gumawa:

take moment to close your eyes, and turn your attention to your inner environment.

slowly take a deep breath in thru your nose.

feel the sensation of the air, this sacred element, this life force filling your body, filling the belly all the way up.

and feel this sense of fullness at the top of the breath leading you into the exhale.

slowly letting go of anything that’s not right here right now

breathe.

continue breathing at your ownnatural rhythm, and as you do this call ur attention and energy back to you.

to this time. this space. right here. right now. in the present.

now is all there is.

this is ur home. in this body, this vessel, this bridge, this portal for divine creative energy to flow through.

your body is a sacred space for your spirit to call home.

the greatest gift we can offer to another is our presence.

when we live in an attention economy—where people have learned how to profit off of our attention & use it against us—our ability to stay present is in itself a revolution.

to stay present in our own lives, our bodies, our relationships with all living beings.

what does it look like and feel like to be rich in an attention economy?

time is a resource we all have, but we don’t know how much of it we have.

in hilot, in addition to water, heat & plants, we consider time its own medicine as well.

time + presence is where connections are made, where understanding is built, bonds are formed, it’s how how we engage with & how we learn each other. it’s how relationships and art are created.

what does relation to our more-than-human kin feel like?

reflect for a moment on the elements & the presence they have in ur life…

the water in your bath, your cup, your food, in your breath.

the fire of the sun that brings a new day, new beginnings, allows us to see light & color.

the earth that grows nourishes & provides our food, our medicine.

the air in our lungs, the breath of life that keeps us in constant exchange with the trees that give us oxygen.

feel this network of support in your life. these elements that want to collaborate & co-create with you.

notice how much you are given, how much abundance they provide.

and reflect on how or what you give in return.

how can we relate w them more in the spirit of reciprocity than extraction?

this is a community art project so you are invited to work w these natural items around you to expand & co-create this earth altar on the floor with me and the rest of the community that chooses to leave their mark.

as you connect w our more-than-human kin, introduce yourself.

meet them with a beginners mind—a sense of curiosity, of wonder, of awe.

like your meeting them for the very first time & you want to get to know them.

invite them to play. tune into all of your senses.

what do you see, smell, touch, taste, hear?

physically and spiritually.

how often do we tune into the subtleties that happen within us and around us?

tune in to the art of noticing, of being, of listening, of feeling.

notice how the body and life energy meet.

notice the way you’re all made of the same elements yet present in your own unique form.

what are their characteristics?

get familiar with their texture, color, scent.

what is their energy, their essence like?

the more present, open & available we are to something or someone, the more connected we feel to them.

take a deep breath in, and connect to the part of you that goes beyond this body.

feel your connection to all living things.

feel the ecosystem you exist in, that you are a part of.

make the connection w your most creative and aligned self.

what does this feel like in your body?

as you feel and play, you re-member the nature that is w/ in you.

you start to sense this unseen network of connectivity.

you sense this familiarity—this feeling that you have met before. maybe you even sense that they are a part of you.

you sense the fifth element, the unseen element—some call it space or ether, some call it Spirit.

in tagalog—i call it kapwa.

this filipino concept of shared identity.

or in other words,

“I am who I am connected to”.

in kapampangan—it’s alaya.

the intangible, the metaphysical, the universal, the infinite, the divine, the life force.

everything is self reflection.

you are the earth. you are the water. you are the fire. you are the wind. you are the flower. you are the garden & the gardener. you are the creation & the Creator.

connect to the energy of creation within you.

love is the energy of creation.

Love is god. and God is love.

re-member, you are nature in human form.

you are Creator in human form.

you are divine.

you are the sacred re-membering itself.

breathe.

what u see and contribute to this earth altar, may look one way now, but may transform at any moment.

the only constant thing in life is change.

presence allows us to savor the beauty in its fullness when & where it arrives.

nothing at any moment is ever the same. we are continuously becoming and unbecoming, along with the rest of the universe. therefore, we must learn to release our grip, our attachment to the way things are.

trying to stop change goes against the natural flow of life & causes suffering,

so we learn to flow w it.

breathe in, and let your heart expand.

breathe out, and let yourself be here.

feel ur body where its making a connection with the earth.

feel your body as your own anchor. feel the edges of you where ur skin meets the air around you.

when ur ready, gently open your eyes, and come back to the room start to take in where you are in time and space.

your presence is a gift,

your uniqueness,

your most creative & aligned self

is an offering to the collective.

creativity & play is a spiritual act, a liberatory act.

what will you breathe life into?

may we live love & create in ways that set each other free.