This April photo was taken two years ago, a few weeks before I knew I was going to need another round of major spine surgeries. I had just finished setting up my booth for the first public showing of my burial shroud business. I was aware of being less able bodied than usual, grinning for the camera and feeling very worried about my numb feet. What I notice about this photo is the sense of rooted exhilaration in my body. It was not so hard then to hold my torso erect and I see a physical ease that I remember but no longer experience. I am even more excited now about the shroud business, and it is slowly and steadily growing. I spend a lot of time considering the meaning of life while contending with the slice & dice of the fascia across my back. I spend a lot of time considering what it means to hold oneself up in the world in order to get on with the mending that is required. I spend a lot of time learning to hold, honor, and let go of grief. Because this is the work I seem to know best. I am really proud of the niche that Last Dance Shrouds is establishing in the changing landscape of after death care. We begin things without knowing how they will unfold. We risk more than we know we are risking and still take forward steps towards what is possible. It takes outrageous courage to have an idea and manifest it in the world as a tangible, touchable, usable thing. This smiling face, these rooted feet, this is me utterly surprising myself with the magic of manifestation. As Last Dance Shrouds celebrates two years in the Real World and gears up for the next stage of growth, this is the moment to pause in gratitude: Thank you friends for your support and blessings, it has made all the difference.
