use your stick to cut the blue sky, then jump around on the beach with it. This will inspire the attention of others.
Haiku 2/22/20
to be sunlit waves / to be the round stones below / to belong to this (Notes: I had a couple things going on here…I had been doing some Shintaido exercises at Lake Massapoag that connect to nature with a staff — reaching up to the sky, down to the earth, out to the horizon. And I have been participating … Read More
Dancing on thin ice haiku, 2/15/20
Put your right boot in / shake it all about — that’s how / you dance with the marsh (Notes: Usually when I see this patch of ice in the marsh, I poke it with a stick, my jo staff. I just like doing it. But today I had a special staff (bokutoh) that I didn’t want to mess with. … Read More
Ecstatic Dance and Shintaido, Connecting Heaven and Earth
I had the pleasure to lead the intro/warmup section to FreeDance in Natick last week, connecting some central ideas from Shintaido with free form dance movement. (FreeDance is the “high energy freestyle dance experience” with live drumming by Drum Nomads). A central idea: use our movement to connect with nature around us. Even if we’re dancing inside a building, we … Read More
Haiku 1/22/20
Overhead with sword / cut across the sky to see /what’s unexpected (Notes: After a run through the woods, settled in front of Lake Massapoag to work with the staff, a series of cuts in front of me and above me, using the staff as sword. Sometimes amazing things pop into view, and as I was cutting through the sky, … Read More
Cutting and Blessing with Sword
One of the major themes in my life the last few years has been “cutting and blessing.” …Going through life changes, getting unstuck, using a wooden sword for my body to feel this. And to do the cutting in a way that doesn’t just discard the past, but blesses it at the same time. Anyone who has gone through a … Read More
Lake Massapoag Haiku 2, 12/20/19
Not the big waves that / crash on shore — the little ones / reach and pull you in (Notes: it was so peaceful sitting at the Lake watching this at sunset. Mesmerizing. My friend Cyril from Shintaido UK commented on facebook “…sweetly singing sirens (Tales of brave Ulysesses)”. And I think that might be what’s going on here…the sirens … Read More
Lake Massapoag Haiku, 12/20/19
Walk by the lake’s shore / look down at iced pebbles and / find the lake’s heartbeat (Notes: This haiku was one of the most liked that I’ve posted on the Sharon What’s Up facebook group, and I think it’s because it’s such a striking image that leads up to the phrase “lake’s heartbeat.” The lake becomes magical in the … Read More
How to defend yourself from two pumpkins with a sword
After last year’s post-pumpkin season festivity, I upped the ante and defended myself from two pumpkins this year. (As always, the best approach is simply to avoid bad pumpkins in the first place).