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Roddy Lucas's avatar

I've been meaning to get here to finish the full read of this after seeing the snippet posted online earlier this week. The timing of this sharing coming on the heals of so much interaction with a human I have had a relationship with for so many years where we continue to perpetuate trauma toward one another, a cycle we both actively seeking a way out of, but that seems so hard and the journey so long sometimes.

I was reminded while reading this of all the slow things that have held me since I was a child, and now as an adult still learning.

Laying in the grass with my brothers finding shapes in the clouds. My mothers family stopping their bickering while my grandfather read his traditional christmas story, never a dry eye in the room after. Following my son, slowly, through the rosegarden as he learned to walk. Sitting on my surfboard at sunset as the waves passed, because being was just enough. Being free enough to Dance. The volunteering of ones time. Listening without interuption to a friend, a coworker, a child, a stranger. Holding their gaze. Curiosity.

This is all so poignant, so relevant.

Thank you for what you share. Thank you for setting the pace.

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Rachel Simon Stark's avatar

Thank you so much for this open-hearted reflection, Roddy. I've been sitting with it since you shared. It can be so challenging to break the cycle of (re)traumatization in relationship. The patterns and behaviors become deeply entrenched, the way we view one another limited, and we are deeply deprived of the tools we need to disrupt and shift. I do think the nervous system is such a core part of this. When we are in a perpetual sympathetic activation, even subtly, the way this culture insists upon...

I love dropping into those memories with you. So beautiful. That's where the beauty of life is waiting for us. The miraculous in the mundane. The sacred in the ordinary. When we're in that slow, soft place we're so much more porous to it.

Thank you for your sharing here, too, and modeling the pace in these examples. So grateful.

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WolfMother Sarah Lou's avatar

So beautiful and such needed words today, dear friend. <3

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Rachel Simon Stark's avatar

Ah I’m so grateful to hear that Sarah. Thank you, beloved. 🍯

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Jan 30, 2023
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Rachel Simon Stark's avatar

I’m so grateful to hear the resonance and the shared journey we are walking together. It is so beautiful to remember the kinship available to us always… that others, unknown or not-yet-known to us, are feeling the same way. Thank you for affirming the call. 🤍

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Feb 5, 2023
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Rachel Simon Stark's avatar

Yes! It's called Ten Thousand Waves, in Santa Fe. Truly a magical, lovingly-stewarded place.

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