Come Celebrate being Alive
We are all Interconnected
In Devon England, where I call home, in these green breasty hills, Autumn is glowing. This is partly to do with the unbelievable quantities of rainfall that we have here and just the fact that it’s the end of summer. And with that change, the days grow shorter and more cozy. Perfect for celebrating being alive and the bliss of vitality’s need for change. The trees all change, the Virginia creeper along the side of my home is starting to do its outfit change into passionate ruby red. It’s enchanting. Every time.
And, with this renewal and rebirth, there is something reassuring to my nervous system. This fresh opportunity at trusting life’s new beginnings and endings. A new season. A new chance. Letting go and making room. So it is with all of us. 100% guaranteed to be dying one day, so how to live well while we are alive. For my mother Cynthia, it was capturing the essence of the spaces in between in exquisite poetry.
For me, making a ridiculous labour of love documentary seems to be a big part of the answer to that.
And if you are in the UK, there is also a new chance to see the In Your Own Skin film. Another celebration event, this time in Chagford on Dartmoor.
In Your Own Skin film w/ Q&A Sept 25th at fabulous film fest :
We are beyond delighted to have been asked to be a part of the prestigious Chagford Film Festival. A little place that is mighty and gorgeous right on Dartmoor in one of my favourite places. I will be there to share the film and host a dynamic Q&A. I recently had the chance to offer 3 screenings a week with Q&As at the amazing Rancho La Puerta in Baja and it was met with stunning enthusiastic support. Come and experience what all the buzz was about and how we are all interconnected. What would you share?
“We are all Interconnected.”
And have you ever noticed how these spectacular wild herbs and flowers grow in the margins, and the in between spaces? Every time it fills me with joy to see them, pushing through the rotten leaves and mulch of winter. There in these ecotones are the greatest variety of species, and the most resilient life forms.
We humans are also a kind of ecotone, reaching between worlds of earth and air. And as we embrace our original natural vitality, we re-member and come home to presence. I believe more and more that our stories live interstitially as well… in the spaces in between. All we have to do is listen. And this listening helps us re-member and come home to true selves.
“In Your Own Skin achieves the seemingly impossible: connecting us all to the world, to each other and to ourselves. This gem of a movie reminds us that our superpower is not in being shiny but in being authentic and vulnerable. I wish everyone in the world could see this film, and you will too.”
This homecoming has less fear, less shame, and more presence. We are following the roots of curiosity and discovery back to the origins of our life passions again and again. Re-membering and growing, our re-enchantment with the world.
When I was preparing to leave England this most recent time knowing it was almost surely the LAST time I would see my mom, I wanted to bring her a gift so I created and painted a WISHES book with pockets to hold “essentialisms” for her. At the end of a life, prayers, wishes, and love are all that matter. I dare say this is also true throughout a life as well because we RARELY know when it will end, but we always know it WILL END. This book was and is an extension of my love for her. So now I extend these wishes and that love to all of you:
Inside the varied compartments, there are messages like:
Listen to the trees,
Breathe deeply
Talk through the stars
Include it all
Just love
And finally, one I added after the news of her death- Raven carry me home.
A life is extraordinary. The chances of us ever even being born are 1 in 4 trillion - equivalent to throwing a lifesaver off a ship in the middle of the ocean and a turtle poking its head through that same lifesaver. Amazing. And that is completely ordinary. All of us will die. Cynthia, one of the best poets and people, has also died.
Life is very short and sometimes far too long. I’m grateful that Cynthia lived and died on her own terms. Sovereign and queen to the end.
Pulsars die too-but when they do – they become STARS!
I wish all of these things for all of you.
How will you live your wild and precious life? How do you tap into your creativity? What do you love most about the margins and the ecotones?
Come and play and splash around in the margins in Devon. Come and feel that interconnection with a whole bunch of other gorgeous beings at the spectacular Chagford Film Festival and hang out after. Film and Q&A Weds Sept 25 at 11- 12:45. What’s not to love?
How to connect:
Subscribe to this Blog and occasional newsletter, Share events and this blog generously with all your peeps and on Social Media , See the trailer and more info, And maybe Book a course, buy an In Your Own Skin book* ISBN 978-0-9905420-0-1 at your local bookshop, Donate to the project to keep it going, Book your seats at the fabulous Chagford Film Festival to avoid disappointment if you are in the UK, OR organise to host screening with Q&A community event at YOUR local cinema.
And Thank you so so much!
*if you can, be a star and order through your local independent book seller
