Okay - post #2...i think i've got enough morning behind me to take this on. in years past, the "re-entry" segue from SAW to home has been a bumpy flight, filled with weepy longing for the company of HeartFamily around a roaring fireplace...wrapped in flannel and layers...all laughing til we thought we'd never stop...suddenly realizing that there were 3, 4, 12 spirits all dancing to the same sweet music as though our Essence had known each other since the earth began and just reunited...pushing ourselves creatively and also inwardly, knowing there were open & accepting hands to hold you and bear you up, should you need them...allowing that we deserved this week - that it wasn't selfish or crazy or a luxury - that women are wired to find like-community and that we were listening to the ancient urging within ourselves to come together as Familiar Ones to rest and recharge and grow, and then take all that we had gathered within our treasure-hunt-of-the-soul back to our homes, and teach it to our daughters and sons and husbands and neighbors...to take the spark and hold it in a safe spot in our hearts, to warm ourselves as we grew to learn ourselves...to realize that inward growth is as much about outward giving as it is self-contemplation...stop for a minute and think about the faces you remember most clearly - they are your sisters...this week, I became Friend, Counselor, Ate, Sister, Light to so many new spirits...this week so many new spirits became my Friend, Counselor, Ate, Sister...i will miss your voices, but the important parts will stay within me, and I will honor & treasure them - smiles, kind words strategically placed, hugs (oh the hugs!), eyes twinkling with overwhelmed happy tears when there were no words invented for what needed to be said. I say "in years past..." because this year I had no Big Girl Job to go back to...no sharp delineation between last week and this week...there was no pent up anxiety about working in a cube, doing a job that sucked my soul...this year I was leaving my art studio to travel to the woods...a Gratitude point i will honor and be humbled by...and still...still found how badly my heart needed filling, needed to reach out to those Like Spirits, to let them dance together and give & take the precious gifts they will. if you felt invisible, I saw you. if you felt Outside, you were safe in my heart all along. if you thought you gave nothing or had nothing to offer, I will thank you publicly for what you gave to me without knowing. It's amazing to me how I remember you - first by spirit, then by face, and on occasion on a good day - by name. we are all welcome. we are all needed in the world Exactly As We Are. i will say over and over - Be Your Own Self. it is a dishonor to the gift you have to offer, if you long to be like someone else...thinner, taller, more talented, more fashionable, better with fill-in-the-blank...you are created to be you. you have a special gift that the world needs just by being you...no need to search - that's the secret...just be you. as usual, i'm going long and off-track, but you know, it's my blog, so i can. i probably won't post pictures, after all...they never seem to capture enough. BUT - i thank each of you for bringing your best selves to gather...i wish you contentment with what you have, stamina to reach for what you need, knowledge that enough is plenty, and always always a spark from a beautiful gathering of different/same hearts by a beautiful lake conjured by a beautiful woman.