A quick hello and update from Bend, Oregon:
Well, my weekend at FLOW, the NW Hoop Gathering, has just wrapped up. What a delightful, nourishing, inspiring, and FUN weekend! The hooping community is so special. I love that through hooping I am exposed to people whom I probably would never otherwise meet. People with regular day jobs spanning a vast array of professions, who lead their own interesting lives, and who's lives are enriched by the hoop. I LOVE it!...
From Friday through Sunday I spent a lot of time hooping, socializing, vending, eating, resting, and enjoying playing with people from all over the country. I love that at hoop gatherings such as this, and Hoop Convergence, Hoop Camp, Movement Play, and the Hoop Path Retreat, I am fortunate to convene with so many inspiring and amusing individuals. These events are FUN. Every person there is open, accepting, and joyous. What a blessing to be part of that energy field.
At future events I would like to spend more time connecting with new hoopers, people who are just getting started or checking it out for the first time. As one person said this evening, after 8 hours of hooping, we didn't have much time to sit around a table, chat it up, and get to know eachother more. We had a social dance event that was totally fun, and very focused on dancing in a club-like atmosphere. Not exactly the ideal place to have a get-to-know-you conversation. I spent most of the weekend with the teachers and event organizers, a circle of people I love and adore being with. AND I would have loved to have gotten to know some of the newbies better. It was well stated by someone at the event that every person there was an important part of the weekend, that we couldn't have had THAT experience without every single individual who was there. Had one person not been there, the event would have been different, a different experience, even if ever so slightly.
I've spent the weekend feeling very much a part of an "inner circle", that being the folks who teach and are leaders in the community. It's really important for me to express and share that our hoop circle is more than big enough to support the growth and connection of every individual who steps inside of a hoop. I can imagine that it might be intimidating to come to an event with a lot of advanced hoopers attending. A lot of super styled-out performer artist types. It is my intention here to send a message that if you don't hoop like an advanced hooper (yet), or if you don't dress like a hoop-star performer, that you are *entirely* an important part of this community. It doesn't matter how you move or how you look, so long as your experience is pleasurable and fun for YOU.
You are hereby cordially invited to join and grow in the hoop community in your most authentic expression of yourself!
If you haven't attending one of the above events yet, please come! Please join us, and create more fun in your life! I guarantee you'll love it!
You can check out what's happening this year on our Community Calendar page: http://herohoops.com/community/community_calendar/community_calendar
