Come join us for a conversation on happiness, true happiness. Come to this heart-centered, upbeat, uplifting, inspiring, experiential, interactive, energizing, and enlivening retreat.
Why?
People who live mostly in positive emotion are healthier and live longer lives. They make better friends and have a wider circle of friends. They make better spouses and have better relationships and marriages. They are smarter and more creative. They are more resilient—they bounce back faster after adversity. And they are also kinder, more loving, more generous, and more giving.
Happiness does not happen by chance—it happens by choice. It is a practice, and the more you practice, the better you get at it. Anyone can be happier, and happier, and happier, if they choose.
Cami Delgado, Keynote Speaker & Co-Creator
This workshop provides the vessel for you to examine and begin to dissolve obstacles to happier living and gives you insights as to how you can be a more valuable presence in GSV, the LGBT community, and the world.
“To be (happy)… or not to be (happy)…THAT is the question.”
— Shakespeare/Delgado
Tony James, Convener
Cami Delgado, Keynote Speaker & Co-Creator
Jim Stratton, Co-Creator
I want to be a spiritual person. So it makes sense to me that I should have a daily spiritual practice. I’ve pondered this often, thinking other GSV people must have satisfying daily rituals that make them feel one with Spirit.
I have an altar on our bedroom dresser. There are framed photos of my mother, sister, and late father. My partner, John, and I are in a photo taken on top of the fire tower at a GSV Fall Conference. I have photos of my dear friends Mark Clinard and Doug Parrot, three of my grandparents, and my uncle Jennings who died in World War II. I have a lapel pin of the One Voice Chorus in Charlotte, NC, where I sang for nine years. This gay chorus was a gift from Spirit that has helped me along my spiritual path. In the middle is a candle. I have it in a small clay cauldron my friend, Larry Jackson, gave me. Underneath, there’s a tile that says “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” John gave me when I first moved in with him. Sometimes I burn incense there, but not often. Between work, the gym, errands and just vegging out, I feel guilty that I neglect my altar. Sometimes, I’ll add a card from a loved one or something just to change it a little. [pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]I meditate nearly every morning. It’s transcendental meditation that I learned 25 years ago. You’d think by now I would have reached some kind of cosmic consciousness, but I really haven’t. [/pullquote]
I meditate nearly every morning. It’s transcendental meditation that I learned 25 years ago. You’d think by now I would have reached some kind of cosmic consciousness, but I really haven’t. I’ve meditated off and on for years. It’s a way of easing into the day. After 20 minutes of reciting my mantra, I pray, thanking Spirit for my life, for John, asking that I don’t expect too much or too little from him, for my mother and her health and the well-being of Mark and Doug. Then I ask for help to let go of anger that I have about my father, who drank himself to death eight years ago. Even if my meditation isn’t the best, I still offer my prayers to Spirit and I think Spirit listens.
I meditate nearly every morning. It’s transcendental meditation that I learned 25 years ago. You’d think by now I would have reached some kind of cosmic consciousness, but I really haven’t.
One of the most spiritual things for me right now is making compost. I love gardening. It’s a passion handed down by my mother. I collect all the coffee grounds, banana peelings, eggshells and rotten things from the refrigerator in a brass bowl on our kitchen countertop. When it’s full, I take it to the dogwood tree in the the back of the yard. In this shady and green place, I pour the food scraps, rousing the flies and gnats. I stir the pile and take in the sweet rotting smell. Sometimes I’ll grab a handful of compost and feel it between my fingers, thinking about how this will nourish the flowers we plant. I’ll linger a moment, watching the insects and the worms, and just enjoy the quiet. It makes me feel good to think I’m helping the earth, even in this small way. But the best part is the quiet. Maybe between my altar, meditation and composting, these few quiet moments are enough. Then, at least, I feel the warmth of Spirit beside me.
The ancient art of altar building has made a comeback and it’s no wonder. Altars nurture and uplift our souls, support prayer and meditation and remind us of an invisible world we can’t see.
Building an altar can be a creative, energizing, and affirming experience that celebrates you and everyone who has enriched your journey. In your living room, it creates an atmosphere for soulful sharing. In your bedroom, it accentuates the sacredness of lovemaking.
Be bold and juxtapose contrasting power objects. On my altar, Quan Yin, shamanic rattles, Merlin the magician, an Om symbol, ceremonial feathers, sacred bells, a Celtic urn, and Jesus, all live harmoniously and celebrate the diversity of my spiritual sources.
Bring nature into your altar by including stones, minerals, sea shells, and live plants. Call forth the cleansing power of water by having water from a very special ocean, lake, river or spring, in a sacred vessel and let this natural element speak to your soul. Elicit Earth energy by collecting sand or earth from a favorite sacred site and keep it in a sacred container. Personalize your altar by honoring special beings who have inspired you, walked the journey with you or enriched your inner life. Images or quotes from your favorite spiritual mentors, elders, and teachers add inspiration. Particularly honor special gay men whose presence or written word have inspired you along your path.
