Circle of Hope

A conversation on the Circle Dancing e-list

Wednesday, February 18, 2004    9:40AM
Dear Fellow Dancers,

I have signed the petition against nominating George Bush
and Tony Blair for the Nobel Peace Prize (no its not a
joke), I have faxed my Secy of State of NH to express my
concern about voting machines, I have sent faxes to my
Congresspeople to oppose the recent attempt to undermine Roe
v Wade...  and I've trashed lots of emails asking me to do
similar actions on behalf of other equally worthy causes.
I'm tired and discouraged.  I feel like I'm trying to move a
mountain of sand grain by grain.  The only thing that keeps
me going is Circle Dance, and the belief that by dancing in
a circle, dances from around the world, we do indeed change
an energy pattern from the hierarchical/dominator/war=peace
paradigm to one of equality/reverence for all beings/peace/
harmony/compassion...  Are we engaged in a hopeless task?
or are we the butterfly flapping its wings that changes the
climate a continent away?  Is there anybody out there who
agrees with me?  Please let me know,  I'm feeling pretty alone
with it right now.

Thanks,
Jenny at Neskaya
 

9:53AM    California
Jenny,
I absolutely agree with you. I have always believed that singing,
dancing, and being in Sacred Circle makes a difference. I believe
each each little thing we do counts. You are never alone.
Hugs,
Ashara
 

10:02AM    Argentina
Unbelievable that they should be nominated. But after all, what
was it Alfred Nobel did for the world???
You are not alone, Jenny, there are thousands of dancers working
for peace and millions more people doing it in other ways. Keep going!

lots of love,  Julia

May peace prevail in the Universe!
 

10:04AM   Concord NH
Good morning Jenny,
I hear your despair . . . and often things do look so bleak and
overwhelming. Maybe this is just a dark time before the light and that
our work of dancing, loving and prayer are that much more important.

I often refer to a quote I love from a sufi poet Hafiz, " . . what love
mischief can I do today?"
Hang in there and know there are many of us struggling to hold the
light & love we are meant to share.
Smiles, Nancy
 

Here's the complete poem:   "When the Seed Cracked Open"

It used to be
That when I would wake in the morning
I could with confidence say,
"What am 'I' going to Do?"
That was before the seed
Cracked open.

Now Hafiz is certain:

There are two of us housed
In this body,

Doing the shopping together in the market and
Tickling each other
While fixing the evening's food.

Now when I awake
All the internal instruments play the same music:

"God, what love-mischief can 'We" do
For the world
Today?"

From The Gift: poems by Hafiz, the great Sufi Master,
Translations by Daniel Ladinsky
 

10:10AM Newton MA
Dear Jenny,

Just your email has made a difference!
In Galatians 6:9  and 2 Thess 3:13 it says, "so let us not grow weary
in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up"
Also, Mother Theresa says:
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you have anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it
was never between you and them anyway.

Now, my friend, how do I sign this petition?

Love, Judy
 

10:27AM Montpelier

Thanks for the message, Jenny. I had no idea. I too have been
a bit discouraged because I was one of the 57 people that got
fired last Friday. I didn't finish sending my note to all my
friends, so you may not have heard this. I will give you more
details later. Spirit is calling me to something better, I'm
sure.
I will try to do the same with this message, meaning
contacting my senators etc. ....UNBELIEVABLE! Peace
prize!?!??!?!?!? Give me a break. This gives me somewhere
else to put my anger which I still have lots of.
Sure do appreciate you and your passion. Know that you are
not alone and that I love you.
Blessings, Dianne
 

10:46AM Fairfax VA
I'm with you. Judit.
 

11:04AM California
Dear Jenny,
We're only one. But who else is more than one?
We can change our own inner environment
to one of harmony and hope
or not.
If everybody took the task
of holding the harmony and the hope
we would meet the dark stuff (that does seem to be part of
this world's karma)
in balance
moving through.

And that's exactly what Circle Dance does for each of us.
One by one.

Please keep dancing.

