Journey To Center 2007

WHAT I LEARNED AT JOURNEY TO CENTER
Reflections From The Field...
By: Michelle Morin

Hello Friends!!                                                                           September 15, 2007

Hope this finds you enjoying Summers last few warm days!!!
I'm dropping this "Hello" from 10,200 feet at one of my favorite little coffee shops in Leadville, Colorado.  We just wrapped up the 19th Annual Journey To Center week near Estes Park and I'm heading south to Aspen to visit with friends and spend a couple days hiking the beautiful trails of Aspen, Snowmass and Independence Pass.

It was an honor to once again join Tom Crum and the Aiki Staff as we held the space and played with 27 participants for 4 1/2 intense days of Aikido and Conflict Resolution skills.  Each year, as with any workshop of this intensity, the flow has its moments of expansion and contraction -- times of oneness and times of individual exploration -- times of moving forward and moments of standing still.  I thought I would share just a few insights that came to me at this years workshop...

--The Empowering Force Of A Good Team -- what an honor to partner up with such phenomenal Aiki spirits -- our six person team blended together, in true Aiki spirit, far smoother than anything I have experienced in a very long time -- through the many challenges and quick-changes that are required to bring such a journey into reality, the true power of bringing together diverse meta-skills was re-inforced for me as we served and grew each day right along with the participants.

-- the Reiteration That Our Journey Never Ends, It Only Grows Richer & More Congruent As The Years Pass -- it has been 2 years now of leading my own Aiki-Core Alignment based intensives at The Edge and I was pleasantly surprised to see the level to which my own personal buttons were pushed as I found myself taken to The Edge this week -- what, as Tom says, an emotional "weather system" that passes through each time we step up to the plate and ask our inner, authentic selves to embrace a new and deeper level of what challenges us -- for me, a chance to bring the book and Solstice Light one giant leap further along the path to realization.

-- It Only Takes A Single-Chord-Pluck Of The Heart For Awareness And Awakening To Come Back Into Our Consciousness -- during this Autumn, this 10-year anniversary of John Denver's death -- my teacher, Tom, also one of John's best friends, shared a few seldom heard stories of John, their days as friends in early-70's Aspen, days on the road, and the power of a legacy left behind -- that evenings reflection brought to mind many pieces of my own life that were so deeply influenced by John, Tom, Bucky Fuller, and the many faces of Windstar -- as we reminisced on the power of service and the myriad of ways in which it presents itself, I found my memories flooded by the words I heard John speak so many years ago -- those words triggered, for me, a commitment and calling to serve humanity on a global scale -- as 2007 approaches it's time of Autumnal grounding and release of old energies, I'd like to take a moment to honor the evolution of The Core Alignment Practice, what it symbolizes in my life, as a catalyst for this healing journey I find myself traveling, and for all of the possibility that lies in the futures of my life, this work, and our human family -- 2007 has been a celebration and stepping stone for me in many ways -- it is the 20th anniversary of serving people through hands-on, holistic disciplines -- it is also the 20th anniversary of Peacemarks, one of the many ideas spurred in my late teens and early twenties through my connection to Windstar -- there is something innately full-circle that has evolved in 2007 and thus the birth of The Core Alignment Practice sems a natural unfoldment of a journey to becoming whole -- I was asked by several of the participants this past week to share what TCAP is all about and what helped to birth this idea, at this particular time in my life -- this newly-birthed concept of CORE, the Authentic Self being birthed and re-birthed new each moment and each day -- ALIGNMENT, this place of re-aligning not just the physical body,but even more importantly, the emotional and spiritual bodies, as well as our daily life choices with what we know to be our personal truth -- and PRACTICE, this Aiki-based principle of "a practice", a daily embraceof growth and possibility, wonder and enrichment, beauty, challenge, compassion and love -- blending our energies and renewing our passions fresh and alive each day -- as I shared this insight I realized that this journey of The Core Alignment Practice, this journey to my core and the blending of my personal practice with the diverse inter-connected practices of the world around me is one of the most comprehensive things that I can do, as an individual, to be a driving force in this time of healing the earth and bringing harmony to her people -- I can remember John, at one of my first Windstar Symposia, when I was maybe 19 or 20 years old, he shared this simple insight into making a difference -- it went something to the effect of... when you, and everything you do, your conversations and your lifestyle, your integrity and your compassion, reflect who you are as a human being, that's when you truly make a difference -- so much of our Aiki week together was about cutting through the story and stepping into life with greater congruency -- recognizing that, as Bucky said, "Human Integrity is the uncompromising courage of self-determining whether or not to take initiatives, to support or co-operate with others in accord with all the truth, and nothing but the truth -- in accordance with the Divine Mind, always present in each individual." -- that Divine Mind, that Core or Authentic Self, that ability to acknowledge and embrace our humanness in this present moment, something I have come to personally see unfold in The Core Alignment work, has its roots firmly planted in the youthful days of discovery, perfectly and innately blended with the trials and challenges of 20-and-30-somthing life, coming full circle anew and re-awakened in this time of ever-blossoming possibility in my 40's -- what a mervelous gift, what a challenge presented, what a wonderful, possible, potentiality for each of us to embrace!!

I invite you to check into your own Core place of knowing and ask, What Is MY Role?? as you begin anew each day!!  May our work become play, may our lives remain rich, and may our time of living together, in harmony with Mother Earth be a time of loving, spiritual richness unsurpassed in beauty and present in the present!!

Much Love, Peace & Ki,
Michelle