Posts by Leslie Pace
The Four Directions of a Queer Man: Forgiveness, Apology & Reconciliation
Queer people don’t grow up as ourselves, we grow up playing a version of ourselves that sacrifices authenticity to minimise humiliation & prejudice. The massive task of our adult lives is to unpick which parts of ourselves are truly us & which parts we’ve created to protect us. —Alexander Leon epigraph in Last Call, by…
Read MoreCA Men’s Rite of Passage
The world is changing fast, and we must do our best to keep up. We now face unprecedented waves of transformation. The blossoming and decay of our modern ways is calling attention to fundamental questions about who we are and how we relate – to ourselves, each other, and the world we’re part of.
These questions illuminate a new and yet very old story about what it means to be a man. In these times – what does that mean? What are the inherited forms of masculinity that are calling out to be transformed? Healed? Loved? What are the gifts and the wounds that need to be grieved, praised, and renewed to truly honor and embody this shared identity of manhood?
Through this rite-of-passage we invite those who identify as Men to take a leap – to look deeply at our notions of manhood – and to enter the threshold with an empty belly and open heart. Alone and together we’ll embark on a shared journey towards finding integrity, towards finding ourselves and our community, and towards finding our yet-to-be written futures that are calling us to slow down and show up to embody the transformation these times are asking of us.
NM Fall Vision Fast
In increasing times of unrest and uncertainty it can be a common human experience to gravitate towards more “certainty” rather than less. Yet, in the Zen tradition “not knowing” is most intimate. The natural world reminds us of this intimacy and offers us refuge. There is something waiting to find us but in order to be found…we sometimes must first admit we are “lost”…
Read MoreCO Summer Vision Fast
In your bones you hear the singing of your sacred ancestors. You follow in their footsteps. You go alone, with an empty belly and a bare minimum of equipment, into the heart of the wilderness, for four days and nights. There you live with yourself in solitude. You surrender to the mirror of your wild environment, and to memory, the looks-within-place. You enter the mansions of nature’s soul. You ponder the questions: “Who am I?” “Who are my people?” and “What is my intent?”
Read MoreNM Women’s Vision Fast
A woman’s journey is both vigorous and introspective as she covers ground outwardly, so she ventures deep within herself. Stirred by nature’s calling to be creative and complete, and beckoned by an irresistible urge to cross personal boundaries, she travels the path of her unique destiny. Her passions and gifts are her map. Psyche is her guide. Dreams are her nourishment, the land her friend….
Read MoreLet Go into the Mystery: The East Shield of Living and Dying
Throughout time and cultures, people have crossed borders of their ordinary lives seeking contact with the Mystery. An experience of Oneness, it is beyond any fixed identity. Called by many names, known in a myriad of ways, yet it is ungraspable. In the wide-open view of this Mystery, living and dying are fundamentally interdependent. So too is our recognition of being wholly and completely interconnected with it all.
Read MoreThe Great Ballcourt Initiation – Fall Fast
Death is the ultimate agent of transformation—be it a physical death or “the little deaths” encountered throughout life. Indigenous cultures developed rituals to aid and guide people through these stages of change and renewal, utilizing the power of death to enhance and intensify these experiences. For the Mayan people this ceremony was played out on…
Read MoreCO June Queer Quest
The natural world reminds us that being Queer* is both beautiful and something to be celebrated! Showing up as who we are, and with our many gifts, is a celebration of nature’s diversity and honors our deep connection to the natural world. Many earth-based cultures recognize and honor queer community members as gatekeepers to the…
Read MoreCO Mirroring the Four Shields of Human Nature: The Art of Story Telling and Listening
Who is this miracle speaking to me? And who is this miracle listening? What amazingness are we creating? Out of gray matter a star spark of thought leaps between synapses into the air, and pours through gray matter, into my heart: how can I not listen generously? ~Marilyn Nelson The shields of human nature turn…
Read MoreCO Two Week Training
In these times of change and uncertainty, it is crucial that we show up for our community in ways that truly serve. The world is calling us to listen in new and old ways to connect with the land and each other for personal and collective healing. We are being called to show up in…
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