. . . and then there is joy

Love,
Marina
 

11:10AM Vermont
Hi Jenny
As our dear friend Sally would say
"Dont feel like the lone ranger"
You have spoken my truth!
Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed by it all
and in the shamanic work that I do
Black elk came through and the words that he had were
"always remember  to sing and dance and smoke the pipe"
So thats what I try to do --even when it seems hopeless
Sending love and peace
Sue
 

11:20AM Burke Virginia
Dear Jenny:  I sometimes share your discouragement, but I prefer to
believe that I am a butterfly.  I use as my model the story of the woman
who wanted to become enlightened, but no monastery would accept
her because she was a woman.  Finally, she is accepted and spends
30 years meditating, but no enlightenment.  One night as she is returning
home from the well with a bucket of water, she is entranced by the stars
and the moon she sees reflected in the water.  Then the bottom of the
bucket breaks and all the water runs out.  In that moment she becomes
enlightened.  There are many ways to interpret this story, but an interpretation
that has meaning for me is that we dedicate ourselves to behaving in a
way that will produce our deepest desires--elightenment for her, peace
for you and me--never knowing if we will achieve our goal.  But--and
here is the kicker--if she had not spent all that time meditating she would
never have had her moment of enlightenment.  While we cannot guarantee
that we can make important changes by our actions, we can guarantee
that if we all do nothing, then nothing will be the result.  So, I prefer to
give my best, and give my doubts to the Mother Goddess.  Much love, Judie
 

12:59PM Argentina
OF COURSE I AGREE!!!!
WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE, AND OUR SERVICE IS VERY VALUABLE.
THANKS
PABLO
 

3:01PM New Hampshire
Jenny:
    You are not alone.  Yes, we will disturb the universe because
we care and will calm the waves of chaos with dance.

    Last night at the St. Peter's Episcopal Church: a dozen people
who looked very conservative...  After the clerk's report and a couple
of additions to the agenda it was my turn on the agenda.   So, I asked
for a specific room for a weekly dance.   I told them we would just
have a donation basket...
      Before the meeting I checked for a sound system and there is none.
Then, I asked for two volunteers to stand in a corner with me to show
KOS; two immediately "circled up" with me.  They were embarrassed
but good about it...  No one had done any circle dancing before; one
said she had done some folk dancing.
      They will let me know....
  Well, if they don't consent then I'll try some other places....two
more people danced for a short time last night that wouldn't have.
Take Care Of Yourself,
    Sandy C.
 

3:38PM France
Hi Jenny,
Hey, if you think you feel alone you should be sitting over
here in Paris trying to stay connected by internet with what's
happening back in the US !! I don't know how many petitions
I've signed, emails sent to senators at al etc etc. I think we just
have to hope that we are just a small part of a big movement
and that the overall effect will be to have some influence on
the future of our country and the world.
I, too, have dancing which is pretty much the most important
thing I do. But dancing here is more of the folk dancing variety
and no connection is made to others in the world. But just doing
dances from around the world with people of different
nationalities gives the dancing meaning even if nothing is overtly
spoken about it.
Gotta run now...keep signing and emailing and especially keep
dancing...I'm sure it makes a difference.
love and hugs, Ann in Paris
 

4:46PM Tennessee
No, Jenny, you are not alone. I know the feeling you
describe, burnout, and I get discouraged too. But I
believe there is such a thing as balance, and
interconnectednesss. every action, however small, sets
up an energy of motion, like throwing a small stone
into a pond-ripples spread outward, evergrowing, and
finally reach all the shores. When we dance together,
holding hands, dancing ancient dances from far away
lands, we send out a message of unity, of peace- a
tiny light in the darkness perhaps, but all our tiny
lights around the country and the globe keep away the
Dark, and send out a beacon of hope. I do believe
this.
keep on doing your thing.
chrys aka dancing spirit in tennessee.
 

