I am still reading the book about passivity. I am struggling to find the right words to describe it. This morning I came by a poem by Bill Stafford that hits on this issue of passivity. In particular the idea that we become attached to certain emotional responses to life that we experienced as a child. These responses may not serve us and they may hide the truth and power that resides within us, yet we remain attached to these responses.

Turn Over Your Hand
Those lines on your hand, they can be read
for a hidden part of your life that only
those links can say – nobody’s voice can
find so tiny a message as comes
across your hand. Forbidden to complain,
you have tried to be like somebody else,
and only this fine record you examine
sometimes like this can remember where
you were going before that long
silent evasion that your life became.

If you are forbidden to complain then how are those feelings going to come out?
“silent evasion” – that sure rings true. I’ll just keep my mouth shut and move along.

Posted by Ethan

John Lee

Greetings Blog readers,
I wanted to let you know what our friend John Lee is up to these days. He is doing a number of workshops and weekend retreats this year. Here is a link to his web site - http://www.flyingboy.com/

John Lee has been doing workshops of late about passivity. This is a curious topic. I am currently reading a book by Peter Michaelson, The Phantom of the Psyche – Freeing Ourself From Inner Passivity. I will write more about it later after it makes more sense to me.


Just to highlight some of John’s work –
He will be at the Unity church in Greensboro the weekend of July 11 and 12.

Friday, July 10, 2009, 7 - 9:30 p.m.
More Intimacy, Passion and Communication Whether you are single, married, divorced, gay or straight, man or woman you can acquire information, insights and tools to help you become the person you always wanted to be in relationships. You can learn to pay attention to your lover's longings in ways not taught to most of us until now.

Saturday, July 11, 2009, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
A day long workshop for men that will focus on enhancing and increasing the ability to identify feelings and express all emotions appropriately and at the same time be able to be attentive to the feelings and emotions others are expressing.

John has also written his first piece of fiction.
When the Buddha Met Bubba

This is the heart-warming story of Billy Bob (Bubba) Coker, a redneck who reached rock bottom, until a freak head injury results in the appearance of his own personal Buddha. From that moment forward, Bubba is led on a humorous journey of introspection through the backwoods of the deep South and through his own flawed preconceptions and relationships.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day weekend.
Ethan

W. S. Merwin

Last week on Bill Moyer’s Journal on PBS he interviewed the Pulitzer Prize winning poet W. S. Merwin. I admit I have never heard of him before. It was a joy listening to him.
He spoke of the power of poetry and what it has to offer to us. Of the many topics, they spoke about the magic of Shakespeare.

He talked about a poem ‘working’. He speaks about the idea that when a poem works then there are no words that can be changed. This caught me because words that don’t work often jump out at me in my own work. Not until I change that word am I happy with the line.

He talks about loss, grief and lament. They discuss a poem about a father and his grown son visiting. The father thinks that the son wants to leave and even though the son does not need to leave, he does. He laments that decision.

Here is one piece that he read on the show. The formatting is mine.



Youth
Through all of youth I was looking for you
Without knowing what I was looking for
Or what to call you
I don’t think I even knew I was looking
Would I have known you when I saw you as I did
Time after time when you appeared to me
As you did
Naked, offering yourself entirely at that moment
And you let me breath you, touch you, taste you,
Knowing no more than I did
And only when I began to think of losing you
Did I recognize you
When you were already part memory
Part distance
Remaining mine in the ways that I learned to miss you
From what we can not hold the stars are made

You can get Bill Moyer's show on podcast, either video or audio. That is how I listen to it since his show is on too late for me.

posted by Ethan

Drum Building Workshop (6-20-09)

Honey in the Heart Drum Company
Date: June 20 - 21, 2009
Raleigh, NC
Drum Building Workshop

Join Tom Harris for an exciting weekend of drum building. During this two day workshop, participants will be introduced to the joy of building a West African drum. All tools and materials are provided. Choose one of the following drums to build:

Ashiko - this Nigerian hand drum is a tapered cylinder with a goat skin across the large end. Dimensions are 12'” x 7" x 26". The drum shell is made from 18 wooden staves. The head is mounted using the Mali weave.

Dun Dun or Sangban - These Malinke drums form the bottom of the djembe ensemble. They are built Guinea style - Dun Duns are 15"x27", and Sangbans are 12"x22". They are constructed of 27 and 21 wooden staves, respectively. They have thick West African cow skins for heads and are played with a stick.

Djembe - The shells for this Malinke drum are from the Ivory Coast. Drum shells are imported, and participants re-finish them and mount the heads on themselves. New rings, rope and goat skins are provided.

This weekend workshop is intense and joyful. While Tom is able to share the experience and skill he has acquired from building over 1000 drums since 1996, each person is faced with a significant challenge to bring their first drum to completion. Most people finish the weekend feeling a deep sense of satisfaction while also feeling like they have finished the equivalent of a marathon. It is also a strong bonding experience for the participants who have shared this process.

Saturday

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM - Oil and wax. Wrap rings with fabric, tie cradle loops around rings.

1 PM – 4:00 PM Lace on skins, pre-tighten skins and level rings, shave heads.

Sunday

9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pull vertical ropes tight, tie diamonds to tune the drum, re-shave head, add handle and strap.


