Beauty Manifested Together – Reflections on Collective Movement

I was excited to be invited to attend Flex Forward, sponsored by half full, LLC: a weekend designed to build community and share insights among facilitators partnering with the company. However, I also carried fears and insecurities about how this emerging version of me would show up and be received among this group of peers. I have a tendency to mask my self doubts with comparisons and judgments in a way that gives me the illusion of being certain and secure.

So when the first facilitator courageously began her session, I was committed to participating fully but questioned whether I would learn anything new about myself. She led us through an exercise of listing identities we had worn and embracing identities that reflect our becoming. While I was excited about the topic, my mind kept chattering about how all my writing is about this topic of identity and becoming, so again, what else could I learn? But then she started sharing her own list of identities she had inhabited throughout life, and as she read the words, I felt the depth of her vulnerability pierce through my defenses. Her bravery set the tone and cracked open a space within me where I knew I was going to be transformed.

Each facilitator arrived presenting at what felt like the creative edge of their being, using this group of welcoming peers to boldly test how we would connect and respond – not only to the content, but to their energy and presence. And as each person presented, I not only allowed myself to receive their content with fresh and innocent eyes, but also to feel their essence with deep receptivity. I sensed that the other facilitators, too, arrived with this intentional innocence and receptivity, and from that surfaced so much more than any of us could have expected: a deep sense of belonging to a community, fresh innovative ideas and connections about our work and its impact, and a wellspring of belief that together we can manifest something beautiful, as described in the poem Beauty Manifested Together:

Beauty Manifested Together

Co-creating from the soul kindles profound meaning
Intermingling our hearts in an intimately safe vessel

Setting the higher intention for channeling divine grace
Asking the controlling parts of ourselves to step aside

Allowing ourselves to fall in love within this sacred space
Expressing reverence for our uniquely radiant presence

Trusting the work has been done to meet this moment
Surrendering to wonder and possibility within the unknown

Wrestling playfully within the soft edges of our container
Challenging time, beliefs, patterns, motives and ideas

Reveling with awe for the beauty manifested together
Expressing gratitude for the change that ripples beyond

-Tejal Tarro

I had been experimenting with performing poetry, storytelling, and dance with various audiences, but this time I wanted to make it interactive, adding elements of ritual, self-reflection, and embodied movement. While I felt safe with these other facilitators, I did feel myself, as the poem states, “wrestling playfully within the soft edges of our container.”

Containers were what I had defined as acceptable within certain spaces, and I had some preconceived notions that I was challenging. Would ritual be embraced by leaders who typically operate in traditional spaces and structures within organizations? Could I invite self-reflection and embodied movement in a way that felt safe and nurturing for everyone, given the diversity of lived experiences in the room? Would people experience the deeper motives of my dance, which was to lower the volume of the thinking mind and raise the volume of the soul?

All of these questions fluttered within me, but as the poem states, I was “trusting the work has been done to meet this moment / surrendering to wonder and possibility within the unknown.” So as my peers sat in a circle with background drums playing and candles aglow, I leapt into the unknown, sharing a personal story of allowing unexpected joy in during challenging times of change and transition. The experience unfolded through dance, storytelling, poetry, and reflective prompts combined with embodied ritual and ending in a celebratory group movement. Afterwards, we sat together as I received such affirming and heartfelt feedback, for which I am truly grateful. A group of us even stayed after to continue dancing and celebrating.

As I reflect on this incredible experience, I am “reveling with awe for the beauty manifested together / expressing gratitude for the change that ripples beyond.”

I recognize humbly that my work is one small part of a larger collective movement forming, aimed at leading from a higher consciousness.

And my contribution to this mission is inspiring leaders to develop the practice of contemplation, where we unravel our deeply conditioned mental patterns, dance more gracefully with the unknowns, and open ourselves up to new creative possibilities of leading with love at that vulnerable intersection of self, soul, and society. I am called to bring what seems disparate into the same space, blurring the patterned boundaries of our minds so that love has space to flow into our consciousness. I am asking myself questions such as “Can poetry and dance belong in leadership spaces?” and “Can we speak of soul and love in the same spaces we speak of change and culture?” and “Can we create a community of leaders who support one another in the deeply introspective work of inner transformation?”

After my experience this weekend with this amazing group of leaders, I believe the answer is yes. The path may not be clear or simple, but I am committed to the journey. If you are feeling called to this movement of leading from a higher consciousness, I invite you to connect and collaborate with me. I sense that there are more of us feeling this calling, and I trust that when we come together in community, new possibilities will emerge. I’m not sure where the journey is going, but I do know that beauty is manifested together.