My Silent Walk

Klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie

Cor Stehouwer, our guide, uses clear non-verbal communication to point out certain things to us: how wide the landscape is – listen to that woodpecker – smell the delicious air – try and taste this… Although I often walk in nature, his way of looking at it adds a different dimension. I am enjoying myself very much, feel happy and grateful.

The variety of landscape in this area called Kampina is huge; there are natural lakes, sand dunes, as well as a dark forest, a very old stream, and so on.

Trust and Surrender

Just how much my sensory perception has increased becomes clear when a distant humming sound appears. Agonizingly slowly is comes closer, yet the direction is untraceable. Anger rages through me. I let it be there. After a few moments is just disappears again. I follow the tiny plane above me with a smile. I do not have to get distracted, I can always choose how I react to something. Cor signals to take off my shoes and follow him. I hesitate. With my bare feet on the coarse grass, that takes some courage  hmmm… trust … surrender …

It turns out to be the best part of the hike.  Silently I stand up to my ankles in water. Here. NOW. We perform some Tai Chi movements, the energy rings in the air. Emotions come and go. In the distance a deer jumps out of the bushes. Wow ..

The world distorts

Deeply touched I walk on, slowly. It feels like my reality gets more and more distorted. I let myself fall behind to experience what is going on.

Slower, I want to move even slower…

When at the end of the walk Cor breaks the silence, it feels far too early. This evening could have lasted at least another three hours.

Nature’s Paint box

After saying our goodbyes we drive back to Tilburg. Mother Nature adds her comment to the eXperience by colouring the sky in the most beautiful shade of orange.

CLICK HERE FOR THE STORY IN IMAGES

Beauty and Women – Elpidha Efstratiades

Kunstpodium T in Tilburg recently featured the work of young Dutch artist Elpidha Efstratiades. I loved all it, yet was especially touched by this drawing. Just look at it for a moment.

Confusion

For me, this drawing symbolises THE moment of confusion for a young girl: something or someone ‘from outside’ decides that it is time to grow up. You are expected to behave differently, adapt to adult life, attend to your school assignments more serious, perform (more) household duties, etc. The emphasis of life shifts to the importance of good grades. Dressing up boxes are moved to the attic… no more time to play…

About Elpidha Efstratiades

The shift from childhood to womanhood is a returning theme for Elpidha.

“Elphida Efstratiades depicts in her work the ambivalence between beauty and women. The clichés about aesthetics and gender are inextricably part of the child women which she captures so extraordinarily. Her drawings hover between looking like a cartoon and being realistic, and show more detailed pieces next to simple clear lining. Pencil and plain carriers as paper and wood are chosen to concentrate on the images.” Elphida has been nominated for the Dutch Allianz Grafiekprijs 2010.

Elpidha’s website shows a collection of her work.

Thanks for your permission, Elpidha, I can’t wait to see more art like this from you in future!

Introducing MoonScout May 2010

Every month, from full moon to full moon, Tilburg Ambassador of the Arts Zeus Hoenderop invites one of thirteen women to support him. He calls them his Moon Scouts. Together they promote the arts, the city and their respective messages.

Last friday at Kunstpodium T – a local art studio and home of the ambassador – the baton was handed to Cheta Urmila.

Moon Scout May Cheta Urmila, number nine in the series, supports the ambassador from May 28^th till June 26^th. This moon’s theme  is “eXperiencing feminine energy”.

Cheta’s Discovery

Everyone has their own unique balance between masculine and feminine energy. In our western society  It is clearly noticeable that this balance has become disturbed. Many people seem only to be occupied with taking action, with working hard and making money. There is hardly any  time in our tight schedules to really enjoy something. We simply keep on running.

Many years ago, Cheta Urmila life looked like this as well and it destroyed her health. Searching for answers, she sold all her belongings and started out on a journey of discovery. Much to her surprise she stumbled upon a inner strength that allowed her to let go of her exaggerated need of control: the feminine energy. Cheta Urmila gladly invites women to enrich their lives in this manner too.

