The chemistry of Connection revealed by Dr. Love.

I keep saying that the reason I'm so passionate about Ceremony and want us to enjoy more of it in more areas of our lives and communities is because it is so powerful for creating connections between people.

And now I have the evidence from Dr. Paul Zak!  Check out the experiment Dr. Paul Zak conducted at a wedding on the whole wedding party.

Ceremony has stood the test of deep time as a means of revealing to us our essential connectedness.   I believe that awakening to our essential connectedness to each other, the Creation and All That Is is the way we will make the next evolutionary leap as a species.

Rituals for Making Peace Everyday

What could build connections between people more than an active practice of peace?  And what might an active practice of peace look like in our everyday lives?  I so appreciate the suggestions in this article in Spirituality and Health e-newsletter offered by fellow Celebrant and Humanist Chaplain at Rutgers University, Barry Klassel.

  

You have enormous power to help comfort. Do's and Don't for Friends of Bereaved Parents

When a friend suffers the unimaginable, you may feel helpless.  But in truth you have enormous power to help comfort both in the beginning and over time.Do’s and Don’ts...For Friends of Bereaved Parents

View another webinar from J.O.S.H. foundation

"Don't Make a Fuss" -- Remembrances for the "Givers"

Melka was a giver. 

She shared her stories, her wisdom and her wicked humor freely.  She spoiled her grand-children lavishly.  People said it was practically impossible to give Melka anything.  If you did, she’d give you something the next day.

An accomplished chef, she made was always making food for her friends in the building where she worked up until her illness prevented her from carrying on her duties as elevator operator at the Flat Iron Building.  

She was also irreverent, fiery and opinionated.  Though she was raised Catholic she’d come to be spiritual rather than religious with a leaning toward the teachings of Buddha.

Melka made it very clear that she did not want a funeral.  She said “Don’t make any fuss. Just toss my ashes into the ocean and be done with it”.   Givers like Melka often want to spare their friends and family the trouble of having a funeral or memorial service for them.  And people who don’t follow a particular faith tradition often want to spare their loved ones the ordeal of sitting through an inauthentic service officiated by a minister or priest from a tradition that held no meaning for them.

Givers who state preferences for no service at all when they pass away usually think they are letting their loved ones off the hook.  They don’t feel comfortable with the idea of all that attention focused on them (even though they’ll be far beyond any embarrassment or shyness by that point!) 

Melka didn’t realize how much her family and community would need to gather together to share their loss.  The people who loved and appreciated Melka in life needed to make her present to them again by remembering her in story and symbol.  

One of Melka's best friends at  the Flat Iron, Sharon, asked  me to help create a memorial service for the community of friends and family members closest to Melka the last years of her life.  Melka's daughter agreed to talk about it, though she felt unsure of what to expect.

I met with the two of them for about two hours and listened as they told me about her life, personality, her quirks and her most dearly held values.  We chose symbols to honor her life and simple rituals to release her spirit. 

Her daughter was nervous.  She’d never experience a Celebrant ceremony and dreaded the thought of having a memorial service that her mother would hate.   She felt better after our meeting. 

When she read the ceremony before the service her nervousness subsided some more.  When the service was over she felt like she’d received comfort that she didn’t even know she needed. 

Ceremony and ritual help us attend to the big changes in our lives fully — spiritually, psychologically and socially.  Hearing other people speak about what Melka meant to them, listening to a poem that described her mother beautifully and blowing rose petals off the balcony at the Sky Bar to release her noble spirit to the great Mystery – all these gestures woven into a cohesive shared experience helped her and the other people gathered feel that sense of connection that allows us to take the healthy next step on the journey.

From my heart,

Michelle

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Please do!  Just include this complete blurb with it.

Michelle Smith is the founder of Asheville Celebrant.  She is an ordained Inter-Faith Minister and Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant who helps people experience deeper, more meaningful connections in their families and communities.  Whether helping people create personal ceremonies for life’s big changes or leading public ceremonies that build community, Michelle  honors all philosophies, beliefs and traditions--religious, secular, spiritual, inter-faith and multi-cultural.   To explore the possibilities for honoring your own life’s transitions email Michelle at ashevillecelebrant@gmail.com to set up a no-obligation Explore the Possibilities call.

A Share-a-mony for the 99%

A change of enormous magnitude is happening right now at the national and international level as structures of economic policy undergo deep and broad transformation.


Ceremony has stood the test of deep time as the most effective means of deriving peace, positive energy and resolve from the changes and trials that come with being a human among other humans.  This is because ceremonies have the power to connect us and remind us of what we share. 


