In Love

Sentani, 9 March 2008

The moment I got off our plane at Sentani airport, my breath was taken away. Literally. I gasped. I didn't have to stop and look around at the scenery...the scenery greeted me with its strong presence, as if it was saying, I am HERE. The sensation was akin to holding up my hand - palm towards my face - and bringing it within 1 cm from my nose. THAT'S how close nature feels here.

It took me a while to compose myself. The intense beauty and presence of nature was overwhelming. When I told Ibu about this, she said that Bapak felt the same way many many years ago, when he first visited Papua. "That's why," she said, "we have those Papua pine trees in our garden...he wanted to feel that presence in our garden, too." (I'll have to take a picture of those trees to post on this blog - they're bigger than our house!)

As soon as we arrived, we hired a car and went to Jayapura. I'm glad we did. It was the only chance we had to take these beautiful pictures!


Home, 18 March 2008

It's been almost 10 days since I began writing this post. Unfortunately, I was unable to post on the internet because of bad connections while we were in Sentani. It was truly a memorable trip. The class we had was the very best class we've had so far. Honestly. By the morning of the first day, I was moved by the ability of the participants to truly grasp what Vibrant Facilitation is all about. In the words of Nelis, "There's no point in doing facilitation with lots of colours, music, lively design and all that...if we do not facilitate with our whole heart, and from the heart." For those of you who know me, you know that by the time he said this my tears were already welling up.

The place we stayed, Hotel Sentani, became home. The funny thing is that everyone was telling me to brace myself for this horrible hotel. Dirty, dingy, smelly and old... And there I was, totally happy with the view to the mountains from the huge windows, so that my room was always bright with natural light. The training room? Was perfect in size and brightness. I think the gods worked wonders for us, this trip. I loved that we were not in some stuffy, carpeted hotel...with air conditioning that was so cold that people were getting ill. The picture here on the left is the view I had from my room...

I wish we could have stayed longer. I wanted to so much to explore the local market, to wander around Jayapura, to simply sit and absorb the nature around me...to breathe in the air and stare out into the distance. I need to find away to do this. To stop running around like a headless chicken, and simply stop. Look around. Be grateful. Smile.

Ever since 2008 started, I've felt out of sorts. We are blessed to have so much work that brings us into contact with some wonderful, wonderful people. This trip was one of those trips. I remember vividly each and every person we met. From the time we first landed at Sentani, to the time we left.

I don't remember each and everyone and everything that happened during the many different activities we've done before Papua. The running around has caused me to often feel detached. Nelis - the one who said it is important to always facilitate with your heart - would disapprove.

On our way back from Papua, I started watching a movie that "found me" many years ago, "Music of the Heart," starring Merryl Streep as Roberta Guaspari. On the evening of a big concert, where her students from an inner city school in New York were about to go on stage at Carnegie Hall to play their violins with some of the world's renowned musicians, Roberta asked them to gather around, to breathe...and then she said,

"Now listen to me. I want you all to play from your heart.
Forget about the audience, watch me, you'll do just fine.
Just play from here.
[putting her hand over her heart]
Okay?"

Roberta went on to set up the organization Opus 811, an organization that makes it possible for public schools in the U.S. to have violin classes. "Any child can play the violin," she says, and she has proven that to be true. Check out the movie and/or the Opus 811 website - opus811.org

The moral of the story? It's not worth doing anything, and I mean ANYTHING, if it isn't from the heart. It simply isn't. I need to find my music of my heart, and sing it out loud and clear. Like Mumble did it with his feet in Happy Feet. Or in the words of little Gloria of Happy Feet,

"We have to find our heart song all by ourself.

It's the voice you hear inside...
who you truly are."