Lessons Learned from Fiddle Camp

My kids, River and Sage, and I just got back from 8 days of non-stop fun, incredible music, high level creativity and awesome community at the Valley of the Moon Fiddle Camp led by master Scottish fiddler, Alasdair Fraser, in Boulder Creek, CA.  I was the resident yoga teacher, teaching yoga to the musicians (who could manage to get up after late night jamming!) every morning, and participating in classes and community activities throughout the day.  It was my third year of attending the camp, and it was not only a total blast, it was also a life changing experience.  Fiddle camp is totally different from say, a yoga or meditation retreat, but in the end, the life changing effect is very similar.

Here are some of the lessons I learned at camp this year:

1. Music (and all other type of creative activity) is not trivial.  One of Alasdair Fraser’s most noteworthy quotes and the name of an upcoming documentary about him and his incredible work about growing a community around music is, “the groove is not trivial.”  I think by this he means that the creative act of music is absolutely vital, as vital as one’s own breath. Through music and other creative forms (including yoga!), you get to express yourself, you get to be vulnerable, you find your own voice and movement and you get to step into new places inside yourself.  Being around other creatives who are willing to take seriously and prioritize their creative expression through music, song, costumes, art, skits and humorous capers, I stepped more deeply into myself and got more serious about what I want teach and convey through yoga, teaching and writing.  In the language of yoga, these activities are vital to connecting deeply to one’s dharma (life purpose) which leads into my next lesson…

 

1. Step boldly into your own zone of curiosity and genius where it’s edgy and exciting!   Throughout the week at camp, I saw countless examples of people getting curious and bumping up against their growing edges, the place of creative tension, where it’s both uncomfortable and enticing to go deeper.  Valley of the Moon Camp is a totally safe place for exploring these growing edges.  It’s a safe place for being yourself, a place where you can take risks. There is a dharma lesson in this.  In one of my favorite books about dharma, The Great Work of Your Life by Stephen Cope, Cope quotes a sentence from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas: “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you; if you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.” That is pretty intense, and yet I think it’s true.  Here we are.  Each of us has this one body for this life only.  There is an exciting intersection between what each of us uniquely has to bring forth and the call of the times, what the world needs right now.  Will you heed the call to step into your curiosity and genius?

 

1. Creatives need space to create with other creatives.  Yogis need to do yoga with other yogis.  Meditators need other meditators. Artists need others artists.  Recovering addicts need the support of other recovering addicts.  Humans evolve much more quickly when we are in the company of others.  I’ve found this to be very much the case in my own life as I have delved deeply into yoga, meditation and habit change.  Dynamic groups and collaboration spark new ideas, insights and innovation.  They are hugely motivating.  Whatever you do, don’t go at it alone!  Whether you want to explore painting, music, writing, meditation, or healthy living, find yourself a community of like-minded souls, and you’ll go farther faster, and you’ll have more fun.
   

 

1. Collective leadership means you get to grow something bigger than yourself.  Valley of the Moon Fiddle Camp has been around for 33 years!  That is 33 years of an experiment in creating a village gathering to support music, laughter, and community fun.  It takes a village (literally) to create such a camp and I was struck very deeply by the commitment of the many individuals who have stepped into leadership roles to do a variety of different tasks that are vital to the camp.  I am curious to explore what we can do with collective leadership in the yoga and wellness community.  I recently was asked to join a leadership position in the Yoga Health Coaching organization that I belong to, and I look forward to applying these ideas and experience to other current and future endeavors.  Stay tuned!