DCF CON GREATEST LEARNINGS

Written by Greg Whitt Wednesday, 03 March 2010 00:00

Photo Credit:  Scott Swimmer

Now that I've had a few days to process, I thought I would share some of the magic from the annual international Drum Circle Facilitators Conference held last weekend in Myrtle Beach. This year's event had special emphasis on Native American-inspired traditions. It also had a lot of focus on integrating song and movement into the drum circle. There were lots of new presenters this year, and about 25% of those who attended were brand new to the conference as well. This was the fifth annual event, so it was a great home-coming for me to reconnect with people I haven't seen in a couple of years.

The dance and song presenters included Janet Farnsworth, Julie Corrie, and Laney Goodman. It was truly powerful, transformational stuff. In particular, during late night drumming on Saturday we shared sonic massage. Imagine lying down in the middle of a 100 decibel sound bowl that vibrates your whole being while 40 of your friends surround you with rhythm and a handful dance around you with shakers to infuse your body and spirit with love, light and goodness!

John Scalici's Leaderhip Cards are fantastic! Get 'em!

Arthur's Advanced Facilitation Challenges were great! I loved the five-person rolling layer in/layer out idea as well as the tambour sculpt-to-song technique.

Nellie Hill assumed duties as president of the Guild. She collected some great photos that can be seen at Conference Drumming and at More Conference Drumming. The photos say more about the spirit of the event than I ever could!

Another emphasis at the event this year was tithing and mentorship. These topics are becoming an important focus for me, along with my renewed interest in story-telling. I volunteered to join the Guild's board of directors to honor my personal commitment to those values and to support the work of the organization.

Tom Harris presented on rights of passage through his work with the Inner Harbor Foundation in Georgia. He told an amazing story of initiation while he drummed. He was astounding and his work is truly inspirational. Plus, it's actually based in some sound (pardon the pun) scientific studies. One comment during his talk was this:

"My eyes opened wide and my heart flew open with them."

Yeah, baby! That's the good stuff!  Here are some other phrases that stuck with me:

"Practice DOES make perfect, but you are already perfect. You can live in bliss if you simply allow yourself to do so."

"Creating spaces for people to feel safe and explore is really important, often sacred work. Let that sink in for a minute...."

"I realized that I was, in fact, a keeper of drums."

"The difference between novice and practitioner lies in possession of skills versus an understanding and awareness of what is happening in the process or dynamics."

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So, I've come from the event inspired and invigorated, with a renewed sense of mission and a heightened awareness of why I do this work and what an impact it can have when you empower people to create their own music.