We Gathered

We gathered while the ocean roared outside the window. We gathered under a canopy of stars in warm, healing waters. We gathered with dishes of warm food - cinnamon toast, homemade soups, bright green vegetables grown right on the property. We gathered every morning. We gathered every night. We gathered in our hearts and our souls, while holding hands and singing songs, while making art and shedding tears. 

We all gathered for the first time being ourselves - perfect just as we were, yet eager to expand more fully into all we knew we were capable of. And we gathered for the last time still ourselves, but altered, with our alive-ness awakened to the knowledge of the world's relentless need for our work, our stories, our spirits. We arrived already bright with anticipation, excitement and courage; we left positively radiant.

Our Circle

Our March circle has come together quite beautifully, and for a number of reasons we're going to be closing registration sooner than we originally planned. We have four spaces one space left, and registration will close THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 25th. 

All you have to do is say YES.

UPDATE:  We are now officially FULL, but have a waiting list. If you would like to be added, drop us a note.

What Will You Make of That Gift of Yours?

Turkey Vulture & Coyote medicine bundle for cancer, 2011.

Where have you been blessed? Gifted? Fortunate?

What have you done with that gift?

What would you like to do with your talent?

Have you ever named your capacity or your superpower?

I didn't realize until a few years ago that I have a terrific gift for enduring darkness with grace. That I really do love everyone. That my gift is real empathy. That I somehow have forged a long-standing friendship with the human tendency for foibles and mistakes. That I have an unwavering willingness to fuck up in order to gather the precious tools and awareness that lie just beneath the messy surface. 

What can we make of these obscure and feminine talents? I laugh to write that because it sounds silly to read the above paragraph through and hook "talents" to it. However, I love what I've built, and I see others who've done it, too, folks working with their karma, standing in the presence of destiny. There is something so valuable in the Mystery of our odd fortunes, and the mirroring I received while I was building a creative life for myself asked me to acknowledge mine and construct according to my strengths.

I want to hear your stories, your skillz, those things that you've been called upon all your life to provide.  I want to know what's always been with you. 

Love, Pixie

So Much to Look Forward To

We are officially in countdown mode - less than five weeks left before registration closes, and then two weeks after that we'll be gathering on the cliffs of Big Sur at Esalen Institute for five days of deep, transformational work, community, support, rest and beauty. Our bravest of all Brave Girls - Melody - is now wrapping up a monumental journey to Manila, which you can read more about right here, Pixie is gearing up for a New Year Journey Circle at the end of this month, and I'm beginning to organize supplies, goodies and other details for our March gathering. 

We are looking forward to getting messy under Melody's soulful artistic and mixed-media guidance, to the activities, discussions and tools that have been carefully constructed to support and inspire deep clarity and understanding of our values and dreams, and communing with all the teachers and guardians that are always with us in spirit, everywhere we go. We are looking forward to saying hello to the whales, who will be migrating right in front of us all week long, to the delicious food that Esalen provides (here's to not having to cook for five days!), to dancing under the stars (should we feel inspired), to all the laughter that is sure to burst forth.

Yes, yes - there is much to look forward to, much to be grateful for, much to be celebrating. Our circle is beginning to gather, and it is already perfect.

Love Letter to Big Sur

“Big Sur is the California that men dreamed of years ago, this is the Pacific that Balboa looked at from the Peak of Darien, this is the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look."  ~Henry Miller

Dear Big Sur,

Do you know what you are? My Favorite Place On Earth.

You are such a relatively small patch of earth, but pack a wallop with beauty, mystery, wildness and awe. I go to Big Sur and I feel safe yet humbled, hidden yet exposed. Being in a spot that literally feels like the edge of the earth - with whales swimming by and the water crashing below the rocky cliffs - I gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all things....me to the ferns to the hawks to the mountains to the salt water to the pine needles to the sky to the foxes. They are all there - living, breathing, flying, running, dying, nesting - in your arms, tucked in between your fog-enshrouded mountains and rugged Pacific coastline.

When I first moved to California, I heard much about the famed drive along Pacific Coast Highway up to and through Big Sur. When you hear so much about anything - a place, a movie, a book - it is easy to fall into the trap of believing it can't be as good as it's touted to be. But this stretch of the earth proved to be even more magnificent than anything anyone said about it. From the instant I began the ascent not far past Hearst Castle, I was madly in love. Despite having since traveled to other extraordinary parts of the world - Havana, Tokyo, Amman, Buenos Aires - my love for you has only deepened. How many times do I visit another country or city or monument and ask myself, "Is it better than Big Sur?" Every time. And how often have I answered "yes"? 

Never.

When we decided to create our gatherings, there was only one place we ever considered - Big Sur. Because these gatherings aren't about what we have to offer anyone else, but about what is already within them, wanting desperately to burst forth. While we could share our offerings pretty much anywhere, we know the power of Big Sur, and we are humble before your beauty, your LIFE, your wildness. We are grateful for your gifts, and eager to share them with our circle.

Blessings...Christine