Home, The tenth letter of Maria (October 2021) |
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The profound desire of going back to where home is. |
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Dear friends, I have been reflecting about what is home… Maybe that is because my home changed. My boy, on his way to become a man, just left, for a while, as he starts University. I took him to his campus, where one year ago, I suggested to him to walk the path of the labyrinth. In the middle of the empty campus, we had found its Peace Center, the Multi-faith Building. In front of it, a grass labyrinth. We both walked it. We were trying to find its center. With each step, we reflected on our lives, from day one. I had told Mateus, "now, look at all your life as if it is, a film ... your earliest memory, until now. And when you arrive at "Now" you will find the center". We began the journey, in silence, mindfully. "As Silence is the language God speaks, and everything else a bad translation" says Thomas Keating. Images came to our mind's eye. Emotions too. |
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And we found the center. We found home. Last month, we went back. I was now taking my man to his first week at University. We spent a night at a Spa Town close to the University Campus. In wonder, I thought how life’s magic keeps surprising us. Taking us to new places, new unimaginable adventures. The day after, we arrived at the campus, and I dragged him to the labyrinth once more, to have us walk again its path. He was excited and nervous, wanting this time, to explore the campus, his new friends, his new home. I admired his courage, enthusiasm … he was not that interested in the labyrinth anymore… The slightly painful feeling of how his home was not my home anymore arose in my being. Mateus walked at fast pace the labyrinth, and quickly arrived at its centre … he’d arrived home once more. |
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But are we always home? I remember many years ago doing a film about my journey leaving Portugal and moving to Sweden. The film was called “Moving away from Home.” Because sometimes, we do loose home. Because we need to. A force inside just pushes us there towards the unknown, the uncharted waters. And we find ourselves in diaspora, in exile, with a deep ingrained feeling of not belonging. And that awakens a novel sensation of some kind of unknown woundedness, a realisation of parts in us that are orphans. And a willingness to look at our vulnerabilities. Maybe that is a necessary step to finally find the real home. The one that never changes. David Whyte says how when we know that we are in exile, we don't really belong ... then ... we have the ability to turn our faces towards what home really is. And how that is one of the great human endeavours, one of the great human stories. Where do we find that deep home, that allow us to be grounded wherever we are ? That allows us to travel, and never get lost? |
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And we can help each other on our way back home once more. We can help each other with listening, for example. With love, with compassion. We can help each other find that real home, with sensing others as if they are ourselves. When we listen with all our beings, everyone relaxes into that intimate space where we all belong, the space of the soul. "This experience of being truly and deeply heard is so rare. There is this funny kind of shift that happens in people when they really feel heard. They can kind of let go of the thing they were trying so hard to push out into the world. And there is a relaxing and opening – often with a sigh of relief." Tom Atlee And that space of the soul, is where that real home is. Always there, protecting us. Guiding us. |
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That weekend at Uni, I finally left my son, in his new home, and head back to London. I remember with a smile, while sitting in the train, how he had his Lion ring with him. The omen for his courage inside … rested on his finger. A few weeks before, he had asked for a ring for his 18th birthday. And the ring that manifested on a Notting Hill shop, after a vegetarian mill at the oldest veggie restaurant, was made with "Tibetan Silver" said the shopkeeper. As we ambled though Notting hill we spoke a little about the energy of the Lion and his fierce heart-centred courage , walking through the wide horizons of an expanding world. We argued a little as we always do, and then went for a beer at a Local Pub. With hopeful gaze he asked again about the recent cards our friend had drawn for him: the broken tower, the chariot, the lovers. An illuminated soft gaze opened his face anticipating the future. .. this had been the day before his 18th birthday. |
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I asked my son on his first weekend back “home” if he missed our house … then, I asked him where did he feel mostly at home … surprisingly he answered back that he felt at home everywhere. I was pleased. And reminded myself of the beautiful quote by Maya Angelou. “You never can leave home, You take it with you whatever place you go. " Maya Angelou Because home, is where the heart is. With love, Maria |
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The peace centre, University of Warwick, United Kingdom |
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Silence - New Workshop in November "Silence is the root of everything. If you spiral into its void, a hundred voices will thunder messages you long to hear." says Rumi. And what are those messages, and how can these help our lives, change our heart and our art? This workshop explores silence ... and deeper listening to your inner wisdom, because, 'When the lips are silent, the heart has a hundred tongues.' In this 4 week workshop, we will explore silence through meditation, art (text and drawing) and shared conversations from the deeper space of the heart. The workshop is also a good introduction to mindful meditation (heart-centred). It will happen over 4 weeks in November, from 7.30 to 9.30 PM: More information here: https://www.marialusitano.org/silence-workshop |
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When the soul draws: the tree, the home, the river, the labyrinth. Using drawing, this new workshop in 8 sessions, explores the themes of the tree, home, river, labyrinth, as ways to explore our own stories, biographies, hopes and dreams. The focus is healing, personal and spiritual development, and deeper contact with the soul. With the tree - we explore our ancestors, our family constellations With the river - we explore the river of our lives until now… mapping its moments its points With the home - we explore our I, the expanded notion of our I, our home. With the labyrinth - we explore the path, the movement towards the future, always bearing in mind that there is a centre, always there, the soul, protecting and nourishing you. And how ultimately the path, the dharma, always takes you there, to your centre. To unity. https://www.marialusitano.org/drawing-river-tree-labyrinth-home |
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Image by anonymous participant in Dreamwork Workshop (July 2021) |
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DreamWork Workshop coming up in October/November 2021 Working with others and with our dreams, is a deeply healing process that accelerates personal and spiritual growth. Over the years, I developed my own practice of working with dreams, which is inspired by Tibetan dream yoga, Sufi dream work, Carl Jung, and the use of creative tools such as drawing, storytelling and feeling the dreams through embodiment. Working with Dreams, enables us to become more aware of the main drives of the personality and how our struggles, aspirations and blockages paint the rich imagery that fills our nights with stories. In this workshop, we will meet in the evening and help each other remember our dreams. We will learn the basic skills to improve our dream recollection and we will work creatively through text and drawing to explore dreams and dream diaries. We will also learn how to lucid dream and the basic meditation techniques used by dream yoga. The session concludes with a Meditation inducing participants into remembering the first dreams of the evening. https://www.marialusitano.org/dream-yoga |
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silence... in the company of friends. |
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Dream circle every Monday at 2 PM
Just like the seven sleepers, a group of us keeps meeting every week to share our dreams with each other… and dream together.
The circle is very important in dream work, as one becomes more supported to explore our and each others dreams, both content and the embodied emotions locked in the imagery. The group serves as a container, a sacred space where participants can access safely their inner world, and see it recognised … and transformed. The group also accelerates the process of moving into soul consciousness, as a deeper part in us relaxes and rests in that silence of togetherness held by the group soul. As Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee says: “Group meets together for the purpose of transformation beyond the ego. If a group meets for this purpose the group is both energised and protected by the Self, the source and the goal of our inner drive for transformation.“ PM me if you would like to join this group. |
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