Laying in the grass looking up at the trees in the park, I imagine the audience at the baseball match claps, the wind blows and trees ruffle together to cheer. A round of applause just for me.
I got my first hate mail last week. Although calling it my first feels untrue, being a person online/in the world doesn’t come without the mean comments, rude Dms etc. This was right up in my face, telling me what I am doing/creating is wrong and I am fundamentally bad. And while I can extend compassion and stay open to feedback, I also keep a truth front of mind – its not about me. And it very rarely(ever) is about me.
The trees don’t ruffle just for me, they blow in the wind. A collaboration in the sky and earth for us all.
Someone telling me that I am a bad person isn’t about me at all.
Humans have the beautiful capacity to hold so much inside ourselves. But the external isn’t a snake that weaves its way into us. It’ all a mirror held up to generate our feelings about the thing, sky, wind, conflict. It’s the reaction of the external that ignites the internal. What sets off a chain reaction in someone else, won’t in others. What gets reflected back to them is about their story and not the moment someone is generating.
Nothing is about us.
The way our world is set up is to serve and reward hyper individualism, it would make us think that yes in fact all I do and create centres self. Helping and centring only ourselves only benefits capitalism and systems of oppression that requires pieces of ourselves to be broken off to fit into the machine. Cursive instagram posts and Gwyneth Paltrow tell us to centre ourselves, and better yet the immediate self in the name of taking care, even at the expense of others wellbeing, kindness, generosity, curiosity. The self is far more important than the collective, the the sensation that can be found.
But if it is not about me, a conflict or a crowd cheering is about the emotions that are set off inside the other. It is worth centring togetherness and understanding and knowing that wether we are cheering or yelling that we are only responsible for ourselves and our sensations and the expression of those things. What a wonderful gift.
The amount of ammunition we carry inside ourselves at all is too much. This is the magic of stopping the spiral, uncentering self, and moving into the collective where we can heal. Of checking what we are carrying with ourselves to play and honour those bits. To actually find the feeling and give ourselves the grace to express it.
THIS SATURDAY WITH GOODBODYFEEL! Creativity In Motion: Inspiration in the Body 🪐 Tap into your felt senses and sit together at the unclear edge to discover the feelings and stories that we carry within ourselves. Through dance, play and a bunch of taking deep breaths we can sit with the pieces of ourselves that feel messy, misunderstood or unturned. What can we uncover when we utilize curiosity and creativity as resources for understanding and expression? ✨June 25th @ 11am EST ✨
My beautiful friend and intelligent captain to the stars Robin is leading 30 min of Empowered Embodiment at YWCA’s Reaching For Power
Celebrating Indigenous peoples day by learning with this totally cool new pod One Dish, Many Stories
I’m back teaching IRL at the AGH June 28th!
IN THE ROOTS Open studio is today @ 3pm! 🌳bring the dramas + something you want to work on and create in community
Creative Advising + Coaching books now have a permanent home HERE. Let’s spend your summer pulling these bits apart 🧭 to you can make the dang thing already 🪄
big blessings for uncentering
xx
Phoebe
resonates on all levels ❤️