Sometimes the Sacred Sings (and Dances)

Dear Still Harbor Community, 

This past year I was given the gift of being a co-teacher in the Still Harbor Spiritual Direction Practicum. I taught and learned alongside an amazing group of people from all over the United States, Canada, and Chile. Together, we built a learning community in nine months. And one of the fruits of our labor is a playlist we crafted of songs and sounds to journey with us as we journeyed together. (You can find that playlist here.)

The soundtrack of this Still Harbor Practicum cohort taught me a valuable lesson on how to build community online and how to allow the Sacred to move, sing, and dance in our mission to train liberative spiritual care givers. 

Our learning community found grounding in the slow, meditative, and centering songs that we would use as we entered the virtual space. We found joy in powerful dance beats and pop anthems that blessed us as we departed each class. Oftentimes, folks would stay on the call to finish dancing before leaving to rejoin their day. 

This image of a dance party on Zoom is not what I imagined when I agreed to co-teach the Spiritual Direction Practicum. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic taught many of us firsthand how hard it is to feel seen, heard, and connected through Zoom Screens and emails. 

Our instructor team and our cohort consisted of many people from a variety of marginalized identities– folks of color, queer and trans folks, working class folks, and disabled folks. And this playlist became a thread for personal expression and collective witness.

It is a vulnerable thing to share the music that matters most to you. What is spiritual accompaniment but making space to witness the vulnerable things? 

At Still Harbor, we find ourselves pushing the boundaries of spiritual accompaniment. We challenge the practice to be rooted in movements for collective liberation and social change. Last year’s cohort taught me that the practice of rooting into movement requires us to root into song, into a dance break, and into joy. 

To continue this work of pushing boundaries and rooting this practice in liberation, we need your help. Please donate to Still Harbor this giving season so that we can continue our work, rooting in joy, song, and liberation. 

Sincerely,

Nathan Bakken (they/them)

Still Harbor Co-Director, Director of Community Engagement