We Have Come to be Danced

"We have come to be danced 

Not the pretty dance 

Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance 

But the claw our way back into the belly 

Of the sacred, sensual animal dance 

The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance 

The holding the precious moment in the palms 

Of our hands and feet dance. 

We have come to be danced 

Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance 

But the wring the sadness from our skin dance 

The blow the chip off our shoulder dance. 

The slap the apology from our posture dance. 

We have come to be danced 

Not the monkey see, monkey do dance 

One two dance like you 

One two three, dance like me dance 

but the grave robber, tomb stalker 

Tearing scabs and scars open dance 

The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance. 

We have come to be danced 

Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle 

But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama 

Shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance 

The strip us from our casings, return our wings 

Sharpen our claws and tongues dance 

The shed dead cells and slip into 

The luminous skin of love dance. 

We have come to be danced 

Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance 

But the meeting of the trinity, the body breath and beat dance 

The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance 

The mother may I? 

Yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance 

The olly olly oxen free free free dance 

The everyone can come to our heaven dance. 

We have come to be danced 

Where the kingdom’s collide 

In the cathedral of flesh 

To burn back into the light 

To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray 

To root in skin sanctuary 

We have come to be danced 

WE HAVE COME. "

by Jewel Mathieson

Herb Shops

here are some photos of the herb shops within the super mercado in san jose, costa rica.  what's labeled is in spanish but most of it is not labeled.  you just have to trust that what you ask for is what you get.  i read the book sastun: my apprenticeship with a maya healer in the first few days of our trip and i wanted to see if i could find some of the herbs mentioned in the book.  also, being a community-centered pnw herbalist myself, i had a small list of items i wanted to see in this setting, like copal, palo santo, wild yam, linden, and so on.

these shops were amazing with all manner of flower, leaf, root, bark, seed, tinctures, potions, dried, fresh, concoctions galore.  i could spend a whole day, especially with a translator, asking questions and stocking up.  that would be a good business for someone to do there: bilingual herbalist guide to white herbalist tourists eager to spend dollars in the herb shops!

i came home with some crazy looking hairy twigs that don't match anything on my list.  everyone thinks they look like nasty dreadlocks but they don't smell like nasty dreadlocks.  believe me.  i would know.  chad had them. not nasty ones. but some big fatties that could get a little ripe, let's say.

the second to last photo up there of chad and jasper came about when i asked one of the herb shop keepers, who i bought copal and hibiscus from, if it was ok to take a photo of the shop. he grabbed chad and jasper and shoved them inside and said "yes yes, take photo" all jolly and friendly like.  chad and jasper were a bit stunned i think but we all thought it was really funny.

the last photo is one of the nutmeg/mace we found on the property we were staying on in puerto viejo on the caribbean coast.  we rode our bikes back and forth through a jungle garden several times a day and there was a nutmeg tree, apparently.  if you stood where we found the nutmegs and looked up, you couldn't see anything that look liked nutmegs.  i couldn't tell what tree they were coming from.  but there were a few during our time there that we found on the ground with the mace still intact.  they smell amazing and are stunning to behold.  the first time i saw one on our path i thought i'd won the lottery!  i was fascinated.

the new year is in full swing around these parts.  i am hosting a weekend retreat in february for 15 women at my house.  that will be a blast.  half are flying in from out of state.  we are gathering for imbolc and to share creativity and entrepreneurial insights in support of one another and to simply commune and fill up on each others wild woman love. a few weeks after that i will head to san francisco, big sur (for matrilumina) and the santa cruz mountains for a week of 40th birthday bliss (it was january 1 but this is THE gift!). so it's busy, as usual.  life is full.  and life is grand.  2013 is going to be amazeballs.  i can feel it, and i have systems in place to ensure it!

what do you have planned for 2013?  in what ways are you looking to expand?  do you set goals?  resolutions?

