Weekend of Hope

    At the beginning of this month, I was able to travel to Vermont for the Annual Stowe Weekend of Hope. I experienced a weekend of health, hope, inspiration, learning and fellowship with cancer survivors, their friends and families, and the people of Stowe. Met some great people doing great things. Tried watercolor painting. Tried  hula hooping. Visited Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream factory. Spent an hour with a Buddhist monk. Tried the local brew. Ate more than my share of truly delicious bagels. Hiked the morning dew at the Trapp Family Lodge. Hung Buddhist prayer flags. Toured the local ghosts in the misty night of the full supermoon. Had fun! In the midst of all this fun activity, however,  lay the kernel for what I am searching. I was moved by the vitality surrounding me. Everybody I saw was affected by cancer. We had an unspoken kinship from which to move forward. I liken the feeling to the moment the bee-girl finds her own kind in that video by Blind Melon.  This moment....

    What's so powerful about a moment like this?  The recognition without explanation. The acceptance without speaking. The mere fact that you are not alone. The connection. Someone else knows what happened to you because it happened to them. We all have common ground. We can move on now. And we did. The closing ceremony was a program of exuberance for life. Young dancers who chose not a dark inward somber piece, but a colorfully strong flowing life reinforcing piece. Local singers and songwriters who performed songs of healing and connection. There's that word again, connection. It's important. Connection to each other, connection to your feelings, connection to your body, connection to  life.

    The very last performance was a song that I heard several times that weekend already. The first performance my eyes teared up a little, with a touch of sadness. The second performance my eyes rolled, with a touch of anger.  This final performance my eyes flowed, with overwhelming release. I liken it to the moment the crisis breaks, when you realize it's over, you made it, you're okay and you burst into tears. That moment. I want to share that song with you now. Maybe it will have some power for you, maybe not. And that's okay....

                        

          Peace. Love. Ice Cream.