The genuine heart of sadness comes from feeling that your non-existent heart is full. You would like to spill your heart's blood, give your heart to others. For the warrior, this experience of sad and tender heart is what gives birth to fearlessness. Conventionally, being fearless means that you are not afraid or that, if someone hits you, you will hit him back. However, we are not talking about that street-fighter level of fearlessness. Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart. You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others.
Before i went to OSonOS in Halifax and even more so since, this is a quality i have been working on in myself. This is one of the qualities that i hope to develop, share and explore with those interested in intentional community.
What i have been working on links directly to Open Space practice. How to be Open Space rather than do Open Space. How to open more...and then more...and then more...How to be ever more present in the moment, more able to authentically issue and accept invitation...How to sit and hold this raw and tender heart without closing, without giving in to fear of judgement or blame, without attachment to any outcomes or reactions...How to be more absolutely direct in relating to the world, with actions springing from deep connection of intuition, heart, mind and body.
The third morning in Halifax was really remarkable. Talk about being prepared to be surprised! Ever since my dear colleague, K. Louise Vincent, exposed me to an exercise in sustaining the gaze (where you sit knee to knee with someone and maintain eye contact while being directed to think about that person in various ways) where we were encouraged to think about that person's pain, strength, beauty...and ultimately that this might be the last time we ever see each other...i am always so aware of this...especially in gatherings where people have travelled a long way. There is such a presence of the sad and tender heart for me in these situations. So in the closing circle, i took the time to hold each person in my heart for a while...and felt so deeply appreciation, gratitude and joy in their presence and their unique contribution. A sensation of love for each person arose. And the sense of separation dissolved.
The session that morning had been opened with a message from the Hopi elders and the line: "We are the ones we have been waiting for", became the theme for the day. Another passage from that message came forward with great meaning for me: "See who is there with you and celebrate....The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves."
So let's begin to gather ourselves...to see who is with us here...to celebrate...with raw and tender hearts...stretched on a gossamer web resonant with uncertainty...with a sweet willingness to be blown by the breeze of Spirit to an unimaginable new land, fearless.
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