sabrinamari | New workout results, new teaching style

1. I'm really enjoying the gym, and I'm starting to get that muscular lope back into my walk. I can't really explain it: it's the feel of awakening muscles flowing into a slow, powerful glide.

This vow of going to the gym 5 times a week allows me to do a moderate amount of work each day without killing myself or taking up too much time during any one session. It also keeps my momentum going.

2. I've started teaching a one-on-one distance learning course for a non-Blue Star ritual facilitator. She's very experienced, and has asked me to mentor her, teaching her my approach. The inter-tradition context of our work means that we aren't covering the standard Blue Star liturgy, which I love, but which takes *at least* a year to explore well up front. Since she is interested in my approach to Priesting and ministry rather than the Blue Star context in which they're embedded, I'm constructing an entirely new curriculum.

For the first several months, it uses no Craft-based books at all. It draws on texts from all over the map and builds on a sensory-spirituality approach.

We're using email, Skype calls, podcasts and eventually, my Mac iDisk to transfer information.

We'll get together in person every few months to do experiential work, and I am planning to mentor her as she and her colleagues build their own liturgy and tradition. Because she's done so much already and really wants what I have to offer, it's easy to work with her.

I like it. It's not BTW at all, but it is beautiful. Right now this work is feeding my soul and opening up new possibilities. It's also helping me create fresh alliances outside of Blue Star. I am enjoying it deeply. Still, I consider this initial foray into alternate styles of teaching an experiment. If it works, I'll expand it to include others who express an affinity for the model.

I must say that it's wonderful to work in a way that fits my schedule and allows me to teach while working, parenting and continuing multiple other projects (my academic book, articles, future non-academic books and workshops/classes at new gatherings). I don't have to travel at night during the winter (difficult to do with SAD), and I can move our curriculum forward whenever I have a little extra energy and 20 or 30 minutes to spare. The hardest parts are finding mutually good times to Skype and fitting in face-to-face meetings every few months. However, we've been doing OK at both of these so far. We've found a good early evening weeknight that seems to work for both of us and we're tacking face-to-face time onto the end of larger, previously planned gatherings and retreats.

I think this model of teaching and working together rocks. It's a good hybrid of classic in-person training and online education. It wouldn't work nearly as well with an inexperienced ritualist/Priestess or someone without a home group, nor is it a substitute for training in a tradition. But as a supplement/master class across tradition lines, it works beautifully.

I also love the way it makes room for family, work and additional projects. I'm not going to be happy with a life that revolves mostly around one thing, so I need to adapt each major interest to my multi-faceted path. So far, this approach is a good fit.