Art of Hosting Workshop – Check In

At the Art of Hosting workshop in Geetbets, Belgium, I was asked to provide the poetic harvesting of the very first Check In Round where about 60 people participated. This  was my first Check In “coverage” and so I took abundant notes before composing my poem.  The Check-In round was based on the question : “Why is it important for you to be here today?”.   I started getting inspiration from talking pieces on display (including a ladybird) and from the introduction and welcome.  My poem was read during the day.

Check in with Miss ladybird

Miss ladybird, lady of luck and peace
Pray tell me: Why is it important for us to be here?
Let’s count the dots, check our colors,say our hellos.

Why is it important for us to be here today?
What’s the dance, the story, the hope
That we all bring here today?
What is the recipe, the food, the offering
That we bring to the circle?

Miss ladybird, pray tell me:
Why is it important for us to be here?
Of course we are here! Because we are here!
Because that’s who we are.

We are here to practice the art of stumbling together
To support each other.
We were invited. We heard the call. We had a yearning.

We are here to partake in the gift of hope,
The offering of magic,
The energy of love,
The gift of welcome.

We are here because
How else could we renew ourselves?
How else could we transform
Our anger, our fears, our isolation
into beautiful gifts for the world?

We are here because we want to be.
Because we are grateful to dance
Between aloneness and togetherness.
We are here because we are a family.

We are here to host ourselves
And to serve our communities at large,
Here. there, wider and further than we know.
We are here to leave with more questions
Than we came in and more answers too.

To be challenged and to rise to it,
To become better.

So Miss ladybird,we are for many reasons,
Not one true and not one false.W
e are here because that’s who we are.
Because of who we are.

Geetbets, 6th February, 2016