please join us in the next months as we wake up to our dreams and together manifest them in this world. This February, we have some super special events.
~ We will tune into the Body Intelligence Summit this February 10th – 13th. It is free and open to all of you. Join me and over 20 speakers, interviews, and live streaming video movement experiences over four days. Check out the amazing lineup of movement leaders, scientists, and medical experts, all exploring the the meaning of body intelligence and how cultivating it in your life makes a huge difference in today’s world. I look forward to being interviewed for this by Mark Metz, our Conscious Dancer ally. To sign up, simply click on: https://shiftnetwork.infusionsoft.com/go/bisMMI/bdanced/
~ We will also join with the largest social movement in human history, One Billion Rising for Justice, this February 14th at the Avalon.
One Billion Rising Facebook Community page
One Billion Rising Facebook Avalon Event page
One Billion Rising Event page
~ And we will continue dancing together with women, diving into the dialogues needed to ground our collaborative efforts across race, class, age, and culture.. This February in Boulder, we will journey into Shakti Sisterhood, February 28th – March 2nd, a process that I recently shared with diverse women in South Africa. Women of all stages and ages are very welcome.
Following that in March we will begin our monthly series, Women and the Body, inviting some of our local and brilliant body-centered leaders to join us and share their somatic gifts.
The details about these and our other events, including ones focused solely on men, can be found below.
All the while … May your path forward be edgy and inspired, grounded and focused on that which you love.
In the wild ~
Melissa