Wa Wu We
Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in a little house with her mother and father, right next to a deep forest. Like all children, the girl was full of curiosity and full of life. The curiosity opened doors to amazing imaginary worlds in almost everything she met on her journeys trough the woods.
One day when the girl was playing in the forest she came to a small glade. It was a peaceful summers day, sunbeams were shining through the canopy and there were songbirds in full throat all around. In the middle of the glade was a big stone, covered in moss. In the middle of the stone there was a hollow which gave it the shape of a big bowl. The night before, a great storm had swept through the forest and the stone bowl was full of rain water. The girl climbed up the stone and looked down into the water. The surface was completely still and in the water floated a purple star, shining so brightly it almost dazzled the girl. She jumped down from the stone, amazed by what she had seen and also a little bit scared. What was it? Could it harm her?
The storm had also torn some old branches from the big trees. She picked up two of these branches and went up to the stone again. As before, the purple star was shining in the bowl. Cautiously, the girl touched the surface with one of the branches, and instantly a beautiful tone rang out. The tone was so alive and resonant that the girl couldn't say if she had heard it or if the tone was actually part of herself, so deeply did it seem to resonate within her body. The girl touched the surface with the second stick and another, deeper, tone was heard. This tone too seemed to absorbed her, but this time in a slightly different way. She closed her eyes and could sense parts of her body she couldn't remember ever feeling before. When she opened her eyes, she could see that the star was shining even more brightly than before, creating a hovering light above the surface of the water. The purple light coming from the star was not outside her, she could feel the light shining within her, as if the star and the light were everywhere and everything.
Slowly the girl started to play with the sticks on the surface, each strike on the surface creating a new tone and a new wave of light, building up a song of sound and light. The sound was making the girl dance and the light was lifting her from the ground. Floating several meters above the stone, the girl noticed that she was not alone. The glade was full of different kinds of animal, all moving to the song, in unity but each one in a different way. The trees, the flowers, the clouds in the sky, yes everything was pulsating and vibrating together with the rhythm and melody. She was the sound, she was the light and in its vibration she could feel the animals, the trees and everything else. Suddenly she disappeared. She was everything and she fell through eternity.
The next day when the girl returned to the glade, the rain water in the hollow was gone and she couldn't see any star. But still, deep inside, she felt the unity of the dance and when she looked around at the trees, the flowers and the birds in the sky, she could sense that they were all part of this deep knowing.
For as long as I can remember, my mother has been telling stories. Her sharing these stories with me helped me to find ways to open doors to creativity. My mother is still a little girl, wandering through the woods. Now with grey hair and a slower pace to her walk, but still with the same vibrating force of imagination and the same love for the stories that comes to her. One of the stories she told me was about a little boy finding a very special drum in the forest, a magical drum filled with the power of dance. The drum helped the boy find his own dance and creativity, and to awaken joy and happiness when sharing it with others. The sort of joy and happiness that give us and the people we meet strength to investigate life; investigate the endless creativity that we all are part of.
Let the drum of Wa Wu We be heard, let it be played and let each of us dance the song of life, moment by moment. In the dance we can express what is now and get a direct experience of ... This! ... where there is no separation; where there is just for us to be.
