I LIVE AT the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Some call it, “Lands End.” A washashore from the Silicon Valley, I appreciate the natural beauty, the prolific artistic community and the theme weeks celebrating everything from, “Girl splash,” to “Women of Color And Friends” to “Bear Week.”
I spend my days as an executive coach for leaders in the non-profit/NGO and corporate sectors. I help them become aware of how they present themselves as leaders, and how they can own their impact and take deliberate measures to contribute to a better way. Several years ago, I felt called to create an event where music would be the medium for inner wellbeing. My intention was to design an environment of inspiration that would naturally coach participants from the inside out.
To compliment the wonderful celebratory and themed offerings in Provincetown, I added Provincetown Inspiration Weekend to the calendar. I especially wanted to offer a spiritual experience for our LGBTQ community, whose members have often been wounded by traditional religious dogma. I curated ten original performing artists who range from R&B, World Music, Original Inspiration, and classical instrumentals.
When we listen to the words of Erika Luckett and Lisa Ferraro inviting us to “Open Wide My Heart,” or “Grow Your Joy, Feed The World,” we can take personal inventory. How open is my heart? What could my open heartedness contribute to the world? How can my joy feed the world? During this weekend, we have the opportunity to ponder these and other questions for the good of your own soul and for the good of all whose lives we touch.
In addition to our auditory sense, the weekend offers the opportunity to connect with our bodies, our creativity, and our sense of community. The event begins Friday night – September 29th – with music, spoken word, and celebration. Saturday morning kicks off with early yoga and moves into a furious dancing experience with drumming, live music and spoken word to take us through a personal journey in which we decide how to participate. As much as we will celebrate, we will also acknowledge the difficulties of this particular moment in time.
In her book of poetry that spans both the human condition and the condition of our earth, Alice Walker invites us to choose joy, peace and even a slice of happiness in spite of all the sorrows and challenges we face. She writes of death, hatred and betrayal in our personal lives and indifference and betrayal of our own mother earth. And through it all, she invites us to dance.
In my African American culture, we have kept our ancestral passion for dancing, to dance out our emotions whether joyful celebration or swirling rage. Right now our social / political / environmental / economic situation gives us the opportunity, if not the need, to dance every single day.
Dance is just one of the ways we can process and clear what threatens to clog our spirits with fury, resentment and fear. We can also write, make art, sing, create theater and use our gifts in numerous ways to contribute to a better world, one precious moment at a time.
Provincetown Inspiration Weekend provides opportunities to feel, express, release and heal. In addition to experiencing inspirational music and spoken word, we will create a community art piece. Imagine a six-foot Mandala that participants are invited to make a contribution to in their own unique way. Healers will be on hand to provide healing touch, acupuncture, essential oils and yoga. Workshops will provide tools for navigating our spiritual, physical and emotional health.
When we tend to our souls, we create the capacity to tend to others. We need each other right now; we need each other to be as open, healthy and willing as we possibly can. Join us for music, spoken word and movement for our own souls and for the soul of the world.
Provincetown Inspiration Weekend is September 29th through October 1st. Click here for more information and to register.
