i recently participated in a five day Circle Immersion led by Quanita Roberson and Tenneson Woolf. as a long-time circle practitioner of circle–through both formal training and ancestral/community knowing–it felt important to return as a participant, to be held and to fully experience the form from a different perspective. also, the timing was right as a way to deeply integrate all the learning from what has been a full season of life.
in other words, i wanted to practice circle as a way to become more Circle.
Circle is Life. Life is Circle.
the message i kept receiving was I AM CIRCLE. practice matters.
in other words: yes, circle is a methodology. there are structures, roles, tips for how to practice in way that cultivates connection, presence, community. and, it is a methodology that holds the potential to realize a truer Circle–both within and without. circle is an image; Circle, the archetype. when they come together–where the form meets the essence of Life, Truth is revealed.
here are some Truths revealed to me, still stirring:
the form can both support and undermine connection. when we hold too rigid to the rules, there is limited room for Spirit and the flow of energy. the question is: how can we build and cultivate connection? where does the form support it and where are we called to let go of it in order to follow the energy?
rest and spaciousness. rest and spaciousness allow room for imagination, heart-opening, for new life. we jam ourselves so full–with information, activities, busy-ness–there is little room for creativity and innovation. little room for growth. little room for the cycles of death, life, rebirth. we become stuck in a reactive mode of downloading the same patterns of addiction. response and response-ability require rest.
the center and Source. in circle/Circle, it’s not just the rim that matters. we are creating something, together. the center is that creation. contributing to the center directs our attention to the thing that is more than the sum of our parts. it’s a thing that comes when we are together, truly together in right relationship. it’s the life that emerges from the whole. it’s the third thing. and the center is different from Source. Source is inspires and encourages us–our own inner voice; it’s what holds us and allows for the center to be more than what we could imagine.
white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialism shape and condition how each of us enters and experiences circle/Circle. whiteness brings forth individualism; BIPOC lived experiences brings forth the collective. for white folks, circle supports the movement from the individual to the collective. for BIPOC folks, circle supports the movement from the collective to the individual. being together in circle promises balance where there is a willingness to both hold the form and let go.
the art and science of circle. there are methods and processes to circle that matter. there is skillfulness. and there is an art, a listening to and following the enerngy that the intuition, heart and body nkows that is beyond any trained skillfulness. circle is a dance.
circle. Circle.
Circle is life. Circle is God. Circle is everything.
circle practice helps us to remember. how to be human–what it means, what it asks from us, what is possible when we are together, what it feels like–so that we can take this remembrance into the Circle of our lives.
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