5:16PM     THANK YOU ALL
Dear Dancing Friends,
I got 6 replies to my cry of help within about 20 minutes,
and 7 more by later today.  thank you all so much.  It's so
wonderful that we can connect that fast.  Maybe we CAN
change the world...
love, Jenny
 

5:44PM California
Never alone, dearest Jenny.  I BELIEVE that when we dance,
we form the instrument through which the invisible beings of
light can do their work, and help us do ours.   I KNOW that I
do my best approximation of being human -- one who loves --
dancing in the circle.  I HONOR you for your commitment and
perseverance, without which I (and countless others) would
probably still not even know this form of circle dancing existed.
Of course, I do share your feelings of discouragement and overwhelm.
I get most of  those same e-mails (although I hadn't heard about the
Bush Blair thing yet) and feel exhausted as I try to respond to as
many as I can in between doing the seemingly meaningless work
I am getting paid to do.  The task seems mythical -- Sisyphusian
in my own case.  But that is quite possibly just the old stuff I am
still caught up in, stuff that will eventually fall away to reveal the
new "way" for which we are preparing.
Please keep dancing, letting the light enter lovingly into the weight
of the burden, being with whole-heartedness, surrounded by BEAUTY,
and thank you for SOS-ing into cyberspace so I can tell you how
much I love you, which I do with all my heart.
Elizabeth
P.S.  Check out http://www.talkingwithangels.com for inspiration.
 

6:08PM Mexico

Hi Jenny! Im glad you voiced these feelings, i think in this time
of The Great Turning (Macy) it will continue to be like this-
sometimes hopeful, sometimes despairing. I accept that i have
both hope and despair in equal intensities, like the duality that
keeps the earth turning, the yin and yang. To feel depairing in
these times when there is much to depair means that we are alive,
thank goddess, and not numb. BUT i count on the following
type of trivia as evidence that US people are transforming from
the grassroots up-

Michael Moore is a millionaire
Tofu recipes appear in Cosmopolitan Magazine
Circle Dance has taken off in Mexico
MoveOn now has more than 2 million members
In one rainy afternoon i found more than 100 websites of hope
and i know this is just the tip of the iceberg
99 Websites of Hope can be found on Charles Petersen's page
Fairfield County CT has a society of vegetarians that meets
regularly!
 and so on...

sometimes i dont know if we humans have gone too far towards
destruction to be save-able -- sometimes i dont know if it is even
best for the earth if we save ourselves -- but i do strongly strongly
believe that there are more than 50 million 'cultural creatives' in
the usa alone...
and that the force we generate is greatly enhanced by circle dance,
and that the force of love is stronger than fear.

love, Gwyn
 

6:26PM Vermont
There's a Margaret Mead quote that goes something like this--"Never doubt
that a small group of committed people (or is it concerned citizens?) can
change the world.  Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

You are not alone.  (Either in the belief about the importance of the  dance,
especially the old traditional dances that carry so much in them, or  in the
seemingly futile signing of petitions , sending of e-mails, etc.)--I  am
with you on all counts!   Love, Judy
 

7:15PM   Re: THANK YOU ALL
Hooray for everybody! We love you Jenny and moreover the
commitment we all have to each other to make a difference on
this crazy planet that we are a part of. Notice that I didn't
say "of ours". Each one doing her/his part and yes, this
gives me hope as well. Although Dean dropped out of the race
today, he proved that grassroots organizing can and is the
way of the future.
All blessings, Dianne
 

7:41PM Bali
Jenny,
Hi from Bali......yes, reading your appeal from NH all the
way here is......well, like there is no ocean or land mass
between your words and my presence here in this small island
among many thousands of islands!
I'm discouraged also, and yet I feel we must go on saying
what we believe in, signing petitions, writing letters,
voicing our opinions, and grouping together to at least get
Bush out of his position of perceived power!
It's never a lost cause, and always connecting through the
dance is one of the best ways that we do it to strengthen our
community bonds!
Talk about community...here in Bali...that's what it is.
Always!  Everything is done with the sense of family, and
community...doing offerings together, sharing food, shelter,
hanging out in the temple, marketplace, porch, you name it,
it's done together!
It all helps.  Don't despair.
I'll be back on Friday after a 30 hour journey back to the
country that I am so ashamed of because of what it has
become.  So need to reemerge from this sacred place to do the
work to allow our USA to become something else again with my
energy in the circle of circles!
Love to you...you're doing the work too, Jenny!
Nancy
 

8:17PM Lunenburg Vermont
Hi Jenny,
     If you must move that Mountain grain by grain,
at least you are taking ACTION. You go girl!
   Lainy
 

8:22PM New Hampshire
Hi Jenny,
Yes, there are a lot of us out there feeling and thinking as you.
We, too, are sending letters to Congressmen, sending loving
thoughts to the world, speaking our hearts about what needs
fixin' and on and on.  It seems depressing, but when you look
closely, you'll see so much good is happening out there as well.

