Author Archives: Paula Josa-Jones

Aug27

we are coming to Little Brook Farm!

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This past weekend we were rehearsing for our performances to benefit Little Brook Farm, an equine rescue sanctuary and B.I.T.S., their wonderful educational outreach program.

For me, this project is a labor of love.  It took a beautiful turn on Saturday, when we started to work with three young girls who ride at Little Brook.  Photos of that work are up on Facebook.  I have been working with the riders, as well as with Amado, the rescued Mustang and his owner, Summer Brennan,  for the past several months.  Now we are putting the pieces together, and I am excited about the results.

We are still seeking support for the last series of rehearsals for the project.  The eight dancers all travel from a distance to participate, and the professional dancers in that group are paid for the efforts.  This has always been important to me.  Artists often give their work away, and there is a prevalent feeling that somehow that should be ok.  It isn’t.  If you can help us to cover some of those expenses as we come close to completing the project, please use the Google donate button here.  Just type in the amount you would like to donate.  Paula Josa-Jones/Performance Works is a tax exempt arts organization.   Donations over $100 will receive a pair of tickets for the benefit, and we will split your donation with Little Brook Farm.

To reserve tickets, call 518-821-5506.

Thank you!!!
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Aug26

flying with horses

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In preparation for our performance of All the Pretty Horses at Little Brook Farm on October 6, we are having a two-day intensive rehearsal.  Today we worked with Giana and Emmy, who is 4.  It was their first experience dancing, and they both took to the air as if they were born to it.  More photos on Facebook!

Aug24

duty or devotion?

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Last Wednesday I was starting out my day to visit and work with the stallion Nelson and then go to the barn to ride my two boys, Capprichio and Sanne.  Then back to the house to write my blog and work on a chapter of my book that reads like a leaky boat.  Then walk the dogs and fix dinner, and then maybe more writing.

The problem was not the things I was doing, but the way I felt when I woke up.  It all felt like duty – things that had to be done, checked off and completed.  There wasn’t any joy in it, even though individually, each of those tasks are pretty fun.  I felt overwhelmed.

The real reason that I am doing each of those things because they are about joy, devotion and part of a practice, like sitting or yoga.  The feeling of duty that I had was leeching out the joy, eroding the quality of devotion and care and pleasure.  Almost like there was “duty mold” obscuring the shape and nature of my day.

Pam, who is a brilliant life coach, suggested that I just hold that image and awareness as I went about my day.  So I did that, and what I noticed was that when I was in it – in the stall brushing Nelson, riding Capprichio, writing the blog, that it didn’t feel dutiful, or at least not nearly as much as when I looked at the whole day laid out before me.

Aha!  so it is a problem of mind and orientation and a problem of not being in the moment.  I remember when I first got sober, that my wonderful sponsor, Bo, would tell me that sometimes it was just about staying sober one moment at a time.  Forget about one day at a time – that was too much.

So it is like that now too.  One thing at a time.  When I am in it it isn’t such a problem.  When I am standing outside of it, or trying to climb the whole wall of it, that is when it feels like duty.

This reminds me of The Golden Compass, which I am listening to now as I drive from one place to another.  Each of the humans in the book has what is called a daemon – a creature in animal form that thinks and feels what they are thinking and feeling – like a psychic twin.  To be separated from one’s daemon is the most hideous and unthinkable thing possible.

I think that to be separated from the joy and the devotion of the moment is like that – a severing from what is most precious and essential.

Where is your devotion?

 

Aug24

I want to graze

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I have not had much time to graze lately.  Now it is the end of summer, the cicadas are louder each day, the birches are salted with yellow, the beetlebung has little sprouts of burgundy at the tips of its branches and the gardens are looking fallish.  I want to graze.  I want to stretch out in the sun and let the earth soak me in and let myself be soothed.

It is time to return to some creative projects that have been waiting, dusty and patient, for me to return.  I have in mind some new offerings, including a horse dancing teleseminar, a short ebook on horse dancing for non-horse folks, and a workshop called Move! Write! Move! that I am planning with the wonderful word coach and performer, Carol Burnes.

Stay tuned!