i am currently exploring and researching the intersection of post traumatic stress from adverse childhood experiences and the healing of it that can emerge from a daily creative practice of hand-making. this is my "new" work in the world and i will have a lot more to share about as i birth it.  watch for a due date near you.

escaping with the family fang,

xoxo

jennette

Doors & Gates

this is a small sample of the many gorgeous gates and doorways to be seen in the areas of costa rica and panama we were in.

you know i have a thing for doors.

here and here

i even have a pair of tiny door earrings that i made from tiny miniature doorways i found over 20 years ago while treasure hunting in vancouver canada.  way back in the day. 

junker for life.  but that's beside the point.

doors, gates, doorways, gateways:

access, discovery, opportunity, opening, transition, transcendence, a veil between the worlds, mystery, the unknown, enlightenment, surprise.

i sense all that symbolically in doors.

do doors do anything for you?

there are more negative connotations as well but i choose the light-filled ones.

do you have a favorite symbol?

and what does it mean to you?

opening the double, arched, wood frame, french doors of my heart to let in some love, light and gratitude today.

if your heart had a door, what kind would it be?

seeking effervescence,

xoxox

jennette

Food

come on.  you know you want some of that tasty green jello pie stuff up there!  it might be the most electric green food i have ever seen.  what about you?

that meal in the middle is the best, cheapest meal you can get inside the super mercado in san jose, costa rica, and it is delicious.  serious.

i did not try any of those colored drinks up there but they were offered to us.  everyone else was drinking them.

as for the fish heads and chicken feet mix.  well. i would be super stoked to have access to that here, at home in washington.  imagine the bone broths you could develop!

the spices too.  all kinds.  wish they were sold like that here and so readily available.

eating the way we like to eat was not easy in costa rica.  they are not known for their food and every meal is served with rice and beans, neither of which i eat.  it was difficult to get fresh dark leafy greens, even in the super mercado.  by the time i got home i was craving kale so bad i ate a whole 1.5lb bag in two days! i think having a "special" diet was the only thing that made traveling truly challenging.  when i get hangry, watch out. its not pretty.  and yes, it did happen a few times.  i admit it.  

suffice to say, i am happy to be home and back full swing into my no sugar, no alcohol, no beans, no grains routine.  it feels good.  my body likes it.  my gut loves it.  and i have so much energy i feel like i can leap tall buildings in a single bound!

what foods do you miss when you're not home? and do you take food with you when you travel?  is there a food you are never without?

  i took a large bag of homemade grain-free granola with me but i ran out a week in.  granola is one of those things i take with me everywhere.  its quick protein and an easy snack.  i will be heading to Esalen in early march for a week and you can bet i will tote along a gallon zip-lock bag of grain-free granola.  just in case.

although i am told the meals at esalen are outta this world.

i'm hopeful they go beyond rice and beans...

last night i made a nettle pesto that was outta this world. we had it over spaghetti squash with crumbled bacon, grilled chicken and kale that was braised with sun dried tomatoes. divine.

i am one amateur paleo foodie who loves food.

you had me a "dark leafy greens,"

xoxoxo

jennette

Central America Street Art & Signs

i have a fascination with painted signs and art.  it's not a medium i can do with any sense "goodness" at it.  although that didn't stop me from taking that one painting class back yonder.  still, its not my medium of choice but i am so drawn to it.  so i photograph it.  whatever catches my eye.

here are some painted signs and street art i saw in costa rica and panama.  

what do you think of street art?

do you like it?

is graffiti cool?

i like it when it's pretty.

i don't care for the random name tagging that isn't pretty.

i like the pretty, bring me the pretty.

ok, slurping down my tom kha gai then off to watch handmade nation.  its a documentary about the rise of diy, art, craft, and design in the u.s.a.  and its by faythe levine who i have had a major girl crush on for years.  years, i tell ya.

i'm kinda in love with her.

just so ya know.

nom nom,

xoxo

jennette