Love, Alberta
 

Thursday 1:47AM North Ferrisburgh VT

Dear Jenny,

Thank you so much for reminding us how arduous this
peacework can be. I very much liked the image you drew of
trying to move a mountain of sand grain by grain.

In fact, that is precisely what each of us is doing, in much
the same way that Buddhist monks build their sand mandalas
-- grain by grain.

Your reference to the sand reminded me of photos I have seen of monks
building these mandalas. I remember the images of these men on their
knees, crouching over the mandalas with one hand full of sand, the other
hand pinching tiny amounts to add to their creations.

What enables them to work so assiduously is the fact that they
focus not on the result, but on the process. This is a valuable
lesson for the West. The I Ching teaches that we should
plow our fields, not expecting a harvest. The harvest is not
our concern; it is only the plowing that matters.

In response to your plea, I can offer only what I learned
growing up in Friends meeting about what it means to benefit
from the endeavors of an active life. Whether we succeed in
our efforts depends on how "success" is interpreted. There
is another kind of success outside that of seeing the result
we hope for. There is the success measured by useful and
important work done with devotion. There is the success of
having responded to what one knows to have been the authentic
call of God/dess and of having remained faithful to that guidance,
whether seeing any results or not.

When society has fed and housed the poor and nursed the sick,
and when it has educated the disenfranchised and offered them a
useful place in the economy of mankind; when the brilliant and
advantaged have been educated for responsibility rather than for
personal gain; when no one is standing around rejected while
others feel themselves over-entitled; when war has been renounced
and its instruments disassembled, only then will it be possible
for us to consider whether our struggles offer us any sense of
worldly success compatible with our convictions.

In the meantime, this work we do forms us in character and
conscience. We do it because it involves bearing witness to a
"testimony," which (contrary to what many people think) is not
a response to an external problem. It is a leading that comes from
that authentic guidance from God/dess. In that respect, we do it
because to do otherwise is unthinkable. We do it because we
cannot conceive of not doing it.

Of course, you know all this. I write it, I suppose, to remind *myself*
of what lies behind my own peace efforts. Your plea has helped me
affirm my own commitment, and I thank you for that.

Love,
Dilys
 

8:38AM New Boston, NH
Hi Jenny

I just want to say you have many, many comrades of like mind,
and this machine is/can be quite an instrument for connection of
us, as you already are witnessing...I'm a late bloomer re computers,
but anyway, I send you Peace of the Running Wave.. "We are all one
planet, all one people on earth; all one planet, sharing our living,
our dying, our birth, and we won't stand by watching her die,
hearing her cry, or deny--we live as she lives, we die as she dies..."
[song by Molly Scott--beautiful!]
     Best thoughts...Mary
 

10:59AM Freedom NH
HI Jenny,  I too agree with you and in fact feel so busy and
overwhelmed at times that I disregard information I can not
deal with.  I also believe in the energy of Circle Dance...
Take Care & Much Love, Willow
 

12:04PM
Hi Jenny,

I do truly believe that the butterfly/dancer does make a difference...
at one level. Maybe not visible, maybe not today.   But it does
seem so hopeless on the surface some times.   The Bush camp
are desperate to try to come out of their 4 years with some triumph.
The Nobel Prize thing doesn't surprise me. It's hard to imagine
how anyone with two eyes, two ears, a heart and a brain could
support those rogues, but apparently, in this museum of the world
of all possible inputs and outcomes it does appear possible,
though ludicrous and frustrating to me.

I would say keep on keeping on. Keep the candle burning.
I suspect things are moving under the surface or maybe I, too,
am a hopeful fool.  There seem to be so many fundamentalist,
blind/lazy/ignorant-sheep-following-shepherd type people who
don't want to think/feel/believe differently.  Hard to comprehend.

In this world of yin/yang, there is only the dance.  For those of us
who prefer the light, it's hard to accept the shadows, but I feel they
are, indeed shadows.  The fact that the shadow is intensifying
(Tolkein, Harry Potter, etc.) means it's feeling threatened by the
light.  Vigilance and hope are needed, I guess.  Never give up,
but do let go sometimes to renew yourself.

