A few weeks ago I wrote that I would begin teaching on line. There are those who have been encouraging me to do this for some time but I felt reluctant. I believe(d) that my effectiveness as a teacher is in the presence of the moment. But life, and COVID-19, conspired to send me on a journey seeking new ways to connect over distances.
So I have taken the plunge. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say, I have taken to Zoom. And let me tell you, it’s a steep learning curve.
It turns out that teaching on line is a whole different critter than teaching in person. For one thing I notice how expressive my face has become. I find myself using visual expression like something out of psychodrama. As though I am giving permission for feelings-to-be-felt through my pantomime.
I didn’t know that about myself. I am more physically/facially more expressive than I realized.
Maybe I have always been like this but, because I couldn’t see myself, I just didn’t notice. You learn a lot by having your face in front of you.
ALL THE TIME!
But the main difference in teaching in person as opposed to teaching on line lies in the quality of the container. One of the ways I understand magic is that the depth of the experience is determined in large part by the quality of the container.
As a teacher, making a container that invites possibilities is primarily what I do.
Learning to make a strong-yet-expandable container on line turns out to be extraordinarily challenging.
However, this teaching on line thing just sort of fell into my lap. A current student who is a communications specialist stepped up to work on my website. Someone else offered to mentor me in the technicalities of Zoom. They are patient. I am a slow study.
And a former student agreed to walk this path with me as co-teacher. I am deeply grateful.
When the pieces come together right in front of you, what’s a girl to do?
Seriously, I long ago learned, when the Goddess says, ‘do this’
You might as well say ‘yes, Ma’am’ because you’re going to do it anyway.
So we all took a deep breath and sent the out the flyer.
The following day I received a private text, from someone far way, asking who I was.
Reasonable, I thought.
So I responded. Thoughtfully, I hoped, and truthfully.
Then I got thinking. I have been walking this circuitous path since just about forever.
The specific question was about my affiliations. And I had to confess that they are loose. I am not much of a joiner, preferring to forge my own path. I have worked and trained with some wonderful people (check out the new bio on my website for specifics) but I always stopped short of initiation.
Throughout the years, as doors have opened, I have stepped through, doing my Work as it presents itself.
From the days of being a world-traveler party girl, through the years of study and deep meditation practices, through the years as a weaver, through the years of working magic, through the years of parenting, landscaping and working with the Earth, I have done my Work and collected the tools to accomplish that. It is this combination of tools and skills, in whatever container we-as-a-group makes, that I teach.
Some years ago I was in a transformative time, a time of free fall between chapters. I did magic every day. The magic I did then, as now, was dedicated to knowing my Work and being worthy of doing it.
That dedication continues.
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