The Post-Pandemic Summer of Love

     Fifteen months ago, a client told me that one of their intentions was to get ready for the “Summer of Love” they they suspected would follow all the quarantines, lockdowns and social distancing. Well, for some of us that Summer of Love might be starting now, or will be starting later this summer of 2021. Are you ready?Honestly, I am not sure I am. I don’t want to unconsciously jump back into “life as normal.” I want time to discover who I am and how this pandemic has transformed me.
     I am in the process of re-entry. While I am enjoying the summer sun and the possibilities of returning to art and performance and music and group erotics, I want to be mindful. So much has changed. Who am I now and what do I want?

This is the first in a series of posts that I call the Urban Tantra Post-Pandemic-Process. Basically, it’s my process as I find my way out of the pandemic and into this new chapter of life. I’m sharing it to start a conversation with like-minded folks about how we re-enter the transformed world with love, kindness, sensuality and purpose.

     I discovered Tantra during the AIDS crisis which is the only other pandemic I have lived through. What appealed to me most about Tantra—then and now—is the invitation to experience everything life throws at you—from the ecstatic to the terrifying, as deeply, consciously and fully as possible. When you walk through the fire of a situation and come out the other side, you are transformed, purified and forged into something stronger and finer. Each one of these walks through the fire of earthly existence brings you one more little slice of enlightenment.
     Here is Step #1 of the Urban Tantra Post-Pandemic-Process:
Reflect/Assess: What did you like (or even love) about the Pandemic Year? What did you loathe?
Here are some of my Likes,/Loves and Loathes:
  • I loved how as the world got slower nature seemed to move faster. I loved being in one place for an entire year and observing the minute details of how the seasons changed.
  • I loved that theatres around the world opened their archives and put them online. I saw brilliant pieces of theater that I never would have been able to see in person.
  • I loved the creative challenge of teaching embodied practices online. I loved teaching for audiences from all over the world at the same time.
  • I loved not being in airports.
  • I loved the freedom of not having to dash all over the city. I realized how much time I spent just getting from place to place.
  • I loathed not being able to share smiles with random people on the street.
  • I loathed not being able to go to Camp Crucible and other large erotic events.I loathed masks. They made my nose run and then I would sneeze a lot and that made people really nervous.
How about you? What did you like/love and loathe?

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