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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Retreating to Earthdance

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Green Life, Learnin', Writing Life

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

dancing, goals, travel, trees, writing

Moss at the river side

My favorite kind of learning is the sort that sneaks up on you. You think you’re going to discover one thing and, because you’re receptive, the Universe seizes the opportunity to hand you another. And another. Sometimes the Universe really likes to cram it in.

This summer I’ve taken temporary leave from my job as a Community Liaison (writer, organizer, webmaster, photographer, event planner, project manager, etc.) to complete a novel for young readers. The novel and I have been courting each other since 2006. We dance around the idea of being “done,” and what better place to wiggle our toes than in a space devoted to the form?

Earthdance is many things –learning center, community space for dancers and others who practice contact improvisation, garden/orchard, peaceful oasis-in-the-woods– and retreat for art-types and peace-makers looking to temporarily escape the distractions of everyday life.

Hoping to finally discover the conclusion to my novel, I arrived fully prepared to spend my days whittling away at hundreds of pages of notes containing two separate drafts, and seven years of revisions suggested by myself and members of my Boston-based writer’s critique group.

Earthdance’s lessons were easy-to-miss, so I’m glad I arrived with the intention to listen, to sit quietly, and to treat myself with kindness.

I learned how to share space with a spider . . .

Spider on a pillow

And a butterfly (admittedly, living with the butterfly was easier!)

The butterfly comments

I learned what it feels like to wander into a garden and come out with fixings for lunch, fresh from the soil.

Teeny carrot

I discovered the impact of choosing to begin and end each day with gratitude (more specifically, sleeping in a wonderfully wood-scented dormitory bearing that name.)

The dorm, gratitude

I learned sometimes it’s necessary to move your body in order to move your mind.

Shira swings

David in the woods

I learned, to dissuade a deer from munching the garden, running outside and clapping your hands works just fine.

The deer revealed

I learned that, although we serve different communities, the vision, staff, and mission of Earthdance is ever similar to what I’ve grown to enjoy and deeply respect back at work in Cambridge.

Kitchen moment at Earthdance

I learned to trust that, if I sit quietly enough, watching the woods for creativity’s approach, it may arrive peacefully, timidly, joyfully on delicate feet.

Window on the orchard

Or it may not.

Hard to catch that squirrel

And both are okay.

Thank you, Earthdance. ‘Til we meet again . . .

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{This Moment} Last Days of the Retreat

27 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Green Life

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this-moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual (joining Soulemama.) A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

Lunch with the sun

34

20 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Boston Moments

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This past fourth, I turned 34.  Each year is a gift, even the “boring” in-betweens like 22 and 34.  :^)

A cherry on top

Looking forward to what the seasons will bring.

Cambridge City Dance Party 2012

16 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Boston Moments

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

cambridge, dancing, events

Dear Cambridge City Dance Party,

You rock, but I couldn’t fit. It’s true: I got bumped. Maybe it was the perfect weather; maybe all the thousands in attendance were as in need of “dance therapy” as I. Whatever the reason, first I was on the edge, and then I was edged right out.

I retreated with a few friends to the grassy hill of City Hall and shook my rump between the contact improvisation dancers and the people who probably deserved a much better view than I could offer. It was beautiful though, the sky gone pink and punks everywhere, laying down their posturing to take up shaking. And rattling, and arms-swinging. Babies, mommas, poppas, grams. Every type of person, out in mass, one mass, under stars and spotlights and police patrolling the rooftops.

We were the best of Cambridge.

And while there could have been more Tina Turner, Madonna, and Stevie, I forgive those few lapses. In the end, what really matters is that we got out there, and we danced.

Your adoring,
Phoebe

P.s. Ahem!  Please next year, a little more jam?

The pose

Where's the DJ?

Three stop dance

Watching the dancers

{This Moment} The clay cat

13 Friday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Boston Moments

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this-moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual (joining Soulemama.) A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.

clay cat peeking

What Happened to June . . . or Oh, Hello, July!

11 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Boston Moments, Jersey Moments

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Tags

family, jersey, travel

June: the busiest month.

I don’t often hear strong opinions about June. July steals the show, surely, and then August breaks hearts as it drags unwilling captives back to school, work, and that breakneck sprint to winter.

May, at least, is the month of graduations and a holiday that celebrates both fallen service members and the start of Grill Season. But June . . . June. Wait. Where’d it go?

Clear Deigns at the Milky Way Lounge

Listening to my partner’s band, the Clear Deigns, at the Milky Way Lounge (that’s him with the guitar!)

Great Brook Farm State Park pond

Chicken makes a break for it

Cow looks for a nose-rub

Exploring Great Brook Farm State Park

Summer book sale

Browsing a library book sale

Leaving the restaurant

Birthday cake with striped candle

Pre-birthday celebration with my family

Dancing and Enthusiasm – Considerations

02 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by Phoebe in Boston Moments, With Friends

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dancing, jamaica-plain, kids

Dancing at the pond

Those who know me well know that I like to dance. Amazingly, going to dance parties around the city has led to my making a good many friends. Which in turn has led to more free dancing opportunities.

I’m not the best dancer -the most skilled, rhythmic, or adventurous but I’ve got enthusiasm. I’ve got laughing. I’ve got style. Leaping and skipping and posturing; all manner of silliness.

Recently, a friend hosted an impromptu dance party at the gazebo on Jamaica Pond. Undeniable beats poured from her impressively loud ipod speaker system, and we were dancing like it wasn’t illegal (park doesn’t close until 11 PM, I hear.) What do we see suddenly but a gaggle of preteen girls swooping in?! The song we had been listening to at the time was a bit chill, a little complicated, so our host made quick dj decision. Beyonce shouts GIRLS! GIRLS RUN THE WORLD. And the girl gaggle before us stops short.

They’re unsure. A group of adult women and a few men dancing on the street at 10 PM. Is it safe, is it scary? To our disappointment, the girls retreat.

Oops, I thought. Was our response too enthusiastic? Enthusiasm and vulnerability, walking hand-in-hand. It was too much, I think, for these young people who have probably been drilled on the importance of safety -physical, emotional, and otherwise.

My theory is, if they’d been just a little younger, or a year or two older, the girls would have embraced our cheerful enthusiasm for what it was: an invitation to dance their hearts out, safely, among friends.

IMG_6487

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