1) Gather in a circle with a small gaggle of people with whom you feel compatibility or even, eventually, intimacy.
2) Share food together. Ingesting food opens and nourishes our hearts and minds, as long as the sugars and carbs don’t overwhelm our bodies. Tea is nice, too.
3) Check-in with each other for 5 minutes, or longer or shorter if desired, in what- ever way feels right: with words, stories, images, poems, dreams, songs, questions or, also, in silence. Keep moving from one person to the next. It is also possible to pass or to join in after everyone has shared.
4) Listen deeply, absorbing the tenor, rhythm and textures of each other’s presences. Relax into the feelings and the details or expand into the heartfelt realm of witness- ing.
This face-to-face contact is one of the best antidotes to despair, despondency, denial, discombobulation and any other difficult, fearful and undesirable feelings that I know of. Bringing our bodies, minds and hearts into a circle is a treasured gift.
(I read this poem as a speaker at the “Women’s March” in January 2019 on Salt Spring Island. )
WomenWriting 