Community, fast and slow (Patreon)

As I write this, I'm sitting at the plant- and crystal-laden registration desk Mukunda Studio -- a warm, welcoming, queer yoga space in the Leather and LGBTW Cultural District. Outside, you can hear Folsom Street traffic. Indoors, we're surrounded by fabrics, wood, plants and shells, huge Quan Yin statues and a bevy of Ganeshas. It's a usually a quiet haven in the neighborhood, but today sensual R&B is playing in the studio space.

We're hosting our first Erotic Movement class since closing the old Wicked Grounds Annex last June, and I feel truly at home. It's taken a while, but I am beginning to feel the best of what it means to be Wicked Grounds in community with other local spaces.

All the more so because I parked just up the street at the Folsom Street Community Space, where we also hold classes. This afternoon, a crew of friendly leather folk are building a set of new shelves to house the collection of the Center for Sex and Culture -- which is also operating as a force in the world long after leaving a space of its own. The garage at Folsom Street is full of table saws, sawdust, sweat and smiles.

The industry of building together.

The quiet of finding one's own way to move, in a supportive group.

Loud and quiet. Fast and slow.

The ways we build relationships and community ebb and flow like that. Some days are busy; some days are quiet. Some days we reach out; some days we nestle inward.

Thankfully, we try to build opportunities for both.

If this is a time you really want to connect with community, take a small first step now. What is the next class, the next playshop, the next party you want to check out? Our friends at Forbidden Tickets and Bloom offer safe, curated events not just in the Bay Area but all over the world.

If this a time you want to turn inward, make time for that.

Here's what I see as the important part: when you want to reach out, reach out. When you want to go in, go in. Honor that natural ebb and flow. It's when we fight that instinct and get in conflict with ourselves that we get stuck.

I'll close with the Goethe quote that's on my mind today: "Whatever you do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." This is often paired with a commentary from William Hutchison Murray,

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Wherever you are in your journey right now, Wicked Grounds is here for you. Never hesitate to reach out for help connecting with community, at the speed that's right for you.

Warmly

Mir

PS: WHOA! Talk about synchronicity! I was just wrapping up a final re-read of this post, and the class started chanting "Slow is sexy!" to affirm the instructor saying that slowness fuels eroticism. Perfect. Truly perfect.