From the Summit

by annakstern

Up high in the mountains breathing crisp fresh air. Fall came like an old friend who shows up at your door unexpectedly.

I am in the midst of a transition time… questioning… lots of wonderings… everyone says thats what the twenties are about.

I miss all the lovely friends from the Art and Social Change program; I blinked and the two weeks was over. I blinked again and it has been a month and half.

I am teaching Improvisation and using Interplay, people are LOVING IT!

There is a super cool Art Hike up here this weekend that I get to be apart of !!! It really does pay to follow your passion. I get to dance a prayer with friends on behalf of the Cherokee tribeswomen and all women as a matter of fact, actually on behalf of all HUMANS!! Here’s to the gift and beauty of human expression.. check out Trails and Vistas

I also wanted to share some words on love:

When I was around eight years old I asked my Mother “what is God?”

“God is love”, she answered without hesitation. Immediately I envisioned a big red heart enthroned in the sky, shining down on earth from its regale court of clouds. I am reminded of this conversation when I ask myself the questions “what is love and how did I develop a concept of love?” I start to think about my family, my friends, and all the lovers from my past. I have to pause to feel my breath sink into my chest with the fullness of, well, with the fullness of love. For me, love is felt so deeply on a physical level that words to describe the sensation are only half of the experience. Let me try to describe what the bodily sensation feels like. There is a tingling and a shortness of breath, I have to stop thinking and just feel. I take a big breath and sigh, I know love is coming into my body. It is expansive and has a slight pressure to it, like a gentle pressing that allows you to relax. I feel it well up in my heart and into my throat, and then it finally shows itself in the expression on my face: a smirk, a gushing smile, an outcry of laughter, and sometimes tears. It is possible for that love to have a tinge of grief or sadness to it…to have love that is accompanied by a feeling of loss. Love is like a ballad with different sections: joyous love, silly love, romantic love, pained love, strained love, transparent love, flawed love, and unconditional love. Each flavor of love comes from the different ways we experience our humanity, and each flavor can be traced back to that infinite god-like source of unconditional love.

I LOVE YOU ALL! Until next time,

Anna

Complexities of Keeping it Simple…a few words on leading and following

by annakstern

I love the simple things in life: a good laugh, cat naps, and hot baths. I find ecstasy in the moments of simple pleasures. The practice of leading and following arouses me to contemplate the complexities of human relationships. Last week, as I sat back and noticed bodies in space leading and following each other, my heart warmed to the visual satisfaction. Playing with the forms leading and following allowed for a sense of ease and co-habitation between the movers in space. The choice to lead and the agreement to follow were both acts of neutrality; bodies just went with the flow. Egoless individuality. Whispering inner authority. At peace with self and other. Following comes from a place of listening and validating others while leading calls you to use your own internal compass. “I see where you have been and where you are going. When I choose to follow you it leads me to a place I have never been before.” I see life as a practice of leading and following. Can you play without getting lost on the different paths of all the different people? The good news is, if you do get lost while following, simply start leading and create your own path! I am not sure whether my journey to InterPlay was the following of an external call, or my inner authority leading me on my path. Either way, I found my self at the Arts and Social Change Program which ended last Friday. I am filled with an overflowing abundance of gratitude and enthusiasm for InterPlay. Life only makes sense to me as one big body dance; it is a simple dance of complexity.