Drum Order Form

Workshop Date: _ Date: June 20-21,2009


Name________________________________________________________


Address______________________________________________________


Phone_______________________ Email____________________


Drum Type (except for djembe, indicate paduk (bright orange), purple heart, bloodwood, cherry or black walnut for wood)

Wood Type

Ashiko ________ $240 _____________

Super Dununba $475 _____________ (18”x36”)

Dununba _______ $395 _____________ (15 1/2” x27”)

Sangban _______ $375 _____________

Kenkini_________ $350 _____________

Djembe _______ $340

Decorative Metal Work $75 ________

Guinea Wrap (red/green/gold) $75 ______

For more information, contact:

Tom Harris
5014 Lakemont Drive
Douglasville, GA 30135
cell – 770-843-3556
email tomharris57@comcast.net

Joshua Project Rites of Passage Summer 2009

Any men interested in mentoring younger ones into manhood encouraged to consider the following:

2009 Rites-of-Passage Camp

for Young Men (13-19)

June 28 - July 5

Welcoming Weekend

for Adult Men

July 3 - 5

Camp Grier, near Old Fort, NC

Joshua Project

This camp is designed especially to help usher boys toward a mature and generous manhood, with the support of a community of soulful men (including fathers and male relatives) interested in offering a meaningful initiatory experience for young men.

One week in a beautiful, natural setting with rustic accommodations

Experiential learning about the tenets of mature manhood, community councils, survival skills, group-designed rituals, relationship skill-building, arts/crafts, music AND including a 24-hour solo Vision Fast

Not your typical summer camp, but rather an experience for young men to intentionally step toward an authentic sense of themselves as men-in-the making

Costs: $650./young man ($600. if reg by 6/1)

Partial scholarships available, please inquire

$150./adult men (for weekend)

Registration of Young men must be before June 14,

as preparations are necessary (Deposit of $125)

Adult men may register until June 27th (Deposit of $75).

Deposit to: The Joshua Project 3214 Stoneybrook Rd. Charlotte, NC 28205

Call 704-342-3456 (Philip Loydpierson, Director) for information

or visit: www.Joshua-Project.us.

Mission Statement: The Joshua Project is dedicated to providing meaningful rites-of-passage experiences for young men moving into manhood, to exploring the meaning of mature masculinity with men and boys, and to providing a vehicle to encourage adult-youth mentoring relationships. While the Joshua Project forwards no particular religion or creed, it is dedicated to the encouragement of spiritual practices that inform a man's authentic nature.

Hello Gents,
I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring.

Below is some information about workshops being done by John Lee the author of Flying Boy. I have attended a mens' weekend with John as one of the leaders. He does an excellent job as the leader of workshops. I hope some of you will consider attending one of these workshops. The workshops are at a place called Hawkwind in northern Alabama.
I hope to attend the one in July and possibly October.
If the links below don't work then you can go to johnleebooks.com.

(posted by Ethan)

New Workshops for Men from John Lee
If you can't view html emails, click here.
Men's Weekends at Hawkwind
with John Lee, Tarwater and Others
PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE 3 MEN'S WEEKENDS AT HAWKWIND IN 2009:
March 27-29 • July 24-26 • October 2-4
Read full brochure
Join John Lee for a series of three unforgettable men’s only workshops at Hawkwind.
Now you can experience John’s work in the beautiful and natural small group setting that Hawkwind offers. Take a deeper journey into the wounds, wonder, anger, grief and joy that comes from being a healthy man in the 21st Century.
MARCH 27-29, 2009
Beginning or Continuing the Journey Inward
Exploring and explaining the father-son and mother-son relationships and how they impact the development of all our relationships, our masculinity, careers and the way we give love (or don’t) and receive love (or don’t) to the degree we long for.
A deeper understanding of the male psyche and soul as it relates to the way we were fathered or not
What shut men down in the first place
What it takes to open back up.
Register Now
JULY 24-26, 2009
Men and their Struggle with Intimacy
Men and their held in, repressed, bottled up or explosive anger can have very negative consequences if not expressed appropriately on a regular basis. Unexpressed anger turns into rage and chronic emotional tension which robs us of valuable energy, vitality, and health, and thus can lead to us not only hurting ourselves, but also those we love or work with.
This is a safe, supportive, non-shaming setting to do anger work and grief work (they go hand-in-hand), whether it is dealing with loss, death, divorce, disease or childhood trauma. Grieving is a key to healing.
Register Now
OCTOBER 2-4, 2009
Boys to Men to Elders: Understanding Emotional Regression & Passivity
This weekend we will explore and expand the term “regression”—the best kept secret in Psychology and Recovery and passivity—the compulsion to be attached to not having the things we say we really want and desire which keeps men living a half-lived life, half in and half out of relationships and not being able to commit to their own creativity.
During this down-to-earth, fast-paced workshop you will:
Learn why we regress and what to do about itIdentify the red flags of regression
Explore the five things that will grow you or your client back up every time
Examine the causes and pre-conditions for regression
Experience the grace in regression
Register or Get More Info Now

Hello Gentlemen,
In memory of our friend Harold Earl Myers I am posting the Rumi poem below. Harold has attended the Spring Gathering for past few years. He died last week.
His gentle soul will be missed.

For safekeeping, gold is hidden in a desolate place, where
no one ever goes, not

in a familiar, eary-to-get-to spot. The proverb goes, Joy
lives concealed in grief.

The mind puzzles with this, but that strong beast, the soul, a
lively animal, will break

such a tether. Love burns away difficulties, as daylight does
night phantoms. Look for

the answer inside your question. Cornered in the edgeless
region of love, you'll

see the opening that leads neither east nor west, nor any
direction. You're a mountain

searching for its echo! Whenever you hurt, you say, Lord
God! The answer lives in that

which bends you low and makes you cry out. Pain and the threat
of death, for instance, do this.

They make you clear. When you're gone, you lose purpose. You
wonder what to do, where

to go. This is because you're uneven in your opening:
sometimes closed and unreachable,

sometimes with your shirt torn with longing. Your discursive
intellect dominates for a

time; then the universal, beyond-time intelligence comes. Sell
your questioning talents, my

son; buy bewildering surrender. Live simply and helpfully
in that. Don't worry about

the University of Bukhara with its prestigious curriculum.

(post by Ethan)