Poetic Revelations: Greater than the Sum of our Parts
Equinox Union
“One of the great paradoxes of being alive is that each of us is born complete and yet we need contact with life in order to be whole. Our longing to join and come alive is our birthright.”
~ Mark Nepo
This is a weekly publication for heart-centered warriors, swimming through this thing called life with an intact, open heart (and sovereign voice).
SELECTED POEMS
Love Song I and Thou, Alan Dugan
The Union of You and Me, Rabindranath Tagore
Dear Embodied Hearts and Dancing Souls,
In awe of the unfolding process, yet again. This time, an unexpected Autumn Equinox blessing unfolded, which I pass onto you. Truthfully, its more of a door opening into a deeper Mystery but sharing the message that’s surfacing now.
Oh, and tonight’s Dance Chapel is ON.
Sorrow and Contrast. In the span of one day, I go from a deep sorrow that I can’t put into words to a profound peace. It started by waking from a troubling dream where feelings of acute rejection surface. The troubling feeling follows me through my day. I can’t fully concentrate but don’t have words to address it.
Its the day before I am leading a group - the first time in months. I turn to an intentional movement space, where I take my sorrow for a spin around the dance floor. I distinctly remember us waltzing. Inexplicably, whale sounds begin playing in the song the facilitator chose. The troubling feeling in my gut stops instantly. Its as if my sorrow feels met. My shoulders begin dropping as she feels relief. Finally (she seems to say), some Being understands her particular blend of sorrow.
It gets better. By evening, in an InterPlay warmup, I began to glean “she” is a part of me that feels uncomfortable in the spotlight. I have needs, she seemed to be saying. The facilitator guides me to play with moving “in” and “out”. Each spot feels separated from the other - there’s no bridge. Then she prompts me to play with Soft and Loud. My shy self walks to the center and begins speaking softly. She can’t believe she’s been invited to the center. My loud voice comes to meet her soft one organically, of its own accord. With no effort, Soft and Loud find their union.
This rejected piece of me is glowing. In the span of one day, she moved from the sidelines to the center; she was in the scene and in my voice. The exact opposite of my dream. Waves of relief and gratitude fill my chest.
These moments are everything. A validation of my Being and Becoming, they keep me going. The essential bit here is not about Embodied Play. The essential bit is finding a compassionate non-judgemental way to attend to our pieces. The Body IS this. But so is the Breath. So is the compassionate therapist who practices Internal Family Systems, and others. Choose your way.
The next day, I show up more present in my role in front of the room than ever before. My inner fear of rejection is relaxed, not projecting its weight. My playmates freely explore their space. And I get to watch the New created from their expression.
A Union (and Something New): It gets even better. The sequences we played with were inspired by the Contrasts I experienced the day before. How perfect for the Equinox I thought. Our group played with small movements, then large. In the third round, we found our own “just right”, our unique Equinox -- the amount of space and pace that felt right for our bodies.
Whether we played with contrasting space, stories, or movements, I witnessed each playmate form a union of the contrasting elements. That’s right. It wasn’t a Bridge; it wasn’t a Balance or finding a half-way spot to meet up. Instead, I watched and felt a union.
The contrasting elements meet each other and create something new with each other.
I can’t think of a better blessing for the Autumn Equinox. The air is cold, the light is changing, the crickets are waning. I’ve already baked my first batch of pumpkin muffins. Since each of us is a conduit for what wants to flow through us, in this time of Transition between seasons, taking time to find how the Contrast of the Equinox (dark and light is one level) wants to find union in your body is valuable.
A Choice, A Leap. I couldn’t have known, but uniting my rejected bit with the rest of me is part of the overriding purpose of this break I’ve been on this summer. The mere fact that it surfaced is a cause celebre. That it resolved in one day, led to a spacious Play sequence that supported others is Better than I could have predicted or imagined.
My experience: the rejected bit Agreed to join the larger whole. She finally felt acknowledged enough - seen, understood and embraced enough, to make the leap to the center’s embrace. The terms that defined “Enough” were hers alone.
I witnessed the same in our Playgroup. How two hands want to move together—each made its choice of how to interact with the other. This is the Equinox blessing:
Being part of a larger whole is a Union. But forming a Union requires an agreement. Each piece makes this choice for itself, on its terms.
At the heart, this feels like Respect. For our parts, for each other.
Cherry on top. The morning of the Equinox I woke with a feeling of abundance flowing in my belly, my energies raring to go. I discovered an elegant outline for a book that compiles some of my previous writing. I even began compiling. I love the outline - it fits all the pieces I wanted to share; it tickles me. This time, the process was fun, like tapping the gas pedal and seeing where my ride wanted to take me.
Stay #heartwoke. To your exquisite unfolding,
Monisha
NOTES:
Tonight’s Tuesday Dance Chapel Zoom link (same each week):
NEW Dance Chapel Link: 825 748 1773 or Click here (has password)
Passcode: wedance
Thank you monisha for putting an intimate inner process into words and making it available to us. Yes, not a balance, not a bridge, but a union! I feel hopeful!