The Power of a Good Retreat

I am still basking in the glow of last week's retreat.

The act of being in service to myself was well timed. I had no idea how well timed.

There was a needed stripping down, a shedding of stories that no longer served me. This week I have been able to see through a clearer lens. I have been able to feel from a deeper place. I have been able to be here, for a change, as opposed to everywhere else.

So I apologize, but I've got a lot to say in this newsletter. Pour yourself a cuppa and have a seat.

I've been following the news this week, as much as my heart can handle.

I have been observing the responses to the Papal visit and the words that he has shared, some say empty words and others seem relieved. While watching the pow wow gather in Maskwacis, my tears erupted at the coming together, the anticipation that maybe the depth of this trauma will be seen.

I was moved by the image of the lack of fanfare for the Pope's arrival and the absolute honour and glory for the Chiefs, the singers, the drums and the culture that was not killed by those that tried so very hard to destroy it. The ceremony demanded to be watched. The message was clear that this rich and storied culture is very much alive.

Power to that.

I have been punched in the gut by the stories around Hockey Canada and Gymnastics Canada. As a feminist and social justice activist, I wonder if we have made any headway at all....

I have to believe the pendulum is only swinging and it will find some semblance of sanity again. I can only hope that women's bodies may one day be respected as belonging to the women instead of pawns in a power struggle of puny egos.

No matter where you stand on the vast array of issues that our world is facing right now (and I have only mentioned a couple), no one can deny that our shadows are wreaking havoc with us.

What I see in myself and others is that our inner children are running roughshod with our adults.

We are triggered by whatever abuses we saw or felt or endured as others' stories come to light. We are destabilized as our planet reels through storms and disasters. The behaviour that humans have been exhibiting for the past many generations is catching up to us.

We as a species are having our comeuppance. And it is about time. We must reckon with our hurts, our arrogance and our abusive ways. We have a great deal of shedding to do.

One of my favourite moments of last weekend was one of the hardest.

My friend Martha and I, realizing that we had a similar pain in our SI joints, decided to do a ceremony in the sauna. Through intense sweat, we spoke of pain in the body and in the world. We sang. We made sounds to vibrate our blood. We stayed through the hard heat. We talked about the pain of a world in flux, a world changing the way it defines strength, stability and foundation. Of course our SI joints are sore!

Where is the ground?

And so the retreat allowed me the time to clear my pipes and waterways.

I emptied my memory banks of sights and sounds so that I could hear and see anew. I got the tension shifting out of my tissues so that I could move, dance and embrace again.

The world is highly intense right now and we need to have hard conversations with our neighbours, our families and ourselves (from our inner children and beyond). Take time to clean your windows. Take time to be embodied and present. Step out of reactivity as it is never helpful when what is needed is response, compassion and love.

Tend the planet that is you. Get yourself together. When we do this, we heal. When we heal, the world heals.

Spread the love, please.