As soon as you say “feminine energy” though, you often end up in clichés and stereotypes, Cheta has found. ‘That is why femaleXperience is geared towards personal eXperience. We can talk for hours about how things will feel, you’ll only know once you have experienced it for yourself.’

Step in the World that is known as ‘eXperience’

Her own life has taught Cheta Urmila that ‘always taking action’ – a quality of the masculine energy – only goes so far. Cheta Urmila: ‘I hear lots of women complain about something missing from their lives. Usually they”ll say that there is no balance. With constant ‘acting and doing’ there seems to be no room for ‘being’ anymore.

The way back starts with eXperiencing your own core. That may sound like a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be: looking at your house or your neighbourhood as if you had just moved there yesterday for instance, already gives a new perspective’.

‘At first I refused to accept it’, Cheta Urmila explains. ‘I was afraid to lose my identity as an independent woman. Hence the control. What is so special about this is that I haven’t lost anything. On the contrary, I have gained so much! Sometimes I even feel like I am more independent than before. Working from my feminine core is more fun and also more fulfilling. I wish this for everyone!’

For men, her message is clear too: eXperience the beauty of a woman who is living from her core.

eXperience it yourself!

Cheta Urmila has decided to give away three “eXperiences” for free during this Moon Scout project:

1) a Silk-meditation, for which she uses soft silk from India;

2) a Tarot-reading, centered around your own problem solving capacity;

3) an eMMatrix-session, eXperience your balance through conversation.

All you have to do to win is answer this question:

What does “eXperience” mean to me?

You can apply till June 9th 2010. The winners will be notified through the email address supplied with the answer and the result will be published on NL.femaleXperience.com.

The Silk meditation will be held in Tilburg, the Netherlands between June 23-26 2010, the other two in Tilburg, the Netherlands, yet these are just as good an eXperience over Skype.

CLICK THIS LINK AND ADD YOUR ANSWER

Learn to eXperience the Moment

(klik hier voor de Nederlandse versie)

For my contribution to NachtburgemeestersCafe last week, I decided to lead the audience through an eXperience of one of the 6 basic characteristics of the feminine energy; I chose “Experiencing the Moment”. The other characteristics of the feminine are: Trust, Surrender, Freedom, Spontaneity and Caring/Nurturing.

Just for the record: feminine energy doesn’t equal “women only”! Everyone has feminine energy, some of us more than others; and that is also true for the masculine energy. This has nothing to do with gender. One of the main areas of focus of femaleXperience is the balancing of your individual feminine and masculine energy, regardless whether you are a woman or a man.

Anyhow, back to the story. Zeus gave me the microphone right at the start, which was great – now the audience had the opportunity to try it out over the whole evening! Read more »

Preparing for my first appearance in Tilburg, NL

PS: NachtburgemeesterCafe = gathering of artists initiated by Zeus Heunderop, the city’s ambassador for the arts and music scene. Several MoonScouts are usually present as well.

(voor NL klik hier (video = engelstalig))

Wanted: 3 sparkling actors

(klik hier voor de volledige Nederlandse advertentie tekst)

It is getting more real every day, very exciting! The advert for actors embodying the three characters in the play is up on the board at the Academy of Arts in Tilburg, and on the Dutch website. 

In the show, the three characters comment with humor and clarity on the inner struggle they go through. The Reflections give advice, sometimes in a few pointy sentences, sometimes in a happy or sentimental song, until the lead character at last finds the key and discovers the magic inside. Read more »

CONFIRMATION!

Zeus is a “Nachtburgemeester”, and in this role acts as an independent ambassador for the arts and cultural issues in Tilburg, a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The MoonScout Series is his idea and stems from a deep respect for the feminine energy. In September 2009 he decided to follow his impulse and proceed with it.

The concept is simple, yet very powerful. Over the course of one year, starting with the full moon on October 4^th 2009, Zeus appoints a MoonScout related to the corresponding 13 mooncycles. My slot is for June, starting on the full moon of May the 28^th. For the duration of “her moon”, the MoonScout has a free hand in manifesting her message from the platform in whatever way she chooses. So far, the series has seen poetry, discussions on the future of the city, a retreat in the woods, performance of songs and a bonfire, and there are many more interesting ideas sprouting as time moves on. You can read about it (in Dutch that is) at www.tilburgers.nl.

IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED, YES, YES, YES! Let me share with you why this is so important to me!

Ever since I got allotted the slot in early August 2009, I have been pondering on how to use this important opportunity for creating exposure for femaleXperience. During a seminar on manifesting your desires in October 2008, this drawing came out:

Flying Acrobatics/Luchtacrobatiek

THAT is what I really want! Deep down inside of me, a longing for a theatrical approach is stirring. A play, perhaps, or a show? Out of practicality, I pushed this longing to the background for most of 2009, and moved with what I held to be a more obvious way to spread the message: workshops. Having done a few, I know for certain that it is not where I want to be. I love my message, the vehicle of workshops that doesn’t feel right for me at this moment in time.

Chris Howard’s Advanced Presenter Immersion in London (October 2009) challenged me to explore the boundaries of presenting – singing too loud, outrageous dancing, overacting and  more crazy stuff. That struck a note within me. In the weeks that followed, I realized that NOW is the time to create what I love, not later, after doing something else first. The picture of flying over the audience became stronger and stronger in my mind again. And with that, I became more and more aware of the amazing opportunity that had opened up to explore that route: The MoonScout Series!

In November I gather information on learing aerial acrobatics, singing and acting on a stage, how to produce a show etc. etc. While the information trickels in, I start to realize that it will take me at least a couple of years to get to the level of skill I want to have… It took the graduation performance at NICA, the National Institute of Circus Art in Melbourne, on December 4^th to bring it home to me. Watching their performance – which was amazing by the way – two things kept running around in my head:

 1. I have never liked physical training, I like swimming, for fun! These people have gone through a 3 year program of 6 to 8 hours training per day. Even if I decided to enter, I already know I still wouldn’t be able to bend like that…

2. they really need someone to write them up some interesting stories; all 10 performances run more or less on the same old circus routine.

Walking back to the apartment afterwards, I recall my love for writing and editing text and my love for song lyrics. A few minutes later I stop dead in the street as the blinding flash of the obvious hits me: I don’t have to do it myself! I can employ people who are very skilled in acrobatics, and in singing and dancing on stage, to perform my story! I felt a weight being lifted from my shoulders. That night I fell asleep smiling from ear to ear..

The rest of the month I ask myself this question: if I were to create a story to tell women from the stage how important it is to experience their core energy, what would it be? What would I tell them? Gradually it became clear how to go about it. And also, that this wasn’t going to be just for women to watch; it would provide a strong message to men as well about the women in their life. Between Christmas and New Year’s Eve the name for the show pops: the Mirror of the Moon Goddess.

And with that the time had come to break this news to the world! On January 7^th 2010, I take a deep breath and send the following email off to Zeus:

“Dear, Zeus,

With the start of the new year, my MoonScout appearance is stirring inside of me (…). I have developed an outline for my contribution to the series, under the name: the Mirror of the Moon Goddess. It will be a dialogue between a woman and her masculine and her feminine reflection in the mirror, on finding the Goddess inside herself, embedded in music fragments. There will be some interacting with the audience. The intention is to create awareness of the power and beauty of the true feminine energy. I know this is it. I have not figured out the HOW yet. This is new for me, it will become clear over the next couple of months. I send you this now, so that you can go ahead with your planning.”

Over the month of January my ideas have expanded and have broken into two parts: 
Part I    The Mirror of the Moon Goddess
Part II  The Moon Goddess Mirrors

And today I received Zeus’s confirmation:
“Perfect, I’ll move ahead with this”.        WHAAAA…!!!!

On this blog you will find regular posts on my progress. Oh dear…here we go…!!

The show being in the Netherlands, I will run this blog simultaneously in Dutch.

New: Blog also available in Dutch

To support the upcoming MoonScout Series in Tilburg, the Netherlands, in May 2010, from today onwards you can find the Female Experience is blog in Dutch at 

nl.femaleXperience.com.

Best regards, 
Cheta Urmila