I can't be with you in person just now, but if I could, I'd give you a hug,
an open heart, and my own conviction that "this, too shall pass," and
once you've done all you can, let go and go for inner peace knowing
you've done your best.

Wishing you peace, renewed hope, and rest.....Love,  Barbara
 

12:57PM Danville VT
Hi Jenny,

I just read your email and I feel, as others do,that you (we) are not alone.
I often feel as you do, especially in this Guidance Counselor work I am
doing.  So much tragedy and so little ability to help... In fact, I took
today off just to try to nurture myself about it all.  But when I am dancing
I always feel the healing power of that experience.  That is one of my
constants, too, in holding myself together and knowing I (we) are
connected to each other, bringing peace and light where we dance.  And
that radiates outward in a beautiful way.
Keep doing what you're doing.  I have reached another "knowing" that
I just need to do more of the dance, meditation and similar things and
will leave one of my schools in June to pursue this further.  I know I
need it and so does the rest of the world!!

In Peace,
Diana
 

9:48PM Falmouth, MA

Jenny,
as usual, you articulate so well what many of us are feeling
and how hard we are working to maintain our focus and belief
in being able to bring about peace in the world -
It 's the people like you who help us so much, because you
provide us with art and inspiration and many opportunities for circles -
every little prayer with our little footsteps on the earth is
a movement toward a better world -
at least, we have to believe that, because we can't do
otherwise!

sending you a big long juicy HUGGGGG

Bobbi
 

Friday, 10:12AM What if?   From Neskaya
What if 1,000 butterflies all flapped their wings at once?
I feel reconnected with an organism that has a thousand
hands to send help and a thousand legs to dance with.  If
particles of light synchronize their vibrations, it's called
a laser, and you know it's powerful.  If a bunch of people
move in synchronicity, it's called "Circle Dancing".

I have just had the lovely experience of writing 27 email
replies to dear friends, old friends, absent friends and
people I haven't even met yet who are now part of my
electronic dancing circle.  My friends, we span the globe: I
heard from Bali, France, and Argentina, not to mention
Mexico and California.  I've copied all your replies into
one document so I can read it again when I feel discouraged.
 But I have to say that all together we are doing something
more than just lighting individual candles in the darkness.

I was reminded yesterday of something that gave me great
hope at the time, but there was a further lesson to be drawn
from it:  there's a business called Ocean Arks, that designs
systems to deal with various kinds of water waste -- like
the Living Machines in Burlington and at Findhorn that deal
with sewage.  John Todd designed a system for a candy
company, to handle 10% of their waste...
"One Friday a computer malfunctioned and sent 100 percent of
the waste in to the eco-machine, overloading the system.  'A
godawful mess -- foam, fats, oil, dead fish -- everywhere,'
says Todd.  Disgusted employees turned off the pumps and
went home for the weekend.  But when they returned on
Monday, the eco-machine had rebalanced itself.  'They were
so startled by this self-healing; that's what turned the
tide and allowed us to continue with other projects,' says
Todd, who confesses surprise himself."  (from story in Hope
Magazine, Jan/Feb 2004, written by Sarah Tuff)
http://www.oceanarks.org

This is Gaia, in small, an eco-system that's capable of
handling an overload of toxic stuff.  Humans created the
mess, but humans also designed the solution and when they
did something magical happened: nature joined the fight.
One-celled creatures and plants and fish somehow cooperated
to deal with the mess. Guess what, everybody - WE ARE NOT
ALONE.  Even the algae are fighting to save planet earth.
Nature is on our side and ready to help the moment we open
the door -- remember the 40 pound cabbages at Findhorn, and
the rainforest that's regenerating under the pines of
Gaviotas.  There's this huge process working toward health,
awareness, consciousness, compassion - and it's bigger than
we are, big as the planet, maybe even big as the universe
(Today I believe for sure as big as the universe) and our
circle dancing community is part of it.  We are part of how
the human community re-balances itself -- we don't have to
know how, all we have to do is keep on doing what we do.

So Keep dancing everybody.

Vast amounts of love to all of you from Jenny at Neskaya

Update, December 2007 Avaaz.org, a global version of MoveOn, mobilized
lots of people to protest the stalling of the climate talks in Bali. We made a difference!! See Good News from Bali