Samantha I think this is a great idea. I am running around like crazy getting ready to leave for Tranformus tomorrow but when I return, I plan to do this. I think it's a great way to chronicle shared experiences and also to re-experience our own special moments. Thank you for thinking to start this thread.

hey sam!! this is so off the cuff... i am sleep deprived, but here goes! It was great to not feel rushed for 3 days. everyone was going at a pace that was comfortable and in the moment not thinking of all the things to do. Staying at Mary's house was incrediable!! If she was any more hospitable I would have never left. Hottub's before bedtime with Melissa, Mary, Jess and Vicky!!! Baxter's incrediable talent for storytelling. I can't wait for the day to hear more of the Maiden. Baxters incrediable workshops. THE FIRE!!! simply amazing, thank you to all brothers and sisters for sharing. Kaiya and Lori singing. DRUMS, they were perfect. weaver street market is a truly special place and i believe this world would be alot better if every community had a place like this to hang. the enormous feeling of being welcomed by everyone in carborro. hugging, laughing and smiling soooo much! having melissa make coffee for me, jess driving me around, mary packing snack bags...it was wonderful to be so taken care of. My one on one conversations that I got to share with alot of you :) Kava. Nipple's (nuff said). Knowing that there are so many people who's approach to life is to move through it with love and joy. it was amazing....so much more to come
oh, Khan spinning poi, nikki fire hooping (badass), becoming a family. thank you everyone.

Thanks to Sam for starting this thread! I think it will be wonderful to read about everyone's experiences and memories of the retreat. I'm still so tired that I can't quite form cohesive thoughts yet, but I wanted to share one thing.

Melissa's positive thoughts are what inspired me to share at the fire. The first day, the thought that I received said, "It is now safe for me to forgive all of my childhood traumas. I am free." The second day (a few hours before the fire), I received one that said, "Forgiving makes me feel free and light. I forgive everyone, including myself." The theme of forgiving, along with the repeated theme of trees, came together and whispered, "Let go." I wasn't sure whether it was too much to share since I'd only known some of you a matter of hours or days and I didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but I felt so much lighter afterwards.

Thank you so much to everyone who shared, listened, accepted, and loved - at the fire as well as all weekend. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. Thank you to every member of the Hoop Path tribe for making me feel so welcome and at home, especially Bax, Ann, and Beth who opened their homes and their hearts to me. It means so much to me that you took me in, literally and figuratively.

Heed the call: BAAAAAAAA!