Walkabouts, Live Theatre, and Old Churches
As some of you may know, I was at a training in London, England the last couple of weeks. The emerging theme from the trip for me was walkabouts, live theatre, and old churches. Also, Shakespeare and fresh seafood. Here are some insights from London! And one mini-insight from New York City.
I love walking around new cities without my phone. I'd never been to London before. Getting to know a new place just by walking where I feel. At each corner, go straight? Left? Right? What looks interesting and go there. Eat lunch in an interesting little cafe. Find a small museum or shop and just explore. No plans and no boundaries.
The feeling of going with what you want in the moment is at once familiar and fresh. A little scary sometimes. It reminds me of being a kid in the summertime. Everything is possible. Each moment is a new adventure. Since coming home, I've been experimenting with living this way in each moment. What would I love to do now? What about now? Ok, what's next? I've started to notice a subtle and at the same time obvious body sensation of yes and no. Like a pull toward or a push away. It's very easy to override or rationalize. I can talk myself into it or out of it easily. And when I settle into this sensation, it's a simple desire of what I want. It's a feeling of life moving through me, of life living through me. Following this is becoming very interesting. I'm never sure what is going to happen next in a delightful way. I would invite you to experiment for yourself. See if you can get a feel for your own moment-to-moment lived desires. Let life move you. And then see what happens next.
The one time where I ended up in a city in a place I ought not to be was in New York City years ago. I was following a map to a bankside park on the Hudson. Or the other river there, I forget which. Maria, my then assistant was with me, all of a sudden said "Sara, we just passed a shrine to a dead rapper". I looked up from the map and realized "We are not supposed to be here". We were on C Street in Alphabet City in Manhattan. Luckily it was 10 am and not much was going on. We became aware of our surroundings and found the park and all was good. My point with this story is that we were not aware and ended up in a rough neighbourhood. When you are aware and following your own knowing, you notice a rough neighbourhood or situation right away. It's obvious. You then go a different way.
It feels like following quiet whispers.
Live theatre is just fantastic. I’d forgotten. It’s been a long time since I saw a play or musical. I got to revel in the shared experience of watching A Midsummers Night's Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. The energy of the crowd was exhilarating. The acting exquisite. I never knew how much I needed tea towels printed with quotes from the play from the shop! Too funny. They are excellent tea towels though. I then, later in the week, followed some whispers and ended up at Tina Turner: The Musical. OMG! That was fantastic! The beauty of the music and sound that filled the theater was so beautiful. I love the energetic interaction between artist and audience where magic fills the very air.
Some spaces and locations seem to be amplifiers of our own natural energy at the core of us. Saint Margaret’s church is one of these places. Found, out of the way, on the grounds of Westminster Abbey, it’s an old church built way back in the twelfth century. The place vibrates with aliveness. I sat there for an hour basking and resting in the feeling of being one with the stones and the earth beneath my feet. It was powerfully still and the air felt sacred. I felt like a boulder, solid in a rushing river, with London streaming all around the church and yet removed from the quiet space inside.
My next stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. It's famous for its large dome built by Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London in 1666. I wanted to hear the old pipe organ in the spaciousness of the domed ceiling. There's also a series of smaller arched domed sections of the ceiling. So, I went to a service to hear it. It was gorgeous! The music seemed to float down from the ceiling after swirling around up there. I was truly transported.
All in all, the trip was about listening and trusting myself, my inner wisdom, and being alive to the spaces and life around me.
Walkabouts, Live Theatre, and Old Churches