Failure and doom fortold, a guardian angel, and knowing I am not alone

Hi everyone.  Kathleen and I have made out way to Bethlehem, ready to plan and teach after some eye-opening time in Jerusalem.   We are spending tonight doing logistical planning and calming down after Jerusalem.  The thing about Jerusalem  that you don’t know until you get there is that it is intense.  Intense day and night.  Intense all week long.  Intense just walking down the street.  Intense in almost every personal interaction.  We are resting  and organizing to be ready to take OTYF to a new level here in Bethlehem!

Those of you who read the last blog post know we attended an Ashtanga workshop by Gilad Harouvi at Zman Yoga in Jerusalem – as Merav, the co-owner of Zman Yoga said, Mark Zuckerberg deserves a prize for connecting us.  When Merav found out about OTYF, she suggested doing a donation class!  Wonderful news!  So more connections have been made, more yogis are supportive of the idea of bringing yoga where it is needed in the world, to whoever needs it.  Right on, Zman Yoga!

Last night we decided to sit and relax on the patio of our guest house.  It looked peaceful and happy.  A group of people had gathered to talk and drink wine together and they asked us to join them.    The talk turned to what I was doing in Jerusalem.  I explained OTYF’s mission (to take yoga wherever it is needed), and outlined my plans.   I am not going to go into what was said in response to my words, but it was said with great fear and anger.   I will listen to people, but I won’t listen to someone tell me how I will fail miserably and why it isn’t worth the trouble to be of service.  It is terrifying, first of all, to assume other people’s fears.  I am lying if I say that they didn’t scare me.  I have been dealing with their voices in my head since yesterday and even writing about what they said scared me half way back on the airplane to Canada.  I kept repeating my motto: If someone says you can't do something, say WATCH ME.  But I needed to have someone else whisper it in my ear.  And it happened.

I had a guardian angel last night.  A tall blonde Dutch woman interrupted the conversation by saying “I don’t have any interest in joining this conversation, but I want to tell you,” and here she looked deep into my eyes, steadily, and with great love and kindness “that I have lived and worked in the West Bank for 5 years and it is NOTHING like they are saying it is.”  She squeezed my hand and walked away.   I felt calm, reassured, and okay.  Things were going to be okay.

Another salvation was the inspiring group of people at the Palestinian and Israeli music, art, struggle and rave on Sunday night.  These amazing people came together to create a space for co-creation: I danced with Palestinians and Israelis and people from all over the world to DAM, the original Palestinian hip hop group, founded in 1998 and inspired by Tupac Shakur; an awesome East Jerusalem/Old City hip hop group; and a mind-blowing reggae group who made me and Kathleen dance around like the 39 year old former Oregon hippie ladies that we were.

More important than the fun, though, was the inspiration and hope that the people at the party gave us.  This event was packed with people from all over, and they created art and music and dance and a crazy good time together.  I am so thankful to have been a part of the event, to see that co-creation is possible, and many people are working for it.  I know I am not alone in working to create a world where we can do yoga together, dance to incredible music together, connect and love without fear.  If I can add yoga to the mix, then I have done my part. And I will, because if I can, I must.