As I write this blog post, you are in surgery, your chest splayed open and your precious heart is in the healing hands of your doctor and surgical staff. May all who are working with you and on you right now experience the deep and abiding love you have for us all and restore your physical heart to its pristine magnificence. Your spiritual heart is and will always be perfect.
Hundreds of people, known and unknown to you are praying for your quick and safe recovery. It is the power and intention of your heart that has called us all forth to bless you, caress you and heal you at this time. I’m reminded of all of the people known and unknown to me who prayed for my cancer recovery and I feel honored to be able to share my healing prayers and wishes with you now.
Our bodies constantly provide opportunities to remind us of our fleeting existence. I keep being awed by the language our bodies use to communicate with us. You who are so loving and compassionate now have an opportunity to heal your “broken heart” by opening your physical heart to your doctors and all the rest of us who send you healing. Life may be fleeting but the love we all share with one another is the womb that births us and surpasses time.
When you awake later today may you truly awaken to your own magnificence. Let go of perfectionism. Let go of having to do it right. Let go of shutting yourself out of your own wise and loving heart. Let your heart continue to be your teacher. Despite its physical imperfections, it has and will continue to serve you well. Allow your heart and mind to join together in the depths of each one of the cells of your body. This sacred union produces wisdom and love; your birthright and your gift to the world.
Continue to remember Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi’s “Four Worlds Mantra”:
I never met Augusto Boal in person but I have read all of his books. I am profoundly by his death. Selfishly, I am grieving my lost opportunity. Now I will never have the chance to personally study with him. His writing has been an important influence on the creation of The Opportunity Game. He was a master at eliciting and acting on the opportunity of every situation. Altruistically, I am saddened that the world no longer has his genius to inform us of what is possible.
Whenever any star permanently exits the stage of life, I feel a great loss. However, if I am truly honest, I also feel angry. Their absence leaves a hole that demands to be filled. This hole always reminds me that I can no longer lean back and let another do the work while I laze around in the background.
I could stop my exploration of my feelings here at anger. Certainly, most people would validate my awareness of my anger and compliment me on being so forthright. However, my anger is covering up something much more powerful. It is my excitement. I’m excited and I am fully alive when I act.
I don’t need a professional stage nor a paid audience to act. Acting is about awareness. It is about taking the stage with intention, being fully in my character and then acting in concert with the other players in the scene. Boal taught me that the world IS my stage and my audience is always awaiting and welcoming my appearance.
Boal lived his life with a fierce commitment to freedom, dignity and expression. He believed in the exquisite knowledge and power of people to act and direct their own lives toward the good. He founded The Theatre of the Oppressed in Brazil in 1971. His work traveled rapidly around the world. In The Theatre of the Oppressed people play and learn together. It is a game of dialog. To quote Boal, “We believe in Peace, not Passivity!”
Boal’s death is my cue to enter. He always exhorted people to “come closer”. I am now coming closer to you and thus to me. Act in Peace, Augusto! Bravo!
John Lennon’s spirit will most likely be soaring on Saturday, May 16th. The BBC News just reported that the bells of Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral will be playing Lennon’s self-described “anti-religious” anthem, Imagine at 1300 BST and 1430 BST. The song will be rung out as part of the Futuresonic Cultural Festival which will take place from May 13th through May 16th, 2009.
If the Anglican Church is actively honoring and supporting the power of Lennon’s lyrics “to make us think” then perhaps Lennon might be wrong after all. John, there IS a heaven and it’s come to Liverpool!
Several decades ago when I made my living as a librarian, I used to fantasize about creating a system of total bibliographic control. By this I meant having every book, pamphlet or piece of published material cataloged with subject headings and made accessible to the general public. As a cataloger, I got to play out a part of my fantasy each day while I sat behind the stacks, ardently assigning subject headings and Dewey Decimal numbers to each item on my library cart.
My peak experience consisted of making everything accessible to our library patrons. I was the ultimate “Cohen The Librarian!” I tamed every wayward bit of information that arrived on my desk. Each publication submitted to the rules of the Library of Congress subject headings or else! No entry into my catalog unless you played by the rules. I was the enforcer! Alas, being a hot shot in one small library did nothing to quench my thirst for power and accessibility.
Of course, at the time, I knew my desire was fueled by pure fantasy. There was no way that total bibliographic control could be accomplished given the information technology available in the 1970′s. After all, in those days, we still had card catalogs. Read the rest of this entry »
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