Last night we all danced the same line to the Mary Oliver poem "Blossom" with the goal of dancing a shared intention. Our line was "of hurrying down into the black petals, into the fire". I could really relate to the phrase, it is so powerful, although I am still faced with the challenge of knowing how to enter into the dance of the other and knowing how to leave the dance gracefully. It is a process that will take longer than I realized to be able to engage in. I search for the rules of how to do this, but there are none. The room was lighter than usual and I debated whether to ask for the lights to be turned down. I tried to engage with the other dancers a bit, but as always the challenge met me head on. Am I doing it right, or is there no right? I struggle. The light made it more difficult for me than usual, to sink into the dance. I moved to my reactions to the line from Blossom. At times it felt forced, like I was trying too hard to dance with the group, rather than dance with myself and with the space, as I have become accustomed to and comfortable doing. I am comfortable danceing this way, and feel totally fullfilled. I don't want to have to change. We will continue to dance the poem, in unison, with the chosen line of the night. I like the concept. A way of sharing a common language through the dance. The arch of the dance begins to wind down. The last song of the evening especially touched my heart and resonated for me. The line of the song that connected to me was "No one else can go there for me". It touched me in a special way considering the health altering dietary life choices I am about to embarck upon. As with everything I face in my life, I am trying to really embody the idea that "No one else can go there for me". I have to take full responsibility for my life, my health, my happiness, my overall well-being. I left the dance space, and as I exited the building called "One Song", I read what the meaning of the space was for the very first time, although I have been dancing there for many weeks. "One Song" Means "Uni-Verse". I was moved deeply by this idea, and drove home once again transformed. I never know where the change is going to come from, but I am ready for any possibility that is offered to me~~~~

Blossom

In April
the ponds open
like black blossoms,
the moon
swims in every one;
there’s fire
everywhere: frogs shouting
their desire,
their satisfaction. What
we know: that time
chops at us all like an iron
hoe, that death
is a state of paralysis. What
we long for: joy
before death, nights
in the swale - everything else
can wait but not
this thrust
from the root
of the body. What
we know: we are more
than blood - we are more
than our hunger and yet
we belong
to the moon and when the ponds
open, when the burning
begins the most
thoughtful among us dreams
of hurrying down
into the black petals
into the fire,
into the night where time lies shattered
into the body of another.

~Mary Oliver~