From the Council of All Beings: The Ants

The ant: An ancient prolific, productive insect
just keep going
     you may not want us around
            but we just do what we need to do to sustain our colony.

My ant colony

You put bricks over our home
   we incorporate it into our design

You leave food out for us?
   We take it

We are constantly exploring,
   climbing on things, persons, you
looking, fielding things to incorporate into our design
   what is useful?  This twig, that leaf
       That bread crumb, and sticky spot of jam
           that dropped on the floor.
We see everything as a resource to be used.
   We call upon our brothers and sisters to help harvest
         its sweet essence for gelling together what needs sticky

We know you have a distaste for how we take over your
   kitchens, your patios, and that spot in your yard.
When will you understand life is messy.
   We are constantly in each others stuff.

There are no boundaries
   Why do you wish life between us was cleaner, clearer,
        non-existent?

Do you not know the paths we make with our colony
    aerate your yard, help the irrigation of the earth?

No matter.

We have work to do.
    You can try to silence us.

We are prolific and industrious and focused on the task ahead of us.
   We know our role and do it.

         (c) 2016 Points Of Light Music


--
This writing and multimedia piece were part of a "Council of All Beings" activity where folks are asked to invite a being to be represented by them and then create a mask and monologue.  I couldn't shake the ant colony.  When reading the piece imagine walking with the paper plate colony in hand shaking and walking in quick short bursts here and then there and over there, then there, as ants do. This was embraced by much laughter from the other participants.  

Labyrinth Highlights from "Action Thru Art"

Last week, GoodSpace Murals answered a call for white allies to respond to recent gun violence deaths of black men and police officers, by hosting an "Action through Art" a community mural painting event on Sat, Jul 16 at J.J. Hill Montessori School.  They invited other artists to offer other healing activities and we answer the call with an offer to set up a labyrinth and lead Dances of Universal Peace.  

Here's a few photos of the labyrinth from the event.  Go and check out the many beautiful photos and video taken throughout the day of the murals and mosaics at the Facebook event page.  

Two volunteers give the 3-circuit modified Classical labyrinth a test run.

Walkers were invited to leave behind their hopes, prayers, and dreams

"I hope that someday soon everyone will be treated the same."

"Be Brave
Think of others
Have crucial conversations
Listen to people's stories
Make connections"

"Flowers
Food
Freedom"

"LOVE
STAY AWAKE
TAKE ACTION"

"Rest in peace"

"May hamster will get sick."

"One by one"

"Peace"

"I believe that reason, passion, and justice will win the day"

"Love"

Here's another invitation (sorry it's not "on location")

The labyrinth was set a bit apart from the mural, mosaic and other art tables for some quiet reflection time. 

You can still see the chalk spray outline faintly on Sunday evening, even after the rain from Saturday night.
We would love updates if it's still visible and walkable.  

Thanks so much, GoodSpace Murals!  I hope we can collaborate again soon.

Event: Action thru Art-St. Paul, Sat, Jul 16, 1p

Points of Light Music will be adding a chalk labyrinth and Dances of Universal Peace to this event to honor the memory of Philando Castile and show ally support to Black Lives Matter. 

Event: Action Through Art (more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1746338072320518/)

Location: J.J. Hill Montessori, 998 Selby Ave, Saint Paul, Minnesota 55104

Date: Sat, Jul 16, 2016

Time: Mural painting event: 1-5p

- Dances of Universal Peace: 1-2ish

Join us to walk, sing, dance, paint and practice peace. 

Labyrinth Updates

2016 has been filled with labyrinths more than ever before ... Here's a skinny chronology of what's happened so far and what's coming ahead:


Walking the labyrinth at Wintermission.

• Jan-Feb 2016:  Invited to make a snow labyrinth for the Friendly Streets Initiative and their Wintermission event at the planned site for the Rondo Commemorative Plaza. 

The huge snowfall from the previous week melts during an incredible mid-winter thaw!  Oh no!  Brainstorm a stanchion-based rectangle design from materials from Ax-man that also can multi-task as dreams and concerns collector. 

• Mar-Apr 2016:  Submitted poster session proposal to The Labyrinth Society's annual meeting based on the Wintermission labyrinth.  It is accepted!



Two little people walk at the Backyard Farm Fair

• Apr-May 2016:  Invited to install a temporary labyrinth by The Trust for Public land at Frogtown Farm's Backyard Fair. 

Adapting Tom Vetter's Flower in the Seed design, I develop the stanchion based labyrinth idea from February and add pennant flags for more presence.

• Jun 2016:  Submit a proposal to Springboard for the Art's Ready Go mobile art tools to continue developing the stanchion based labyrinth idea.  I find out in a couple of weeks if it's accepted!

So, what's ahead?
* Prepare my poster and handouts for The Labyrinth Society gathering, make travel plans for Houston, TX, and go!  (Sept-Nov 2016)

* Attend Veriditas' labyrinth facilitator training in North Carolina.  It occurs to me that if I was going to install and facilitate labyrinth walks, it might be a good idea to get the stamp of approval by "the experts." (Aug 2016)

* Bring Field of Reflections to fruition if my Ready Go proposal is accepted!  (Jul-Aug 2016)

* Round up financial support. (Now) Although I'm hopeful about receiving a scholarship to attend training and the poster presentation comes with a stipend, I need to raise more funds for travel, lodging, and registration.  And if the Ready Go! proposal is not accepted, I already know I want to move forward with the project and will need to raise funds to buy material and commission an artist to create a centerpiece (intrigued?  more on that later!).  Would you be willing to consider supporting me in one of the following ways?

• Hire me to install a labyrinth (either the simple rectangle or Flower in the Seed design) for an event at church, workplace, or family/friends gathering.  Since I already have the materials, you pay for the setup/teardown and time facilitating during the event. 
• Or hire me for one of my many other interests: 

1. a Full Voice workshop with friends, family, or co-workers (ask me for details!)
2. a 1:1 Full Voice lesson,
3. lead Dances of Universal Peace for an event
4. lead community song at an event or worship service or team building session
5. facilitating other community art projects for your neighborhood or organization
6. providing music for funerals, weddings, other services, and events from the piano and organ bench, voice, flute, baritone ukulele, shruti box

• Contribute to my GoFundMe.com campaign. 

Thanks so much for reading my Labyrinth Update!  It's an exciting time and I'm grateful to have you along for the company!