Spiritual Power is More Durable than Political Power

March Offerings at The Meadow

Feb 17, 2025

Dear Friends,

Today, being President’s Day, may be especially bittersweet given the tattered state of our nation. In a moment when you may be feeling disempowered, I want to remind you that there’s something even stronger and more sustainable than political power and that is spiritual power.

Time and time again, history has shown us that those who lead with love, bravely stand with the vulnerable, and work for the wellbeing of the collective are remembered as the truly impactful leaders and powerful heroes. We can view this indomitable truth as a very bright and happy piece of news against the bleak backdrop of our current headlines.

This time of upheaval is actually an ideal moment to begin or continue on with a spiritual practice that opens your heart as well as your mind and brings you into closer relationship with the poignance and beauty of life. In fact, the current conditions are just perfect for you to cultivate a steadiness, an unshakeable resolve, a generosity of spirit, and an investment in the exquisite care for yourself and your community. There’s never been a better time to build spiritual power.

Over the years, I’ve come to see that expressive arts can be a vital spiritual practice that strengthens our sense of interconnection, drops us into a direct experience of the present moment, and expresses the complexity of our heart-mind-body.

The March calendar at The Meadow has been crafted with the current times in mind. We’re hosting collaborations with truly fabulous artists, ritualists, and advocates to help us foster resilience, resourcefulness, and collective joy as acts of artful resistance to the destructive energies in our midst.

Here’s a taste of What’s On in March at The Meadow:

COLLAGE CLUB: INNER LANDSCAPES

As city dwellers, we are often deprived of a healing relationship to land and nature. In this workshop, you’ll have an opportunity to dream up an inner landscape that serves as a healing sanctuary and resting place for the mind amidst our busy city life. During the session, you’ll work with collage papers, photographs, pens, paints, mark-making tools and even fibers and botanicals to manifest a unique landscape that’s uniquely yours. This is bound to be a nourishing and joyful afternoon of creativity through collage. This workshop will take place on Saturday, March 1st from 1 to 3 PM.

NAVIGATING CHANGE WITH INTENTION, CREATIVITY, AND SELF-COMPASSION WITH FLY STINGONE

On Saturday, March 8th, The Meadow is teaming up with Fly Stingone, a life coach and women’s advocate. We’ll be using Maira Kalman’s whimsical and moving portraits from her book Women Holding Things as a springboard for our own artwork during the workshop. We’ll share what we’ve been carrying and what we’re ready to set down in the landscape of our ever-changing lives. Through journaling and guided meditation, we’ll tap into our deep wisdom and excavate our personal resources as we prepare for the next leg of our life journey. Then we’ll use a variety of mixed-media art materials to bring to all the layers of our life experience to light.

EXPRESSIVE STITCHING: A THREE PART SERIES EXPLORING EMBROIDERY

Get your stitch fix this March with this three part embroidery series that allows you to craft in community! In Part One, with a stitch book as our guide, you’ll learn fifteen different stitches that will enable you to create stems, leaves, flowers, and chains. Part Two will offer you the opportunity to stitch a simple designs onto vintage photographs, custom papers, and clothing or totes. Part Three involves creating and stitching a more complex design on fabric that can be a stand-alone piece of art, or the first panel in a larger project like a quilt. No embroidery experience is necessary. You can attend all three parts of the series or sign up for individual sessions. We will meet on three consecutive Sundays in March. Sunday March 16th, March 23rd, and March 30th from 1PM to 3PM.

SOUNDSCAPES WITH ART JONES

We’re so excited about this sound sesh with multidisciplinary artist and educator Art Jones. You don’t have to have a musical bone in your body to create an evocative soundscape from the countless sound vibrations that are all around us. During this workshop, you’ll have an opportunity to mix sounds you can begin collecting and recording to create a unique soundscape composition or collage. Jones plans to tote a mini-record cutter to the studio so we can preserve our final tracks in vinyl along with the digital rendering. The vinyl record will be such a cool piece of memorabilia even if you don’t have a turntable. But seems there’s no better reason to go out and get a record player! This workshop will take place on Saturday, March 15th from 1 to 3:30 PM.

SPRING EQUINOX CIRCLE WITH DANIELA MIRANDA

The Meadow’s Spring Equinox Circle will include a grounding meditation, seasonal journal prompts reflections and sharing, light mindful movement as well as a heart-opening Cacao ceremony with Daniela Miranda. Daniela describes herself as a Chilena with Indigenous Mapuche blood, walking the path of remembrance and reconnection. She comes from a long line of medicine women who, for reasons of survival, had to suppress their gifts. In this lifetime, she’;s reclaiming that wisdom—honoring her ancestors and their deep relationship with the land, the plants, and the unseen. Join us as as we invite in more warmth and light and move toward collective growth and flourishing this spring. Our Spring Equinox Circle will take place on Thursday, March 20th from 6:30 to 8:30.

THE ART OF RESISTANCE

The Meadow is teaming up with humanitarian and advocate Grace Sacro to host an afternoon where art meets advocacy. During our session, we’ll explore the long history of artists who have addressed social and political injustices through their work. We’ll also put out all kinds of art supplies for you to create your own Piece of Resistance such as a protest sign, post cards to our elected officials, flag, banner, vision board etc.

As you craft, you’ll receive many resources with vital knowledge on your legal rights against race and gender discrimination as well as information on how one can navigate immigration and customs enforcement to protect ourselves and our community members. Let's create, connect, and resist injustices together. We will meet on Saturday, March 29th from 1 to 3:30 PM.

And lastly, we were just stunned by the extraordinary prints that participants created in our Botanical Printmaking Workshop at The Meadow last weekend. Jaw is seriously on the floor. We wanted to show off some of the work in the gallery below.