An altar that celebrates all that you are would include a celebration of your gayness and sexuality. My altar includes rainbow flags and pink triangles. I’m still searching for a self-standing phallus. [pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Others honor a loved one by placing his pubic hair in a sacred pouch. [/pullquote]
Images of the naked male body placed amidst sacred objects speak to the harmonious integration of spirit and body. Others honor a loved one by placing his pubic hair in a sacred pouch.
Enhance the self-expressive character of your altar by creating special objects you have made. Hand painting spiritual symbols onto rock, fabric, candles or wood is a way of creating your own personalized and unique sacred objects.
My altar also includes the goddess Psyche (I’m a psychotherapist), Chinese Foo Dogs, Native American medicine beads, Greek Orthodox icons, Buddhas, yin yang symbols, a spiritual colonial Mexican painting,Tibetan and Hindu mala beads, sacred stones, I Ching coins, two plants, a rain stick, a Kabbala tree of life, an African goddess, a Lalique angel, 14 candles, my country’s coat of arms, and other personally meaningful items. It mirrors, expresses and supports essential aspects of my inner world.
These ideas awaken your intuition and inspiration. Let your altar be a genuine expression and celebration of your soul’s richness. Use the gift of your imagination to create a visual reminder of the potential that lies within you and of the sacredness of being gay!
Thank you for registering for the upcoming 2015 GSV Fall Conference, positive anticipation is rising daily. Can you hear the drum roll? The rustle of yards of fabric?
We in the entertainment committee certainly can, and are inviting you to sign up for the 2015 talent show. Performance art is a form of healing, of growth, of sharing and bonding with brothers and as the conference theme suggests, this may well be the wildest show ever!
Cami Delgado
Some of you are visual artists, not performers. We’re looking for several visual artists to do signs announcing the different acts. Can we count on you? Let us know.
For the performers, the sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board of the Commons Room (behind the dining room). Please sign up ASAP to assure a spot and please keep in mind the following:
Acts must be no longer than 6 minutes. After that, a swarm of stage faeries will make you disappear, it won’t be pretty…we promise.
Attending rehearsal is mandatory; no act can appear without rehearsal.
For piano accompaniment, please send your sheet music to David Berger in advance [email protected] and schedule one-on-one rehearsal time upon arrival.
If you’re using a musical track, please present it to the sound tech at rehearsal.
Acts work best when enhanced with costumes, props, music, and movement. Keep this in mind as you prepare your material.
Freedom of expression requires that both performers and audience keep an open mind and a sensitive heart; we ask that everyone be mindful of this.
In addition to the two sessions by our Keynote Speaker, Buddy Wakefield, we have four conversations that will be moderated by members of our tribe. The topics are derived from conversations at conferences over the past few years and from online postings that generated significant interest. You’ll be able to attend two of the following conversations:
Scott Dillard
The Discomfort and Safety of Surviving with host Scott Dillard
Since the advent of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, many of us have lost a good number of friends, family, and partners. Some of us have carried on our lives as we witnessed the passing of those we loved and also worried for our health at the same time. Still others have wondered, “Why them and not me?” It is a sort of survivor’s guilt that makes us wonder about our own mortality, the fairness of life, and how we continue to live with loss.
We will engage in a conversation that seeks to honor those we lost, those we carried for, and our own sense of self in these most trying of times. This is more than a chat. We will do some writing, some sketching, some storytelling that uncovers the emotions we each feel as survivors of the plague. Come prepared to share at our own level of comfort and to contemplate the shared sense of community that living through this has meant.
Joe Kiser & Friend
The Discomfort and Safety of Aging with host Joe Kiser
As I move from one decade to another, I have experienced many changes on many fronts…and backs. How I experience life has evolved. Emotionally, physically and spiritually. From wild to mild and back to wild again. As my body, mind and spirituality evolve, I am presented with opportunities to embrace, deny or adapt. Additionally, questions have arisen for me. What responsibility, if any, do i have for the next generation? What, if anything, can I offer to future generations?
During this session, I will share some of my experiences and the impact of my decisions and reactions. I would also like to hear the experiences and expectations of others.
Greg Hummel
The Discomfort and Safety Around the Gender and Sexuality Continuum with host Greg Hummel
Man, woman, straight, or gay. Do you remember when these were our only options? For some, these identifiers are enough. But for many of us, these labels are limiting and leave us left out of the conversation. At a time in history when women like Caitlyn Jenner and Laverne Cox are creating (much needed) ripples in our social fabric, we sometimes find ourselves struggling to keep up. Come join me in confronting our discomfort around gender identity and sexuality. Together we can create an even safer GSV environment and a safer world.
Hunter Flournoy
The Discomfort and Safety of Victimization and Oppression with host Hunter Flournoy
Join us for a discussion of our experiences of victimization and oppression, and how we perpetuate these experiences even within our own community by oppressing each other, and projecting the role of oppressor onto each other. Explore how we can step off of the drama triangle and empower ourselves and each other.
