Imagine yourself in a circle of women (or men, if you’re a man reading this), surrounded by strangers, yet being intimately embraced by their words, their head nods, their grunts of understanding.  There you sit in the company of an artist, a writer, a physician, a project manager at Burning Man, a businesswoman, a web designer, an acupuncturist, a flautist. There’s an unspoken agreement that you’ll be authentic, your real self and not hide behind your everyday mask that others usually see, those who know you back home.  Here in the circle it’s safe to speak your mind, uncensored.  You can let your creative juices flow where they may and it’s all right.  It doesn’t have to be great.  It doesn’t have to be good.  You just have to write.  You just have to speak.  You just have to paint.  Total acceptance.  No judgment. Letting the creative energy of the Great Spirit flow through you.

Whenever I’m in a circle of women feeling at home with myself and others, I am reminded of Dan Schutte’s song “Table of Plenty.” Here are the lyrics below.

Table of Plenty

Come to the feast of heaven and earth!
Come to the table of plenty!
God will provide for all that we need,
here at the table of plenty.

O come and sit at my table
where saints and sinners are friends.
I wait to welcome the lost and lonely
to share the cup of my love.

O come and eat without money;
come to drink without price.
My feast of gladness will feed your spirit
with faith and fullness of life.

My bread will ever sustain you
through days of sorrow and woe.
My wine will flow like a sea of gladness
to flood the depths of your soul.

Your fields will flower in fullness;
your homes will flourish in peace.
For I, the giver of home and harvest,
will send my rain on the soil.

This is Day 11 of the Write 31 Days series.  You can find my other posts in the series here.