The Spring 2022 newsletter begins with a message from Elaine:

“Peace, not only the absence of war.”

This line from ‘Making Peace’ by poet Denise Levertov gave me pause to consider, How does peace live in me? How does war live in me?”

As a person who has lived in relative safety much of her life, I have little reason to direct aggression outwardly. Nonetheless, I have experienced conflict within me, as self-hatred and shame. These war-like feelings have diminished over my years of Continuum practice – not from a direct approach at resolution – more as an outcome of growing other qualities in what I name as my “self.”

I name some of these qualities as a felt experience of peace: A golden thread of tranquility bringing ease within. I sense peace as a movement that allows me to dissolve boundaries between myself and others. I sense peace through the act of communion with the world around me. Even when I am frustrated and angry, this vein of peace flows in me, at times only a subtle glimmer, at other times like a radiant sun. Becoming a body of peace – even when disturbed, even when unwell – I still sense the possibility of peace within. 

Where else can peace begin if not in my own being? 

I don’t feel virtuous or noble in this investigation, nor do I feel like I know what I am doing. My efforts are a drop of water in a peace-parched landscape, like tears of grief while bearing witness for others’ pain. Yet, the pursuit of peace – embodied within and with others – feels like a sacred inquiry. 

To this end, with Watermark Arts, we create opportunities for somatic explorers to join together in peaceful communion with self, others, and the world. Please join in these embodied explorations of discovery. We create them to be shared with you. 

Read the newsletter here.

Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team