A Mantle For Inner Awareness
“A shawl or mantle – This is an insulating instrument, if not a portable sanctuary: a 
protective veil between you and the world. Such a cloak, if it is a well-used one, becomes saturated over time with your peace-filled devotion to Creator, Creation and Peace. Such a tapestry is effective during meditation and prayer, when sitting still in your home or nature sanctuary, when strolling, listening to uplifting music, and even sitting at your desk working. “
-Dr C. Forrest McDowell www.onesanctuary.com
So, it is here that I introduce Kay Moates of On Slender Threads. Kay, like many of us, went through a radical change and shift in her livelihood, as well as her inner creative awareness of what her next leap in life would be not that long ago. I have the distinct honor of owning a mantle by Kay and use it daily to create my own sanctuary of inner peace and reflection. The process that she goes through in order to create one of these mantles is a reflection of the depth of the shift that she made. Kay was invited to write of the leap that she took from a dance world to one of reflective creation. Below is her short story of the moments that took her through the passage and into creating On Slender Threads. Go to her website to learn more!
A Gaggle of Leaps by Kay Moates
Last class taught, performance encored, stage struck, accoutrements neatly pack away . . . well, how about the passions, how about forty years of teaching deeper living through dance and movement . . . how do I fold them up and pack them away? How do I tell those images that dance in my head it’s time to stop, time to be done, over, kaput? “You’re hereby retired!”
No way would the images curtsy. “Fan those passion embers, Kay, fuel the flames!”
Ah, I remembered what I’d taught for years, ‘there’s more than one way to do the same thing’. How many times have I asked dancers to do that? “Well, now you do it, Kay!” So I descended into pondering. Gathering my favorite things into a new expression that kept shifting like a kaleidoscope. First one shape, then another, and another . . . Finally all the parts began to congeal.
What a re-defining this would require of me! Skills that were so different I was a stranger in a foreign land. In most cases I didn’t even know the vocabulary for framing questions. And so, the gaggle began. What, use words, write them down, but I’m a non-verbal specialist . . . leap. I must become competent with my Mac . . . leap, understand the internet and surf . . . leap, leap . . . join established internet sales venues . . . leap, purchase and learn a new camera . . . leap, take photos that give a virtual touch . . . leap, learn photoshop . . . leap, and leap yet again and again. Leaping is a playful game now.
Probably the biggest leap is yet to be landed. How does a contemplative who creates in Silence market Mindfulness Mantles via social media? Here goes. Are you watching?
Inhaling, bending knees, pushing off, air borne, straightening legs, softening joints, opening heart into full fall . . . arms spread wing wide . . .
To Find Kay at On Slender Threads please go to: 
http://www.OnSlenderThreads.com
http://www.facebook.com/OnSlenderThreadsWearableZenMoments
OTHER BLOGS BY GAYE ABBOTT: www.BreathingSpaces.net
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