The body is the sacred sanctuary of the soul.-Ilana Rubenfeld. Be good to your body today and tonight.

Creativity for life! Thomas Berry says, "Wildness we might consider as the root of the authentic spontaneities of any being. It is that wellspring of creativity whence comes the instinctive activities that enable all living beings to obtain their food, to find shelter, to bring forth their young: to sing and dance and fly through the air and swim through the depths of the sea. This is the same inner tendency that evokes the insight of the poet, the skill of the artist and the power of the shaman."

My belief is in the blood and flesh as being wiser than the intellect. The body unconscious is where life bubbles up in us. It is how we know that we are alive, alive to the depths of our souls and in touch somewhere with the vivid reaches of the cosmos.
- D.H. Lawrence

is planning Dreamwork & Shamanic Arts workshops with Dan Gronwald. YAY!

"Imagination is intelligence having fun."
- anonymous

Wonder Walk #425, 781

In a dark funk, I went for a Wonder Walk with my man yesterday. Expect amazement, beauty, and interesting things -- you'll undoubtedly find them. Our wonders:

1. Rubber bats flying above a doorway. The bat man joined us in admiring the big bellied spiders and their webs, so common this time of year. One spider was wrapping up bug bundles, making lunches for the week. A guy wire ten feet above the web anchored it in place from a high tree branch. Bat medicine and Spider Medicine = spiritual rebirth and creativity.

2. A tall tree stump carved with buffalo, bear, eagle, snake to honor native ways. The eagle's broken beak => challenge in grasping what is nourishing.

3. I retrieve a small plastic skull for the family who's dropped it from their porch above while stringing ghoulish lights. Returning awareness of death/dark as part of life/light.

4. Spying a few stenciled koi on the sidewalk. They are life-like with individual orange, white, and black markings. They turn the sidewalk into the surface of the pond. We recognize them as escapees from the school of stenciled koi in our neighborhood.

5. The silver 4" disco wedgies, Marc Jacobs wellingtons, and full array of baby shoes, sneakers, and boots now used as planters for succulents and perennials. They are lined up around one side of the restroom pavilion in the park. What shoes to fill, and with new life.

6. The soul-streaming golden light at the top of the park. Occasional squeaks from the toy that a standard poodle pounced on. The cool breeze that made us turn for home.

What wonders can you see with fresh eyes?

falling in with kindred spirits

Tonight I was drumming with two other people for a group of shamanic journeyers. It's a simple, rapid, steady beat. Anyone can do it, as long as you listen and resist the urge to speed up. I've drummed many times with Greg, but only once with Anna, yet the three of us fell in together so seamlessly.

I experienced the wonder of being One - with the drumbeat, with each other. I wasn't doing the drumming, the beat itself was carrying me and moving my hand.

I invite you to notice when you synchronize with others. Going on a hike, playing pingpong, cooking and doing that kitchen island dance. Two pendulum clocks in the same room will over time synchronize to move together. Wordlessly working or playing together, we sometimes have the divine experience of communion with each other.

There may be oxytocin and dopamine flowing as we are unconsciously bonding and feeling the pleasure of being with kindred spirits. There may be heart beats and the breath slowing and deepening together. All I know is that it is happy-making.