THE PLACE OF STILLNESS

BEYOND CEREMONY 8"x5" Watercolour on 65lb acid free paper

LIVING FROM STILLNESS 8"x5" watercolour on 65lb acid free paper

IN GRATITUDE FOR UNCERTAINTY 8"x5" watercolour on 65lb acid free paper

I've been employed by the United Church of Canada in British Columbia for four months and have come to see there are people who want to walk in a good way and there are people who want others to walk as they are walking.  The pressures on Indigenous people are both internal and external.  Conflicts amongst ourselves and conflict with the residue of colonization.  Finding the way to forgive and leave the past in the past is an act that we practice over and over again.  70x7.  

How does one forgive, let go, make decisions, relax while in overwhelm?  In a ceremonial fast one is consciously ushered over to the spirit world.  It is a journey of leaving the world of self to the world of being a part of a sacred line, a sacred way.

It has taken four ceremonial fasts for me to understand the journey from the personal, community world to the spirit world is an internal journey first.  Finding the place of stillness within self is the place one needs to be to see, understand and make decisions founded on goodness.  The place of stillness is quiet, powerful in a natural way, effortless, gentle and gives a deep sense of freedom.  May you find this place inside yourself.