At SpiritFire this year, we held a poetry jam on Friday night. From my perspective, it was WILDLY successful. People brought it in big time: laughter, tears, passion, pain. Original work, Robert Frost, Leonard Cohen, the back of a sugared ginger box ... and so much more.
Poetry speaks to us in deep ways. It says what we've always meant to say but didn't quite know how to articulate. It reveals connections between us and others that we may have kept hidden. It takes off our rose-colored glasses. It shines light into dark corners. It shows us that the darkness has wisdom to offer.
Speaking only for myself ... and knowing that I am saying this LONG before we've done any planning for SpiritFire 2010 ... I think it's safe to say that Soul Expression will be back next year.
So here are some questions ...
What about the circle (set up, guidelines, timing) worked and shouldn't be changed?
What should be done to improve the experience?
How can we keep the magic of the circle alive through the rest of the year?
Comments are welcome. This IS a blog, afterall!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
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2 comments:
What about the circle (set up, guidelines, timing) worked and shouldn't be changed?
It pretty much worked great as-was, though it was a little distracting to be right in the middle of the dining area with all the random noise going on from without. That said, it was still cozy and informal but structured just enough to keep moving smoothly. Nice job, Mr Moderator.
The only thing I'd change is location ~ on the one hand, a more secluded place would be quieter, perhaps ~ on the other hand, it was nice to be right there for people to "fall in" to what we were doing. I'd say the motivation to be quieter someplace is smaller than the one to be in "public" for just that reason, so I say call it good as-is.
I liked the date choice, too - deep enough into the gathering that we're in the mode, we know each other a little, and with enough time ahead for us to pursue connections made there, as desired.
Definitely, definitely, let's do it again!
Cool! Thanks for the positive words. Yes, the location was definitely challenging. I thought about doing it in the Ops Building in order to avoid background noise, but every time we have an event in there, it feels like it is isolated and hidden. I decided to make us public and centrally located to enable that "fall in" effect. Maybe next year we should try to do it in the second dining pavilion (the one attached directly to the Ops Building), which might buffer us a little more from the sounds of the Merchant's Field but still keep us visible. I didn't do that this year 'cause I thought that's where Brighid was going to set up the Food Altar, but it turns out she would rather do it in the Main Dining Pavilion anyway, so there ought not to be a conflict. More tables to move, but it seems like there were enough people there that we could create any configuration we wanted in a heartbeat.
Thanks for weighing in on this!
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