A Compilation of Words and Pictures from the 2021-2022 Courage Cohort
This month WholeHeart invites in voices from the Courage Cohort. Below is a snapshot from this year's closing session, framed with context and perspective by Ally Oswald. Throughout this year, the cohort explored various themes, including observing and experiencing seasons, self-care/community care, holding tension and grief in practice and communion with themselves and each other. A special thanks to co - facilitators Ally and Rob for sharing a taste of cohort practices as well as the love with which they hold and tend to this community and space - and for the voices of the cohort.
Sometimes words are not enough to explain the complexity of the human experience. We offered participants a way to explore big feelings around grief and healing by creating something with images we sent them. With Layli Ling Solder's Obligations 2 poem as a starting point, participants were asked to find their way through the poem and find the words that spoke to them. Then they were asked to look through the images mailed to them of thresholds, pathways, and maps to create an image that aligns to find a message from their time with the courage cohort. It's amazing to me how images and creating something visual can lead us into new worlds and a deeper understanding of who we are and what we need in order to become our true selves. Ally
What has resonated the most for me from this Courage cohort is the song “Crowded Table.” I play the song all the time - my new mantra - It still gives me goosebumps!
I chose the path, the house, the door handle, the coffee cup and the maps to illustrate the kind of house I want to be. I wrote the words”I want a house with a crowded table and a place by the fire for everyone” on the house. I put a heart over the door that says “everyone belongs.” On the side I wrote “everyone’s a little broken” & drew an arrow to “everyone belongs.” Feel free to share as you wish.
As we resist the present, how do we embrace the future?
As we work to understand the grief,
As we struggle to accept the grief,
As we begin to accept the grief,
As we begin to embrace the grief,
We shift.
We shift into light across our faces.
We shift into light.
"Exiting a Labyrinth" in Wild Roof Journal.
I have learned through the Cohort that perhaps the greatest journey in life is the journey inward. In finding greater companionship with my own soul, I have become more deeply aware of my place within the great web of belonging connecting myself, the divine, others, and the natural world.
