Manifesting Our Vision
STAR Foundation Newsletter
Dear STAR Friends,
Throughout my years of leading STAR groups, I have had the privilege of meeting some incredible people. Individuals who have taught me more than I learned in graduate school and have inspired me. Some I have been in touch with for decades. It is quite an experience to follow them, observing their lives unfold, creativity bloom, and pasts healed. What an honor.
I always love being involved with STAR graduates, be it with my Swedish “family,” or here in the US. It is fun for me to work with, or just hang out with STAR’S graduates. Working with David Hobby is always an exciting adventure. He and I will be co-leading a workshop called Spirituality and Empowerment here in Arizona over Labor Day weekend. This will be the first group to use our new lodge. We will dedicate the building to our vision of bringing more love and light into the world, one person at a time. In October, another STAR graduate, Victor Rozek, and his wife Kassy Daggett will bring their magical workshop on relationships, Life in Relationship, to Pocket Sanctuary. They are masterful in their approach in working with couples.
As a native Californian, I never thought that I would be living in any other state, especially one in the desert. I admit I had a one-sided experience from the hot, dry, Mojave landscape in California. My idea was to simply get through it as quickly as possible. This southern Arizona landscape is much different. I am finding a beauty here that I never expected. The monsoon season is upon us promising thunder, lightning, and blessed afternoon rains. Then there are the rainbows, and the clouds and skies are spectacular. I moved from Santa Cruz County, California, on the Pacific Ocean with surfers and seagulls, to Santa Cruz County, Arizona, home of mesquite trees, beautiful mountains, and hundreds of humming birds. Both are beautiful and very different.
Six unshod, unfriendly, almost wild horses came with the ranch. They roamed freely around as they pleased. All we did was throw out hay twice a day and they’d show up! After a palomino named “Nugget” was injured out on the range, we decided to keep all of them in the corrals. A surprising transformation began as people started paying attention to these big skittish animals. Gradually they allowed petting and brushing. It has taken several months and LOTS of carrots to develop trusting relationships in both directions. I’m not sure which species, the two-footed or the four-footed, has benefited the most. I hear confirming words from the humans to attest to the heart opening connections which have been formed. The horses respond with gentle nuzzles and soft whinnies. I know all you horse lovers will understand—dog and cat lovers too!
I am so looking forward to having STAR here in 2005. The foundation for the lodge has been poured and the frame is rising up, giving us an excited sense of the manifestation of our vision.
Have a wonderful summer, chill out, keep cool, and love your fellow creatures; we have much to learn from each other.
Blessings,
Barbara