The Celebrant Foundation and Institute offered the following outline for community or individual ceremony for the growing movement called Occupy Wall Street. Charlotte Eulette, International Director of CFI, calls this offering a "Share-a-mony". It is meant to be a structure upon which individuals and groups may create a ceremony that reflects their personal and community experience.

I share it with you now with the intention that these powerful changes will draw us closer to our highest vision of community here in the United States for the good of all the children of every species everywhere forever.


Things are happening

We reach out to make positive change

We shed a bright spotlight on the people 

99% of us cry out for equality, opportunity and quality of life

We light a candle

We acknowledge people around the world 
that have lost their jobs,

can't find jobs 

lost their homes, lost their lives, 

weighed down with debt - including student loans 

We pound our feet

Let's unite conservatives and liberals as

human beings & create solidarity with each other 

We can occupy peace not war 

We clap our hands

We become people oriented, independent thinkers

making the world a better place! 

We wish not merely to survive.

We wish to THRIVE 

Now Shout: I'm in!!! 

Dance in a circle 

hold hands 

Dance with joy

Dance by yourself in the kitchen 

Dance the dance to promote our circle of life

Dance now 

From my heart,

Michelle


Would you like to share this article?


Please do! Just include this complete blurb with it. Michelle Smith is the founder of Asheville Celebrant. She is an ordained Inter-Faith Minister and Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant who helps people experience deeper, more meaningful connections in their families and communities. Whether helping people create personal ceremonies for life’s big changes or leading public ceremonies that build community, Michelle honors all philosophies, beliefs and traditions--religious, secular, spiritual, inter-faith and multi-cultural. To explore the possibilities for honoring your own life’s transitions email Michelle at ashevillecelebrant@gmail.com to set up a no-obligation Explore the Possibilities call.

Live the Art of Life

While I have created and officiated ceremonies large and small for my community for many years, when I committed to offering my services in the Ceremonial Arts professionally I sought out training and professional development from an institute that would hone my skills and expand my knowledge of symbols from a wider range of traditions and cultures.

The Celebrant Foundation & Institute is dedicated to educating people about the value of ceremony and rituals in marking the important transitions in life. The Celebrant Foundation & Institute offers training and certification for continuing education and a solid background in the theory, art and practice of ceremony.

White Dove Release creates an uplifting moment in ceremony

I'm so pleased to introduce our guest blogger and newest partner at Asheville Celebrant -- Julia Gaunt of Asheville White Dove Releases.  Julia has brought her tenderly cared for and painstakingly trained White Rock (Homing) Doves to communities and families in our region for over 6 years now.

The sight of these beautiful white doves being released and taking flight to the sky is an awesome experience for all who witness it.   

The birds always circle around and gather any stray doves into the flock before they begin routing their way home.  They provide powerful symbolism  for the many ways people seek  to live connected.


As the doves begin flying together - their lived connection to each other allowing them to fly in unison - we feel our  hearts uplifted because we, too, can experience the bond we share with all creation.  


I am so pleased to be affiliated with Asheville Celebrant. Together, we help families celebrate and honor the connections that make life meaningful in ways that people remember for a lifetime.

Michelle is a talented and compassionate Celebrant who helps people create ceremonies that authentically reflect her clients' values and beliefs.  I trust her to release my birds with the same care and ethics I do myself.

Videos of Asheville White Dove Releases for several types of ceremonies such as weddings, funerals and community celebrations can be found at doveladyasheville on YouTube.  

The releasing of pure white homing doves is a harmonious and natural way for an individual, a family or a business to celebrate or commemorate personal milestone events.  An alternative to balloons or rice,  white doves add an unexpected and uplifting highlight to any occasion!

To set up a short no-obligation call to Explore the Possibilities for your including a White Dove Release at your ceremony email us at ashevillecelebrant@gmail.com

Warmly,

Julia

Julia Gaunt, Asheville White Dove Releases

Would you like to share this article?

Please do! Just include this complete blurb with it.

Michelle Smith is the founder of Asheville Celebrant. She is an ordained Inter-Faith Minister and Certified Life-Cycle Celebrant who helps people experience deeper, more meaningful connections in their families and communities. Whether helping people create personal ceremonies for life’s big changes or leading public ceremonies that build community, Michelle honors all philosophies, beliefs and traditions--religious, secular, spiritual, inter-faith and multi-cultural. To explore the possibilities for honoring your own life’s transitions email Michelle at ashevillecelebrant@gmail.com to set up a short, no-obligation call.