Dear Reader

Welcome to SacredSpace.

. Below you will find:

With love,

Noelle

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GUIDING QUESTIONS

A RITUAL FOR STEADFASTNESS

MY JOURNEY

‘My journey’ shares some of my practice creating sacred space in my everyday life. In sharing aspects of my intimate, inner world, my hope is to support you in connecting with the vulnerable, sometimes hidden spaces within your own being.

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As a healing and creative practitioner, as a new mother, and a student on the spiritual path: I often inquire into the embodied qualities of liberation.

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What does freedom, healing, joy, transformation, sacred connection feel like in the very fabric our being?

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This is how I learn and how understand our world, through experiences in my body.

Recently, I was feeling depleted. The witnessing, grieving and resisting of the genocide in Palestine. Building sacred spaces to hold in community. The constancy of presence, care & surrender that new motherhood has asked of me. All incredibly resonate aspects of my life - but I wasn't managing to hold it all, among other things. In late March, I could feel myself losing stamina in my body & spirit.

I was not taking care of myself, not sleeping well, my actions were not coming from a wise heart as much as I would have hoped. I noticed my own grief and rage and resentment at the multitude of oppressive systems working their way into every aspect of life were holding power over me.

This manifested in not being a good listener, not being present for my family in the ways I wanted to be, moving through deep frustration, getting sick etc. I was not angry with myself for my actions, I felt compassion for myself, and yet, I wanted to be in a different state.

I began deepening my inquiry into and practice with steadfastness, the English translation for the Arabic work sumud صمود, a concept deeply connected to the Palestinian liberation movement. I called my dad, which I often do: especially when asking about a Lebanese recipe, an Arabic word, a concept, a poem, a historical moment (my dad is like a breathing library). He shared with me, a deep awe in his voice, that sumud is a powerful word, that is has a lot of gravity. beautiful word, he said. not to be used casually. connected with a high cause - like that of Palestinian liberation - standing your ground, for the long term. He liked steadfastness as the translation but felt it couldn't capture the essence of sumud,

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my father explained that in Arabic - there is a mood, a feeling, a poetry that is felt when you hear the word sumud صمود . He said: imagine a mountain: immovable. You can have storms and wind and rain - but the mountain stands. that is sumud.

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It goes without saying, that Palestinian people face far greater threats, repression, violence and obstacles than I do. I see myself as a student, one small part of the solidarity movement, learning from Palestinian resistance, resilience and sumud. I am doing this from my own axis, here in Brooklyn, NY, as a diasporic child of the Levant, raising a 17 month old child, with deep care for all our beloved community of beings. Below is a small poem about some of my journey with steadfastness

as I learn what it means in my own body - as I continue to show up for myself, my family, my community, Palestine & our earth. Nurturing my roots, finding steadiness on this path.

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What does steadfastness feel like in your body? What supports you to show up with wisdom and care? As always - I LOVE to hear from you! Please share any reflections, writings, rituals, practices or anything else, it's always meaningful to connect.

UPDATES

I have been continuing to facilitate workshops and SacredSpaces for our community: this weekend working with the current cohort of artists at EmergeNYC and this past month with folks at the forefront of our movements. I am currently building a website for SacredSpace, where I will share all my upcoming offers with and for community!

Later this week, I head into a workshop for The Magic Bullet with Lubdub theatre. So grateful for be part of this creative community exploring ritual, history, magic and decolonization in performance.

with love - noelle