close. up.

or is it…

up.

…then…

close.

 

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sewing and snowing

peacocks transform what is poison for others into beautiful colors in tail feathers – these creatures are a longstanding symbol for genderqueer/trans and oppressed others’ power – we bring/demonstrate/teach/share/explore beauty and love and embodied autonomy and capacity for change with All Beings

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the quietude of this particular day is warm with birds and tracks, wool and time

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some part of me has always enjoyed the simplified symbol/cartoonish shape inspired by the anatomical heart…

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snow days are a quirky challenge, as i lose wages and gain space in other wei/ways – contemplative lifestyle + capitalism = strange blend

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made this scarf for someone – the very day after bemoaning to another artist/beloved that i was going to have to set aside artistic endeavors while i focus on sustaining my life with an overwhelming/lovely entrepreneurial endeavor – found me claiming space-time to sew lickety-split ; )

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surely allows time to draft a workshop proposal for an embodied learning summit focusing on racial justice :: draft of workshop title and  description below…

…all and any feedback welcome!

title:

Nama Rupa and the Master’s Tools

description:

We communicate with postures before we ever speak. We form and then we name. We learn movements in gravity before we learn words. We reform and we rename throughout life.

All oppression in some way is oppression of the body. Yoga is a practice of liberating the body and mind. With cultivated awareness, even right down during and within particular conditions that outwardly and inwardly limit thinking/believing and feeling/being and acting/doing, we grow and we change.

With Audre Lorde’s oft quoted quote, let’s reach down into our deep present-past – before words – into our original language – movement. Let’s unpack the Nama Rupa of self and politics – names and forms unfolding in consensus reality. Let’s discuss, meet between words, re-write ourselves whole with broken/repaired bodies, minds, and All…

…versions of this workshop are also being drafted into articles/essays for a couple of publication potentials…

in the stillness of the sun

that’s not it.

this is it.

that’s it.

this isn’t.

winter’s  wind     and         breath

each leaf   moved differently

shaking      gentle            still

 

thanksgiven&taken

for the Eno People

for the Eno River

for brokenhearted ignorance

part Cherokee?

Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation

about NC Native Communities

Triangle Native American Society

Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking and Privilege

Rethinking Thanksgiving

Eno Indians

Eno Tribe

sp a c e as formmm

history of repeating divide and conquer can’t stop–

because the need for the strategy will not go away.

it won’t work; doesn’t succeed in its goals–

because we keep sticking together,

connecting, coalitioning.

we rise up with irascible constancy and love,

even under the thumb.

between, beyond, within

where you’re from  <——–>  who you are

between, beyond, within

allyship  <——–>  identity

between, beyond, within

being exclusive  <———>  feeling included

between, beyond, within

students teaching  <——–>  teachers learning

between, beyond, within

bird landing  <——–>  parent dying

between, beyond, within

never the right time  <——–>  it is time

between, beyond, within

neutrality supports oppressor  <——–>  equanimity enables action

between, beyond, within

celebrating diversity  <——–>  further objectifying

between, beyond, within

dancer sleeping  <——–>  coma patient dreams in dance

between, beyond, within

poverty  <——–>  privilege

between, beyond, within

ignorance of intelligence  <——–>  wisdom of heart

between, beyond, within

sun setting  <——–>  lamp lighting

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“You have become undone, released, unmoored.

You are floating and will seek safe harbor.

This New Perspective will allow the insights to

pour out on us, seal us, reprove us, imprint on us,

teach us, reveal us, search us, speak to us,

instruct us, renew us, intercede for us, strengthen us,

quicken us, comfort us, lead us, sanctify us,

flatter us, humble us, right us, re-imagine us,

chastise us, and completely fall on us.

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“One who bears a bowl of water feels its weight,

but if you go right into the water it will be all over

you, and you will not notice the burden of it.

~ David Byrne, The New Sins, p. 93

(modified for gender neutral language)

summer solstice h-e-h

hhvn

rrth

hhmn

above. below. in-between.

up :: hvn

there :: horizon-gazing :: in-the-margins/periphery

_____________________________

down :: errth

here :: on-the-nose :: center-of-mandala

____________________________

connector :: humn

balanced :: t/here :: neither here-nor-there and both there-and-here

missives from the playground

adult playground – in photos

child’s playground – in words

both true.

how to make chalk hand-prints (best results when 6 – 8-yrs-old):

get a friend to trace around your body sprawled on the asphalt/ground with chalk

spend long time deliberately skrushing in various solid colors with huge sidewalk chalks; for clothing, hair, accoutrements, and skin of your silhouetted image [could take 20-40 minutes]

lightly pat your open palms onto chalk colored self-portrait a couple three times

place hands firmly in an unchalked spot on the asphalt

leap up into a handstand – after a breath, plant feet again earthward one at a time and stand tall [takes 1-2 seconds]

there they are. bright colored hand-prints clear and detectable for all passers-by

meek mind

i keep running into divide-and-conquer tactics pummeling us. from there i keep painfully stepping off the ledge into all-of-us.

remembering white water hydraulic preparation: to get out of the spin-cycle, go limp. relax. stop. fighting. do less. release wild effort.

counterintuitive, mind-bending, breath and heart stopping logic.

we’re gonna have to go counterintuitive to survive this.

divide-and-conquer is in full employ from all directions. it will not suffice, depending on outcome goal(s).

what exactly are y/our goals? what does/will it mean to “win”?

how to symphony my body, parts, and systems, and breaths?

how to symphony those that see my existence and more like me as delusional mental health problems versus liberated spectrum of beautiful being wei-wu-ways?

corners of my mouth feebly upturn to greet fellow driver i pass at the intersection. center of my upper lip weighs like a bladder canteen of tears. threatening. wobbling.

a planet of injustice surrounds these permeable pores. there’s no resistance as my arm moves my hand through space, for a finger to flick off the light for the night.

Meekness is… an active and deliberate acceptance of undesirable circumstances that are wisely seen by the individual as only part of a larger picture. …The patient and hopeful endurance of undesirable circumstances identifies the person as externally vulnerable and weak but inwardly resilient and strong. Meekness does not identify the weak but more precisely the strong who have been placed in a position of weakness where they persevere without giving up.

see comment for quote source