stocking up on the good karma

Jude and I had a weekend chockfull of good feelings.  All day Saturday and Sunday

morning we were at the island community centre for the transistion initiative,

which I first posted about here and here.  We roared out of the gate with a crowd

of about 100 last spring, but started with about 30 this time.  Fortunately, as our

facilitators pointed out, it was the right 30 people.

By noon Sunday, I was reinvigorated.  I’m particularly buoyed by the number of

young folks involved.  Two of our three group leaders are about to become fathers.

Soon they’ll be changing diapers on all the reason they’ll ever need to work for a

brighter future.  One of the group members brought her newborn daughter.  I held

the baby several times to remind myself why I was there.  I left the diaper changes

to mom.

We closed our activities with a talking circle, a ceremony originated by indigenous

tribes of the Pacific Northwest.  Only the person holding an object (orginally a stick,

a necklace for us) is allowed to speak, unless he or she acknowledges others.  When

that person is done, he/she passes the object to the person on the left.  Every person

gets a chance to speak.

The object goes around the circle at least twice.  Ours went around four times,

fewer people speaking each time.  When the necklace went one full turn with no

one speaking, the circle concluded.  It was an immensely moving process, over-

whelmingly positive.  I’m not much on ritual, but I loved this one.

Sunday afternoon Jude and I went to the annual meeting of our neighbourhood 

co-op, which she started.  It gives us more clout for improvement projects in our

‘hood.  Fifteen of us semi-circled a wood stove as kids played in the middle under

our watchful eyes.  The mood was productive and playful.  All necessary business

was addressed and everyone was heard, even without a stick.  Most of us stayed

afterwards to socialize.

My sweetie and I got home exhausted and ate some leftovers.  We watched the

49ers football game, which I had recorded.  At other points of my life, the game

would have been the highlight of my day.  But now I’ll take camaraderie over

yelling at a TV screen any time.  That must be from holding babies and watching

kids play.