Do you wanna play?
Ever since I was little I’ve camped at Grover Hot Springs and last week several youngsters who were at play in the gurgling stream by our site brought me back. Remember giggly scampering on rocks, catching little fishies, falling in and frolicking and falling again? Feeling their joy delighted me, eased the heart ache of a recent witnessing. A father-son at dinner, the dad glued to his phone, the boy doing everything he could to get his attention. A sign of our recent times.
Frolicking outdoors is what kids need. Adults need the same. Camping is one way to fill the quota but any outside time invites natural world engagement. Feral creature-ing is my name for earthly immersion. Dirt delights me. I know not everyone feels this way. My pores rejoice with the feel of soil, warm granite, cold water, brisk air, warm sun. Tracking the trajectory of the sun and phase of the moon, spotting Venus and North Star and Big Dipper. Seeing animal beings in their natural habitat---well maybe not this black bear who absconded with half our food and cut this last trip short.
Osho cards travel with me when I go. I love doing readings for companions and my own deck inquiry really got my attention: “What do you have to tell me about anxiousness? What is it wanting to teach me?” I drew the re-birth card.
The drawing portrays Frederick Nietzche’s writing on the evolution of consciousness. How our journey to consciousness might begin like a sleepy, dull camel. Self-satisfied, living in delusion. How eventually we move out of the crowd, say NO to demands of others, roar our truth. How ultimately a child emerges, “neither acquiescent nor rebellious. Innocent, spontaneous, true to her own being.” I took this reading to heart.
I’ve been a lion a long time and in so many ways I feel myself in a consciousness transition. Is the anxiousness about this transition? But it is so evident that frolicking for me is on the upswing. Thank goodness. A lightening in my heart, skip in my step, quietness that feels pre-verbal. I watch my bird feeder, search shells on beaches, create art, dance for the pure joy of it. Current events, the planet situation weigh upon me, but I feel able to include everything and regulate. There is a fresh ease-fullness in teaching and my physical therapy work. The word “work” feels wrong. It all feels more like “do you wanna play?”
A personal evolution like this doesn’t happen on its own. Over the years so much was beyond my control: fate, luck, privilege, history. Yet I persistently and intentionally kept stepping into opportunities designed to move consciousness along. And though my journey is ever closer to the end, it feels far from over.
So much gratitude that Sacramento 5Rhythms is brewing up some juicy exploration so we might step into opportunity together. Before the close of 2025 there are more than a couple chances to take a time out from busy busy busy and dance into perspective on the course of your own life. Here’s two intimately related offerings:
Five days to immerse in your personal story. Me? I’ve done this 5Rhythms workshop multiple times. And I’m taking it as humble student once more. Moving with the way it has delivered me to this end zone, known as the Bone Cycle. A restful chapter where I’m done proving anything. The utter grace and satisfaction of knowing I’m doing pretty much what I’m meant to do in this lifetime on this planet. Teacher is Laura Martin-Eagle from Lawrence, Kansas holding us as we dance our history from the ancestral to the present moment and beyond. Immersing in what shaped us. Taking a dive into illuminating the past has a way of shaping your future. I’ve always travelled out of town to do this gorgeous piece of work because it’s never been offered in Sacramento. Please consider coming and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
If we’re awake, if we’re paying attention, a moment of wonder will arise. What will I do with the precious time I have left on this earth? This question is so elegantly simple. Certainly a valid inquiry at my ripe age of 75. But really, it’s the undercurrent question of a lifetime, right? Every time we turn right instead of left or choose this instead of that our action inevitably effects our future. Cause and effect, decisions influence future outcome. Karma. I know my own destiny includes holding space for just this unique exploration. Sometimes I look around me and see all the lions craving this inquiry. As the year 2025 turns into 2026, I hope you can join us in community to explore this essential question. It will be a tender container, a ritual space of dance, release, art/writing, conversation as we dive in and co-create together.
May the balance of your summer season be filled with the joy of these bonus daylight hours. I’m loving it.
❤️Bella