"It’s possible I am pushing through solid rock
in flintlike layers, as the ore lies, alone;
I am such a long way in I see no way through,
and no space: everything is close to my face,
and everything close to my face is stone.
I don’t have much knowledge yet in grief
so this massive darkness makes me small.
You be the master: make yourself fierce, break in:
then your great transforming will happen to me,
and my great grief cry will happen to you."
~Ranier Maria Rilke
Greetings dear Santa Barbara and Montecito community~
A native elder I know from the Aleutian islands, translates the traditional greeting of his people as, 'the morning tastes good!' It is good to be alive on this cool, bright morning. We have come through a most devastating time in our town and local area, first the fires and then the heartbreaking tragedies surrounding the mudslides. We have found ourselves at the mercy and power of the elements and forces of nature - fire and air, water and earth. Some people in our community have been brought to their knees with the magnitude of loss - the death of loved ones and children, physical injuries, home and belongings, and most of us, even those not directly impacted, have experienced the loss of safety, predictability and certainty. Furthermore, in times of such pain, often other unrelated and untended griefs may come to the surface, from our personal and ancestral history as well as the sorrows of the world and our shared context for this tragedy - our relationship to the natural world. The last weeks have required many of us to stretch beyond our imagination and certainly beyond our capacity.
Amidst the grief and tragedy, and perhaps as a direct result, it has also been a time of community cohesion and kinship. There has been an incredible outpouring of communal response and support - services, funds, goods and opportunities to gather. Literally, folks coming together, rolling up our sleeves and digging each other out of the mud. We are witnessing great acts of courage, redemption, beauty and communion.
Upcoming Events in Santa Barbara, CA
March 24, 2018
9:30am-5:30pm
Arroyo Hondo Preserve
Open to all
An opportunity to honor our personal and collective grief with regards to loss and change, sorrows of the world, ancestral grief, trauma, places in ourselves that have not known love, what we expected and did not receive, and the reality that everything we love, we will lose.
12 week series
Tuesday evenings 7-9pm
Starts March 6
A circle for women to explore dreams, symbols and archetypal images for personal and collective healing, vision and action.
Register by March 4
Monday evenings 7-9pm
March 19
April 23
May 21
Open to all
Come with a dream or simply to listen and be in a co-creative field in honor and respect of the mystery as revealed through the dreamtime.