“Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life.”

– Jean de La Fontaine

One of the great joys of my life is my monthly drum circle with a very special group of women.  What makes us so special, you ask?  Nothing, really.  Each of us is just as special and unique as anybody else, I guess; but what makes the circle special is the way we come together.  None of us comes to seek acclaim, to compete, to elevate ourselves among the group.  All of us come to weave our lives, our energies, our common experiences into a beautiful pattern that shows us our shared divinity — our oneness — as parts of a much larger whole.

Our group varies from month to month as people come and go and return again.  A year ago, many of us never had met.  Still, regardless of the individuals who take part, we manage to find ourselves in a deeper way as we open our hearts to discovering the oneness that lies at the core of each of us.  We play our drums, and hear one drum singing out the heartbeat of us all.  We speak our truths, and the threads entwine and we find that we are woven into a beautiful tapestry that is far greater and far more colorful than the tiny part that each of us contributes.  We laugh, and the joy of Creation overflows as we relinquish the need to show anything but our true selves to a roomful of strangers who have come to be friends.

Most of us are well into middle-age; and the long shadows of the evening are beginning to leave a trail behind us as we add each day to the lives we have lived.  So many events, so many memories, so many people lie in the shadows of the past. We value the chances to love and to share and to create new connections, because we have learned that our dance in the sunlight is brief and not meant to be danced alone.

I will look forward to another circle next month, because I know it will call me to deeper places — to strength and courage and love and peace, that will follow me back to the life that I live when I am apart from the group.  Perhaps I am stronger because I never really leave them behind.  Perhaps, in knowing our connections, I carry with me the heart of the group that beats as one; and, together, we touch all we meet.