Collaborations

Since my own journey through Color of Woman teacher training, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with several SiStars in our community! 

The very first collaboration was at the beginning of my CoW journey, June, 2015! Graduate Lora Pirtle invited me to join the PNW MeetUp group, and post my offerings there. When I asked about auditing her upcoming 'Mystical Mermaids' class, she replied, "no, teach it with me!"
Here are the class photos - I played harp during the visioning, and she'd prompt me to show them what's next throughout the afternoon. (Yikes!!)

Serena of the 7 Seas

The next collaboration was as I was gearing up to teach my 13 step class, Dancing with the Muse. My friend Sepha, who'd been teaching Paint Nite for several years, gave me tips for teaching in a carpeted room without running water (the chapel at my church!) and then attended! 
She asked great "beginner" questions that helped keep me on track, and helped with set up!! (The link has some of her excellent tips!) That fall, Sepha enrolled in CoW '16, and we co-facilitated many monthly circles and periodic classes over the next several years. 

Sepha, Nadya & Shiloh Sophia - 2016

With this Spring's turn toward offering circles and class virtually, I decided to invite SiStars to co-facilitate my monthly Red Thread circles, and added a second circle each month. It's exciting to team with gals who live over an hour away, and can't easily attend our in-person circles, and to benefit from their different passions and soul work.

In May Linda Allen, who is a graduate of both Red Thread Guide and Color of Woman courses, and is finishing Catt Geller's Cosmic Smashbook course, offered "What's in your Basket?" (during this time). Linda has a strong background in crafts, and we've both woven baskets, so she she suggested a 3-D approach! 

Morning's basket, leather, twine

In April, I teamed with EFT (tapping) practitioner and CoW graduate Sherry Rueger Banaka, with a Metacognative process in resilience and short tapping sequence. Gals from her tapping community joined us from England and British Columbia! Our second June circle will be with Tina Green, who recently moved to Washington State.

One of the benefits of collaboration is that wider reach, connecting with beloveds from afar and from different circles, all connected by the Red Thread. Yesterday, our attendees included 2 other IC graduates, and two students - one in CoW 2020, one in RT Guide! Each is interested in co-facilitating a circle.

Whatever the field, collaborations invite us to think outside the box:

• Who has wisdom and skills that complement yours?
• Might beathwork or movement be a good addition? 
• Can someone help with set up in exchange for attendance?
• Does a friend know a craft or skill you'ld like to learn? 
• And who is responsible for what? (Spreading the word, registration, teachings...)

My circles are currently complimentary, but when charging for events, it's important to be clear about the logistics of how expenses and income from an event will be split.

One of the silver Linings during this time of social distancing is the opportunity for unexpected collaborations!!

Happy Paint Party Friday!

What's in your Basket?

It's so fun to be collaborating with my Red Thread SiStars on virtual circles! Linda is graduate of both the Red Thread Guide and Color Of Woman, and competing the Cosmic Smashbook certification course! She's also a super craftswoman, and basket maker. 

Our inquiry for yesterday's circle was "What tools do we need in our baskets now?"  With choices on how to create our baskets using simple materials! Linda and I've both made pineneedle baskets, and brought one to share on our call! 

Pineneedle basket

Several women from Oregon joined our call, plus 3 from E Canada! As usual, the finished pieces varied in materials, shape, colors and contents. I tore strips from a privacy envelope, colored with Inktense pencils them wove the strips, and glued then to another envelope to make a pocket. One gal wove silk strips, others added feathers or bark ...

Nadya's basket, Red Thread and vision plan cards

Linda's basket and collage

Our next circles will be June 11 & 25th, at 1 PDT. 
The link will be on the MeetUp announcement. I look forward to more collaborations with my IC SiStars. 

Margie's basket

What tools do you need at this time?

Jana's basket - handpainted silk strips 

Enjoy creating - and happy Paint Party Friday!

I am from

In the red thread Circle Guide program, Shiloh Sophia invites participants to connect with our origins, and write a I am from poem. Where are you from?'

I am from sage brush, juniper and mint in roadside ditches
   Yarrow in the pasture, that I grind between stones
        Then set in the sun to dry, knowing/not knowing
              There's something more to do

I am from songs around the campfire
    Pumping water and carrying it back to camp
       Sleeping bags and clear night skies
          Waiting for the blue flash, when the lantern goes out

I am from hikes in the woods
   Little mountain mosquito bites that
      Won't itch, if I dont scratch them ....
          I scratch them!

I am from befriending chipmunks, while my mother watches for birds
    From my father's fishing pole and tying flies
         Pan fried trout, fresh from the stream
              Calling the deer, as hunters have, time behind time

I am from lonely child only child
    Day dreams and stories read before bed, 
         myths and legends
             Fuel my dreams

I am from summer adventures with favorite cousins
    Learning constellations dancing in ink black summer sky
        Milky way, a stream across the heavens
             Orion, Cassiopeia, the weeping Pleiades
          Great and little dippers, Pegasus, Leo

I am from church on Sunday, and Grange on Fridays
    From a line of preachers, teachers and farmers
          Midwives and healers stretching back across the plains
                To the southern forests, to the Celtic lands
I am from piano lessons and singing in the choir

    From drawing the neighbor's ponies, 
        Hanging clothes on the line and polishing silver
           4-H and crafts with my mama
            Oregon vacations, Reading after dark

I am from Magpie and Red wing Blackbird
     From echoing Meadowlark's trill and singing to my mountains
        While waiting for the schoolbus
             In the brisk morning air

I am from teacher's college, 
   Honors English and Music theory
      Natural history, with ancient forests and volcanoes
          Life drawing and Opera workshop

I am from a third floor dorm room and my first roommate
        She, one of ten kids, and me, one of one!
            Music Major and minor
                 Learning to bump along

I am from romance and disappointment
      From young motherhood and marriage
           Nursing and making yogurt
                Messy houses and enough books to fill a library  

I am from art and science
     Mountains and stars
          Healers and dancers
              Wise woman and mystics

I am from astrology and tarot readings
    Color and Theory
        Living in community 
             And taking up the harp

I am from a dancing dragon tattoo
    Living by the sea for awhile
        Teaching Reiki and gathering stones
             Basking in starlight

I am from here and there,
   From the songs of my ancestors, and of my grandchildren
      From asking "is there another story you'd like to tell?
         Sharing the songs of the stars
             
.... Posting to Paint Party Friday - where are you from?