Workshops Save My Life

Workshops save my life.

Years ago Diana and I were going through very difficult times.  Family members were spitting hateful venom of greed and fear.  Our darling Ava had moved out. Then there was a terrible morning that involved a car crash and some very painful strife with someone I love.  With everything weighing on me that morning, I broke into tears.

A half hour later I was to drive to the city to lead a workshop.  A voice in my head said, “If you call and cancel, people will understand.”  My bedroom beckoned seductively for me to retreat and isolate.  But I realized that putting myself in a room of love was where I’d rather be to counter the hatred and judgement we were receiving daily, compounded by the present emergency.

The workshop was about being intimate, and how could I be a modal, sitting with this lump of pain in my heart?  If I reveal myself they’ll want to hear more; they’ll look upon me with pity; they'll suggest solutions I should do... all responses that don’t serve me. 

To be authentic this afternoon I knew I needed to express the pain in my heart.  So I decided I would also tell people I didn’t want to be fixed and didn’t need them to hear the story.  I remembered a simple question I counsel folks to ask rather than take over with suggestions, “Is there anything you need?”  I shared that little tool with the group, and let them know I needed hugs, caring and love… and that’s exactly what I got.

The One-Day workshop on Connection is essentially a nurturing of compassion among folks who may never have met before.  We create a room of love where people can let go of issues, guilt and judgement, and just notice who they are as human beings.  The workshop includes a very loving exercise where folks have the opportunity if they choose, to stroke each other’s face and share the connection of being human without agenda, where the event simply equals the event, and all there is is love. 

    

As I led the exercise, surrounded by that compassion and intimacy, warm waves of love washed over the icy pain in my heart, melting it away.  I was left with a sadness that the folks who strike out in fear and hatred don’t get connected to the love I do.  And I felt gratitude to our mentors for leading Diana and me to the work of witnessing the beauty of people’s humanity.

Do workshops save my life?  OK, that’s a clickbait exaggeration.  But they are certainly one of the many ways I hold myself in love in this world. 

Here's a link to the workshop we're holding on March 18th, 2023, at The Log Home.

https://www.facebook.com/events/874137650307739/