I opened my eyes this morning with a big smile and tingles in my heart & body celebrating all the beautiful moments at the BIG FAMILY GATHERING.
Did it really happen??
IT DID!!!
My deep gratitude goes to all participants, volunteers, workshop facilitators, children animation team, musicians, bodyworkers, cooks and, the core team (both the original and the current one) And, of course, to the LAND that carried us these days, such a beautiful land.
THANK YOU. WE DID IT!
25+ families came together. Families with both parents and with single parents.
Many single moms... and I was wondering "where are all the single dads?” You are also equally welcome, in case you doubted.
This event is a STORY in itself. A milestone story, I feel.
My personal reflection connecting the dots
Out of the blue (?), in February this year, I was asked by two women if I thought of organizing a Tantra event for adults where they could bring their children along because they are tired of attending conscious events alone needing to leave their children behind. "What a strange question!!" was my first reaction. "Of course, not" was the fast response from my mind. And yet when I listened deeper, in my sacral center I felt a "YES". I sat with it and felt into that YES for a few days. And without knowing how and what I decided to follow the calling. I was curious where it would lead.
Clarity was unfolding step by step as I kept following it... and still is.
After I shared it here on Facebook for the first time, a big response came from women to co-create something together, not per se (only) tantric, but a body-aware event for adults and children. We were suddenly with 10 in the core team at the start. I loved every gathering, every meeting we held both on ZOOM and LIVE. As the co-creation went on, the team started transforming and some team members stepped out. It all felt aligned and right. At some point somewhere around mid April, we even questioned the whole idea of organizing this event. We were already late with many things and for many of us a lot was happening on the personal front. At some point, we have even let the festival DIE. It coincided with the time when I went through an eye of a needle, a very intense and delicate process, in my relationship with Dylan.
And yet… no matter what was happening on the personal front, I felt the strong call inside to bring adults and children together. Through the death & re-birth, the event received a different name. The original name we gave to it was True Nature Festival.
The one aspect that was clearly on the foreground for me so strongly was COMMUNITY. I visited 3 festivals with children myself this year, went to live for a week in a Tamera community, and it started stirring these questions inside of me:
“How on Earth is it possible that we humans are so alienated from each other? Why do we need to go to events like the one we are intending to organize to feel togetherness, support, community?
How is it possible that I put so much energy into my family and that in the house next to me, another family, be it a full family or a single mom or dad put as much energy into it, and we don’t even connect not even speak of building synergies together to make our lives even more AMAZING by seeing and supporting each other?"
And I don't mean having friends with children. This we have plenty and this is great, but this is not what I mean.
At the Big Family Gathering past few days...
I saw my daughter of 3.5yo making friends with 2.5, 8 and 10 year old children and connecting with many more.
I saw how children naturally start taking care of each other if you stop putting them in a box by the same age, or any other box.
I saw another mother of three taking care of someone else’s child while her children played elsewhere, and while her partner was leading a group of youngsters on a treasure hunt.
I saw a relief in single mothers’ eyes and bodies to finally be able to take space & time for themselves through nourishing body practices because they could feel that their children are in safe hands.
I saw how my daughter started walking in a dancing way in front of me while until this weekend she always walked behind me often asking me to wait for her.
I saw fathers taking care and playing with other children than their own, and sharing attention with other mothers.
At some point I stopped seeing where one family started and another one ended.
And so the whole original idea and impulse to create a BODY-AWARE event for families became a means to something much bigger which I could not even see until the BIG FAMILY GATHERING actually happened! IT is an experience of ONE FAMILY.
I am celebrating this opening, this clarity, this possibility that became a reality, even if it was just for a few days. With this direct experience and knowing, a new door is opening up.
It takes a village to raise a child.
And the village is right HERE.
It all makes sense now. All the steps, all the milestones, all the stages… all needed to happen exactly as it happened.
first pictures are below.
Big Family Gathering - Lichaamsbewust Samen
