The Power of Authentic Presence: Why Community Matters

by Elizabeth Venart

How did the rose ever open its heart and give to this world all its Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light against its Being;

Otherwise, we all remain too frightened.

- It Felt Love – from The Gift: Translations of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinksy

Authentic connection – to ourselves and each other – is at the heart of resilience. From the first moment I imagined creating The Resiliency Center, community was always at the forefront of my mind. We are stronger together than any of us could be alone, and we crave opportunities to connect and feel understood, soft landing places during life’s difficult times and strong foundations for our risk-taking and growth.

Isolation can breed loneliness and depression, and wearing a mask in the company of others can be as isolating as sitting home alone. When we do not have places where we can show the myriad colors and sounds of our true self, we may fail to see the universality in our struggles. When we do not have places where we can show up authentically – and be accepted for who we are – then we can feel alone, isolated, and unhappy. We long to be seen and to connect. The growing addiction to social media actually reflects this need, yet it often fails to meet the need it highlights.

In a world increasingly oriented around virtual connection, some people feel more courageous in sharing their thoughts, ideas, experiences, and beliefs – and others feel shut out of the conversation or shut down in the midst of trying to engage. Behind a keyboard, we may feel brave to express some facet of our identities, but how fully are we able to share the vast range of our experiences as human beings?  And, if we are only sharing a small piece of our full experience through social media and yet social media has become a primary way in which people do connect with each other these days, how connected do we really feel?

There is a power in connecting with others face-to-face, in seeing and being seen, in sharing and listening and learning together. The Resiliency Center offers many opportunities to do just that - from meditation twice weekly to movement classes, spiritual poetry gatherings, groups for teens and new moms, and a monthly mindful knitting circle.  We look forward to seeing you - and connecting - soon.  

Connecting to Spirit

by Elizabeth Venart

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. – Rumi

In a time when the answers to so many questions are only a few keyboard clicks or a Siri search away, deeper questions about meaning and spirituality may go unasked or, when asked, feel even more elusive. Since the beginning of recorded history – and certainly through oral traditions for a long time before that – people have sought a way to make sense out of the inexplicable and extraordinary. Spiritual mystics from every faith tradition have shared their transcendental experiences of Divine Connection as a way to support others on the path to enlightenment. In our monthly spiritual poetry gatherings at the center, we explore their writings – from 12^th century Rumi and 13^th century Hafiz through Rilke and modern-day Mary Oliver. Sufi poets Rumi and Hafiz are often at the center of our evenings, as they speak eloquently of experiences of connection with the Divine – and the experiences of longing when the connection to God feels distant. These spiritual teachers grapple with the big questions about love, life, death, beauty, joy, and suffering. In a world where hard questions and concrete answers abound, Sacred Poetry has the power to help us open more deeply to Mystery.

Over the past five years of monthly poetry evenings, we have embraced the time together as its own act of surrendering to Mystery – moving away from a more solid plan with specific poems copied to share and moving toward spontaneous selection of poems from a pile of books in the center of the room. We take turns choosing poems at random and those who wish to read aloud do, so we can all listen with humor and curiosity to see to see what wisdom and themes emerge. We don’t always understand the poems read, but we gain something regardless – a phrase or image that jumps out at us, laughter, tears, a new question, or the peace or cacophony stirred by the poem’s language and rhythm. Our poetry evenings are sometimes whimsical, sometimes profoundly deep, and always connecting. Join us – if you feel curious or called. Learn more at https://www.meetup.com/resiliencygatherings/events/239488901/

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Laughter

From I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy by Daniel Ladinsky [Purchase online at: http://www.amazon.com/Heard-God-Laughing-Poems-Hope/dp/0143037811/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429632242&sr=1-1&keywords=i+heard+god+laughing ]

What is laughter? What is laughter?

It is God waking up! O it is God waking up!

It is the sun poking its sweet head out

From behind a cloud

You have been carrying too long,

Veiling your eyes and heart.

It is Light breaking ground for a great Structure

That is your Real body – called Truth.

It is happiness applauding itself and then taking flight

To embrace everyone and everything in this world.

Laughter is the polestar

Held in the sky by our Beloved,

Who eternally says,

“Yes, dear ones, come this way,

Come this way toward Me and Love!

Come with your tender mouths moving

And your beautiful tongues conducting songs

And with your movements – your magic movements

Of hands and feet and glands and cells – Dancing!

Know that to God’s Eye,

All movement is a Wondrous Language,

And Music – such exquisite, wild Music!”

O what is laughter, Hafiz?

What is this precious love and laughter

Budding in our hearts?

It is the glorious sound

Of a soul waking up!