Week 1: Remembering Our Past(s)
When we began the rehearsal process for our first play, we realized that we needed a way to ground ourselves, to enter into the work together. Knowing the power of ritual, and the importance of creating a space that can hold artists and community members from all over the world, we created a very simple practice, Two Minutes of Silence.
Two Minutes of Silence is not a literal timed two minutes. It begins with one person ringing a bell, and it ends when that person feels ready to end. There is always a flame, whether it is a candle or the lamp. To some of us, the flame represents our teachers, or our ancestors. To others, it is simply a flame.
For twenty-five years, we have begun every rehearsal and every meeting with this simple practice, and it has shaped how we do our work. It creates room for the sacred. It inspires us to find more ways of being together that carve room for everyone to bring their full selves. It reconnects us with our creativity and our breath.
One of our favorite things to hear from our friends in other organizations is that they have brought this practice back to their own spaces, at work and at home. So many times we have guests in our space, and when Two Minutes is over, they say, “I didn’t know how badly I needed that!”
So we invite you now to give yourself Two Minutes of Silence.
And, if you are moved, please write to us, and let us know how this practice has made a difference in your day or in your life. It is an honor to be in this Circle with you.
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