Safe in my bed with the red cashmere throw I remember the story, a young boy and his struggle for life. Your struggle, my struggle, laid in front of us like a pebbled road that twists, drops, and sometimes goes straight up a slippery hill. There are boulders of granite, impermeable to even the strongest mind, leaning at precarious angles, giant monoliths of fear constructed by the big unknown.

 This earth is not still. It can shift and dance ‘till our tongues hang out dripping water, as we try to ride the bumps and grinds that heave us down again and again. We wonder about the rules of the road, the pattern of the dance, and our own endurance. Of course we want to know when it will stop, but the blows keep coming.

 I am tired, you say. I just want to lie down and die. I can’t take it anymore…. let the flowers grow over me, cover the pain with color and perfume, recycle my fear into sky and tree.  I will meld my consciousness with all that is, releasing my body, my mind, to the cruel earth.

 I looked for hope, for inspiration, and they came in small soft raindrops. I need a torrent, a storm of blood energy that will fill me up in places that are scarred. If death be not ready, let me be reborn. I want to open my face to the sky and be baptized, washed clean of illusions and the old ways. Fill me with light that throbs in every corner of this battered body and worn-out mind. Help me to see with fresh eyes of a newborn, let me be innocent and bumbling in this world once again. Let me be free.

January 27, 2008

© Carolyn Conger, PhD 2008

Kim and Coke were my co-leaders this year, a great privilege for me. Each of us took a portion of the group; Coke led us into trance work for creativity, Kim stretched us to the max by teaching us to let go into writing, and I led my circle around the fire into the excitement of working with dreams.

When we all came together as a large group, we had so much to share…… there was an abundance of laughter, and oh, how we danced. Each year the movement sessions reveal a preference for tribal dancing, so we drummed and danced up a storm (literally, a storm happened!) I say thank you to my mid-west friends for allowing me to play and learn with them each January; it starts off my year with a joyous burst of energy. Life is good.

– Carolyn 

We are always a work in progress, but don’t be shy to click around and have a look for yourself. The Mentor’s Circle section of the site contains profound writing, inspired art as well as some thought provoking video clips for your enjoyment.