Word Dancing. Writing from my soul feels and looks like this!
I write from the inside out. Literally. I’m searching for a word and my hands start groping the air. Or I find myself wiggling in my seat or sometimes even standing up with my fingers still on the key board.
Words are important to me. Even though I skipped out of school beginning with Kindergarten, the written word was my sanctuary. Libraries and churches were my ‘safe space’. Libraries were always walking distance or running distance if I were fleeing from domestic chaos. Quiet, orderly, and well lit spaces allowed me to sink into my body and then astro-project myself from inside a book. Before yoga, the book taught me to tune in and then tune out. Words enchanted me. Then I projected my own personal movie reel in my head that came with custom surround sound.
Now as an adult, words continue to enchant me. Words are a way for me to touch another being-transcending time and space. My desire to connect is insatiable. Connecting with others feeds my heart. Touching Publications was my first writing venture. Just like poetry’s gotta be heard, and art has to be seen, I gotta touch another human to feel like I’ve contributed to the world. Ecstatic dancing’s been my major food group. Even though there are folks who show up to dance solo or ‘trance out’, I thrive from moving my body in the midst of hearts thumping and lungs pumping around me. Vicarious proximity nourishes me. How does this relate to word dancing?
How can I share the inner, non-verbal dance experience with others without using words? I began with images. That’s where my Sacred Dance Cards came from-my Art Therapy groping for words. Then poetry poured, sometimes gushed, sometimes trickled out of me to articulate an interior emotional landscape. Words seem to be the most intimate reflection. Words linger longer than images and sounds. Words really do come from the bottom of my belly or sometimes squirm from the base of my spine, sometimes under my rib cage. But by the time they come from my fingers, they’ve traveled through my bones, tissues, blood and through the pores of my skin, hair, and nails and mixed with my saliva and sweat. Words mix with my insides more than images. And words represent my core more than anything else I can share.
Baubo is the Goddess who speaks from between her legs. In one of my favorite stories of Goddesses Demeter and Persephone, Baubo’s the heroine who saves Demeter from depression. Clarissa Pinkola Estes, in her book Women Who Run with the Wolves, tells the story of feminine raunchy humor as medicine for our soul. My Mom personified Baubo when I was a child and I was ashamed of her shamelessness. Since she’s passed away, I continue to appreciate her sense of humor and gift of audacity.
Baubo’s the Crone in the story. I remember a Shaman at my first Wild Woman Gathering told me during a Sweat Lodge, “Carola, when you eat your anger, chew it with your guts, poop it out clean like, then you’ll finally have a sense of humor.” Demeter meets Baubo after she’s gone through fear, anger and total exhaustion. She’s lost her youth. She’s lost her hormonal driven sexuality. Now her radiance comes from her Self. Virgin is an independent feminist who refuses to kowtow to patriarchal norms of femininity, attractiveness, or sexuality.
Nooks and crannies, tightly tucked safe spaces hold precious words. Much like it’s the journey, not the destination for true happiness, it’s the grope and fondle that conjures just the right word. Tongue is cheek. Here’s a real sucker to wrap your lips around!
Carola Marashi M.A. Published Author, Therapist, Writing Coach
30 years of professional experience.
I have a Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Psychology and published author of 2 books-Sensual Eating, 1992; and Sacred Dance and 22 Card divination deck of my original art, 2010 2nd Edition.
As a writing coach, I listen with soft ears- to breath, pauses, rhythm of speech and the words chosen. Our ears go straight to our heart. My purpose is to help others follow their heart, trust their intuition and walk their path.
Sessions can be on the phone or skype. Currently I live in Beaverton Oregon west of Portland with my beloved and 2 cats.
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512-925-0625
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