Three Questions

Question One

On Wednesday, I met with two incredibly smart and talented women to discuss growth strategy for Blue Light Collective. They asked me: "What makes Blue Light unique?"

I answered: "Our community, authenticity, and ability to empower individuals."

Community
Blue Light, whether in yoga or CAKE, in discussions or collaborations, on retreats or in workshops, is first and foremost, about community. Seeing familiar faces, learning each other's names, hearing each other's stories, and sharing space together (virtual or physical), again and again, unites us, grounds us, inspires us, buoys us, and teaches us. We become mirrors, cheerleaders, and sounding boards for one another as we sweat, read, laugh, learn, dance, listen, grieve, discuss, ponder, question, risk, fail, and grow together.

Authenticity
Blue Light is authentic. Her personalities are brave and true; her endeavors are thoughtful, sincere, and without pretension. In Blue Light, we feel safe to be our messy, vulnerable, beautiful, and inspiring selves. We delight in the absence of pedestals, polish, and exclusivity. We connect in our commonalities, our capacity to empathize, and our shared desire to evolve.

Empowerment
Whether it's because one feels wiser, stronger, or less alone, Blue Light empowers people to imagine the unimaginable, ask what else is possible, show up, have faith, try, and try again. Blue Light empowers people to know what they need, take what they need, and give what they've got, all with grace and grit.

Question Two

On Friday, Pip and I drove to Cranes Beach (pictured above) to walk the dunes together. As we were driving, Pip asked me: "Why does your imagination go away when you get old?"

"I'm not sure," I said.

"Well, what would you guess?" he inquired further.

"Hmmm, that's a big question. Let me think about how to answer in a way that makes sense...."

I looked out at the marshes as we approached the beach parking lot. After a short pause, I continued:

"I think as we get older and have more experiences, we begin to operate as if we know all the answers, and we forget to leave space for other possibilities."

"I don't get it..." Pip said.

"I think with more life experience," I continued, "we tend to see the world as dualistic: right versus wrong, good versus bad, safe versus unsafe. Whereas when you're a child, you see the world as infinite--there's no possible versus impossible! Does that make sense?"

"Kind of," he replied.

We pulled into the vast parking lot and were pleased to see very few cars despite the warm weather. I veered away from the cars parked in front of the multiple staircases leading to the beach, and pulled up next to the more discreet, lesser-known entrance to the dunes, and was struck with a metaphor:

"Maybe a metaphor will help...," I said to Pip. "Imagine coming to this vast parking lot for the first time. You would wonder where to park your car, and because you've never been here before, you would look around, taking in all the possibilities, contemplating the best place to park your car to enter the beach. In that scan of your surroundings, you would likely see the multiple main staircase entrances and you would likely see this smaller entrance to the dunes and wonder where it leads."

"Uh-huh," said Pip as he listened intently.

"Now let's imagine the same scenario of coming to this parking lot for the first time, but now there is a friend in your passenger seat, who has been here before, and she directs you to park in front of one of the staircase entrances. You do as she says without taking the time to scan your surroundings. When you return by yourself the next week, you park in the same place, once again without taking the time to scan your surroundings. Both times, you miss this less obvious entrance to the dunes because you assumed you already knew where to park."

"Hm," says Pip, "I see what you mean."

As we removed our shoes and rolled up our pants, I recalled the many times I came to this parking lot never seeing the entrance to the dunes. The possibility of a dune walk never even entered my imagination until my neighbor described her favorite walk on the North Shore.

We lose our imagination when we forget to approach our everyday experiences with a beginner's mind.

Question Three

As more and more of us are getting vaccinated, glimpses of "life as it was" keep popping up: kids are resuming in-person learning, individuals are going back to work at their offices, adult-children are visiting vaccinated parents, and families are going on vacation for spring break. Planes, restaurants, shops, and summer camps are filling up. These are undoubtedly all good things, but I can't help but wonder: "do I want life to go back to the way it was?"

Not exactly, that's for sure.

None of us have ever lived in a post-pandemic world. None of us know what's ahead, or how we will, individually or collectively, re-enter an open society. My hope is that we will return to society armed against old, life-numbing habits, systemic racism, and climate catastrophe with the hard data of what we've proven we are capable of this past year: our capacity to do more with less, to slow down, to live locally, to work together, to sacrifice for each other, and to wake up to broken systems. Re-entering our post-pandemic society is our opportunity to re-align our lives away from old, beaten paths that lead to burn-out, separateness, and mindlessness to newly-cleared paths inspired by what we are capable of collectively and what we are called to individually. This is our chance to align our lives to our potential.

As always thank you for reading.

I'd love to hear your answers to these three questions. I'd also love to know if you feel intrigued to join a Blue Light class, or discussion, or event, but something holds you back. Someone recently told me they want to try Blue Light Book Club but they feel intimidated. Another person told me they want to try CAKE but they don't think they're strong enough. Whatever is holding you back, please don't let it, or at least reach out so I can convince you not to listen to your fear. We want you to join us! Maybe you'd like to participate in one for these upcoming events:

This Wednesday at 630pm, we're discussing the concept of time in our Blue Light Discussion.

This Saturday from 10am-12pm, I'm leading a workshop for David Vendetti at his virtual studio on Union Fit. We will practice Blue Light Yoga and discuss tools for building community.

On Monday, April 5 at 12pm in Blue Light Group we will discuss tools and strategies to help us sleep better.

We're reading See No Stranger for our next Blue Light Book Club on April 28, which feels even more relevant and pressing after the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder. The $6 entrance fee will be donated to The Revolutionary Love Project.