Afterlife
I want to be fierce and joyful and a meadow when I’m dead. Spindly flowers and waist-high grass and the shadows of clouds across that brightness, shifting, like so many ships in the sky. I want to be all in one place, at last, but vast, a sea by the side of the road. I mean green, and I mean poppies and daisies, everything blooming at once. And I want to be, again, that girl who pushed into the wind. Who stood up to the sun, big-mouthed and brave. I mean, if I’m going to die, let me live. Let me wade out into the darkest part of the night and name myself. Wild-haired bitch of the mongrel stars. Moon on her shoulders. Dirt-rich, proud.
from Earth, Two Sylvias Press, 2015
One of the main points of terrealuma, as a healing refuge, is that there can't be health without creativity or creativity without health. Without plugging into nature and the natural state it's hard to be creative and once you are plugged in it is hard to stop. It isn't reserved for 'talented' people.
Having said that, some very talented people have been associated with terrealuma from the start. The closest is Cecilia Woloch, a poet with six poetry collections and a novel to her name, and a reputation as an inspirational creative writing teacher and facilitator in challenging contexts such as prisons and schools as well as universities and privately with people who fly around the world to attend her workshops, in Paris, Turkey, Mexico to name just a few of her regular venues. This July we were honoured to work with her as she brought her writing workshops to a hotel near us, where I also offered my Creative Regeneration workshops to the participants for a couple of days.
Cecilia's work has long been an expression of the mystery, power and beauty of the lands her ancestors came from (in the environs of terrealuma) as well as their murky history, and partly an attempt to investigate the nature of borders and identity. They play out always, though, in a larger context, which shifts and shimmers, and beauty always wins.
Check out her website for upcoming workshop details and more...
And, signing off, a poem from me
cascade
the nights here stand still like star
illusion of perspectives joining as a
million conditions you could extract
into facts collide in one
breath one
simple illusion of stillness
the soul has no language
let me cascade
Sarah Luczaj, PhD
therapist, writer, artist, reiki master, creative regenerator and co-founder of terrealuma.
offers online reiki healing/chanting sessions, here
