Into the Woods, Out of the Woods

Though it's fearful Though it's deep, though it's dark
And though you may lose the path 

Though you may encounter wolves
You can't just act  You have to listen
You can't just act  You have to think
There are always wolves  There are always spells…

There are times to go into the Garden, the Cave, the Sanctuary, the private spaces of our lives for utter Silence. To take refuge, respite, find comfort, seek guidance. This is definitely an imperative. Our usual world is filled with noise and activity, and the balancing act must ensue.

Sometimes it is forced upon us, as all of us have become so keenly aware during the Covid 19 pandemic, its variations, and trailings. Some of us have emerged intermittently, some never took to the woods, and some still haven’t come out. Timing in life, as in music, is everything. We each have our own rhythm. When to go into the woods, when to come out of the woods.

So into the woods you go again
You have to every now and then
Into the woods, no telling when
Be ready for the journey…

Agh! But are your woods a safe haven? Is there a big bad wolf possibly lurking there? Or which part of the woods? How is the adventure going? For me, I readily admit is has been a bit of both. Sitting on the cusp as an introverted/extroverted personality, I confess I was long overdue for some home time when this whole pandemic began and had already been planning a year’s respite after my Battle Cry tour. So I immediately relished the sequestering and extra time nesting, though I certainly was pained at the toll it was taking on those stricken with affliction, and the immense death rates that have followed.

As my own time in the woods prevailed, darker shadows emerged. That’s when I got into the really good stuff. What wolf was howling? What had I been avoiding? Hadn’t I been doing enough? Maybe so, but now is now with new demands. Stay present. What did I want my Life and Voice to speak for now and in the years to come? When I get quiet enough, I truly see everything is really already there, if I will but listen - go deeper in my woods. “You can’t just act, you have to listen, You can’t just think, you have to listen,” as I’m always teaching others. The bigger question was - greater focus. Hone in.  

But everything you learn there
Will help when you return there… 

Into the woods, you have to grope  But that's the way you learn to cope
Into the woods to find there's hope  Of getting through the journey
Into the woods, each time you go  There's more to learn of what you know…

So how do we keep calm in the chaos? How do we keep hope?

The myths and fairy tales have always been teaching us to keep moving forward, showing up, and leaning in. I certainly find this is always true for me. Just when I think I have learned it all, geez! - another layer. Being bold, facing my fears, throwing back my red riding hood and revealing more and more of my own hairy, fanged, true self and speaking forth - that’s my way forward. I’ve even been known to howl in my own backyard, onstage, or wherever my woods may be. Howl my own wolf self. Claim it!

We must do our best to take our inner strength into the woods and out of the woods, as Sondheim would say. Hold the tension of the two opposites, and await the form of the transcendent third. Something new will arise. It always does, if we can just be patient. Finding that synthesis, weaving the two together for our own healing and that of the world. And show each other how to walk this way in the world - howl along - into the woods and out of the woods - one step at a time… 

Into the woods to mind the wolf  To heed the witch, to honor the giant
To mind, to heed, to find, to think, to teach, to join, to go to the Festival!
Into the woods     Into the woods     Into the woods
Then out of the woods- 
And happy ever after!  

I hope ~

Into the Woods, Finale Pt 2 - Stephen Sondheim