paradigm shift

this was a moment of alignment
shawn setting audio and mics up at 4 pm
kai'enne and I arrived with food at 4:30pm
circle starts at five pm
i have no idea how many people are coming to the first circle in the garden
12, 15, 18, 20
people begin arriving
norman perrin storyteller extraordinaire arrives first
the sketch crowd shows up like a parade
bikes, dogs, pasta salad, voices, and spirit
we mix and mingle
snack on food
sue cohen and the gardeners from the sketch garden project
honour the circle with their first head of broccoli!
we all ate a piece and shared in the bounty of HOPE community garden
people are still arriving
we begin to form our circle at 5:30
there are about 18 of us filling out the circle
just as we begin to introduce the project and structure of the circle
POR AMOR with their youth from East Scarborough
march across the park towards
coming from the south 14 people strong
beautiful faces lit up with expectations, stories, poems, and fun
they traveled a long ways on the TTC to join the circle
a journey from the east and the north to the south and west
feet, bus, train, bus, feet
and back again.
braved it to the city
we make our circle bigger
30 people strong
spider medicine
microphones
new faces
old faces
we pass the spider stone and we introduce ourselves
we then stand up and play a game of passing a stone and clapping our hands
connecting ourselves and creating the circle
norman then graces us with his magical storytelling talents
he takes us around the world and back again
thailand, africa, canada, armenia, spiral garden, africa, thailand, india, canada
norman charmed us and filled us with the power to tell stories of our own
with his flutes and his spiralling way with words
he let stories tap him on the shoulder and demand that they be told
our circle was a feast
rich like dark chocolate and mountains of gold
but better and more life sustaining
like a heaping bowl of brown rice and steamed greens
kai'enne sang us a song of epic proportions
she tamed us and made wild with her harmonies and poetics
stories came to us from somalia through the centuries
stories about feathers and dreams, yellow birds and dancing lions, gurus and wise children
the drum was introduced
ten djembes from the back of tanika's car
women leading the circle and singing about community love
two gentlemen couldn't wrap their minds around this
their egos fighting the female heartbeat
claiming there was a power struggle in the circle
woman can't teach the drum
you need a drum chief one of them claimed....I'm a drum chief...get yourself a drum chief
the shifting paradigm
welcome to the new world order
Community Love
growing gardens, growing community
nourishing and nurturing
don't get me wrong the circle was supported and strong with quiet male energy
but we did witness full on the anger and fear of the male ego
because he wasn't in the driver's seat
both of these people stumbled upon the circle and joined in and tried to control the flow
but we were there to listen and to share
not to be dictated too or preached too
the paradigm shift is happening in your parks and out your front door
we are sitting in circle and we are linking arms and tales and tails
and we are growing strong through spider medicine
through community love
with food
with stories
with song
with drums
with flutes
with you
with me