Thank you for such a wonderful comment and for reblogging on Bookish Nature. Yes, connections are so deeply important; they are part of what we are all made of somehow. They can be trivialised and reduced to ‘networking’ in its most superficial form, where the aim is purely a self-oriented and self-promoting one, which I have experienced at times in my new home and in this online community. But when they are created with a purer intent they are a lifeblood, a realisation of what we all fundamentally need and what we can all give to one another.

I never expected you and Louise to be so generous and happy about me borrowing your words… I was mostly anxious that you might not want to give permission or be unhappy with the result. It has been a surprising joy to me to realise that I have given something to you both, that has put a smile on your faces and a moment of feeling good. I never anticipated that! And I have to say, I feel so very good about it. So thank you too, for sharing what this little meeting of words, movement, music and all, has meant to you. It has impacted me greatly.

Amanda x

The photos are beautiful! So lovely to see them. And, again, many thanks too for the chance to see the rehearsal on video. I was so struck by how the crafting of the dance piece – by you, the students, the backstage team (all such talented people!) – created such a seamless blend of beautiful interpretation, movement, emotion, music, words, choreography, lighting and staging. So much grace, subtlety and truth! The spirit of what art is all about was definitely alive and breathing through the whole production.

Your insightful words about art here resonate so strongly with me, Amanda. Like you, as I have got older, I’ve become more impatient with the traps we tend to set for ourselves in our definitions and boundaries. I agree – that wide chasm between ourselves and our creative spark becomes a serious stifling of something absolutely vital to our own human ‘being-ness’. We allow ourselves to distrust the authenticity of our own creativity. Art is so fundamental, all-encompassing and huge in its scope, there is room for all of us to find the joy and fulfilment in stepping out across that bridge…

Thank you again for this wonderful learning journey with the Muse… (sorry for the long ramble!)

Melanie x

It does seem that in the personal we are exploring the openings for a more gentle harmonious culture – and that we live in a time where corporate and military sources of harm have become so emboldened that more fundamental realignments of social contracts are needed – it is good to hear that the rights of nature are being discussed and explored – there are a growing number of case law, constitutional law and local ordinances that are giving the natural world legal standing in our social contracts – I am starting to comprehend more clearly how deeply the animals and fish and… all life of the seas are connected into the deep interiors of our continental landscapes – the story of toxic loads in the Salish Sea Orcas is a trajic illustration of how much attention we need to garner for the legacies of poorly regulated industrial scale chemistry – most of which is going into the food chain through our rivers… for a while now first pregancies are aborted as a way of reducing the toxic load in mothers – all successful births are 2nd or 3rd pregnancies – some counties in the midwest have had the same thing happening with human mothers because of agricultural pollution of well water…

thanks for doing your part to help us be aware and thoughtful about the state of our relations… and the possibilities of response…