flock n flow

Teens flock out over the plains of Northern Florida during an earth skills gathering; they move as if a murmuration of birds, lit from within by the same consciousness. They largely ignore the formal offerings of the gathering, exploring self-arising games, dares, experiments, deep talks, contests of will, natural initiations.  When the teens are in this formation they are wide open, heartfull, clear. This is largely a temporary state for most of them.  Many shut down when they return to their daily lives.   They don't know how to share that winged part of themselves with the rest of their lives, with their future, with anyone but their winged comrades.  They're drawn to our camp and end up mostly hanging there.  I invite to do meaningful work and helpful tasks - they love it. 

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I invite them into deep soulful chats regarding world events, their interior lives, their hopes and dreams.  They are thirsty for such engagement, I quickly become one of the winged companions.  I soon leave the gathering, now fraught with politics and serious adult stuff and end up mostly flocking with them to the local springs, and telling stories deep into the night under skies heavy with stars, and with absolute potential.  They quietly ask: how do I dream about my future while the world is on fire?  Everyone sighs.  I ask if they believe in destiny. They do.

 

What if its your destiny to remember how to dream in the fire?  

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​Like adults who go away on sacred sabbatical or doing vision quests, teens gain valuable nutrients about who they really are, what their passions are, what joy and safety feel like from these rare, safely held moments of shared flow and freedom. These qualities they discover in themselves are the exact one they need to learn how to bring home and learn to integrate and live out of.   Too often people of all ages misunderstand the value of these high up experiences.  They are touch stones that give us a glimpse of who we really are, who our highest version is.  These rare flocking moments give teens an opportunity to open all the way up, to collaborate and explore within safely held boundaries. Mammals learn best when they are making new synaptic connections (which coincides with when they feel most playful).  We're experimenting with holding space for teens to flock with other like-hearted teens to help them shape a natural curriculum for their naturally arising passions, joys, experiments, field trips, and deep spaces they need to explore.