"The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we've been waiting for." Hopi Elder Prophecy
A few days later, I'm still moved by the performance of Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company. I saw their production "WARRIOR" on Friday - a mixture of dance, theatre, activism. It was a mirror neuron explosion, a reset button pushed in my brain on the essential nature of the wordless arts in confronting, exploring, bringing to light the movement towards a more just and beautiful world. A wide river of confusion, commitment, urgency, suffering that is bigger than language.
There are many times when I see a film, or read an article about what is happening to my sisters and brothers around the globe and in my neighborhood, and my mind screeches that I should drop all of this art stuff and get on to doing something more 'effective' - something like political organizing, law, anything. Anything other than practicing day after day, writing, going back to draw and redraw a line. With more and more spaciousness I can see this as just my system's way of avoiding the anxiety and pain I feel when I stop, look and tell the truth about what is happening on this planet.
I can see again how my commitments choose me - and I am proud to dedicate myself day after day to shaping my tools, shaping my contribution towards joy and sustenance as we reshape the planet. The Great Turning requires our whole selves - our intellect, our emotion, our bodies. One of the most powerful dances of the performance was the dance to the Hopi Elder Prophecy - "Banish the word struggle from you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration."