June ’13
Touch Trust session, Friday 3.00 pm
I want to share with you this Touch Trust session .Like all the sessions ,it is always a joint adventure which involves the carers too .Success is shared with them and us .
As you know no one is turned away for any reason. It was for this the Touch Trust came into existence.
We knew this session would be a challenge.
This session started badly ,with " Jonn" so stressed ,he spat and lashed out as he entered the room and remained volatile throughout the first half of this one-to-one session.
But the miracle of Touch Trust worked again!
At the end, we ALL held hands together.......smiles all around ,including Jonn!!
“That Circle of Friendship.
Gives me hope.
The session starts with kicks, fear, distance.
Two staff
Two" angels” in disguise
Burly, macho, gentle,
Love in practice
But off- the- wall-
Not society’s or our clichéd expectation
But love in every action.
At first our dear friend can only
Stay in his comfort zone, defending space.
No speech, so keeping space the only way he can,
Kicks and spits
Through fear to keep his precious space.
But, as the session ends he takes my hand
The circle closed by him.
He leads a gentle swaying,
Eyes closed,
A little smile.
He stops,
We echo this pause,
He claps
We follow.
Love bursts
With visible joy for a second of eternity,
It is for moments like this
We live!
That Circle of Friendship gives me hope......
We are all content.....
…..Will sleep well again tonight.
The Skydive
Exit
Roll
Tuck tight
Fall accelerating
Bluuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrr
I open my body ,limbs push out
--FLIGHTSTOPPED—
Still flying fast but steady.
Far away I see green earth, not anymore the moving blur.
Images become larger--fields, sea, buildings .
Focus splits now, moment of madness wanting to stay
In this ecstatic world.
I have to tear my soul away from this flying joy, abandoned living-
Addict to falling journey.
Danger now,
Discipline must take over ,or I am dead.
So I watch my wrist ,leave this world of heaven
Focus on altimeter and fast moving hand to RED.
Another ultimate sense of sureness, another joy ,
my hand reaches to feel the leather round of safety.
I pull hard
There is a second’s death
WAITING----
Then I am pulled up by gravity, my descent stops.
Slow ,slow floating,
Light
Slow
Reflective
Meditative but different to the immediate past intensity
Of heightened being.
Dilys Price OBE © 2013
Blog March ‘13
16th January ‘13
This was the day that my dear friend Paul Jenkins was taken into Paradise.I will not grieve for him ,because his life was a life of destiny.
He was an extraordinary human being. I met him when I was lecturing in UWIC and Paul came to visit us and talk to my sport students about his life as an athlete -doing 99 marathons ,the Ultimate Road Race in America and running up the Empire State Building; raising millions for charities ,and then in six weeks –going blind!
From then on he became a friend of myself and my students.One student ,Emma , trained with him to do a marathon ; he became a Trustee of PVSH ,who with various of my students ,staff and other disabled athletes founded the Wales Sport Centre for the Disabled and he was a founder Trustee and member of Touch Trust ,( and went on raising money for us ,for Guide Dog Association and other charities up to an amazing two million!)
What I loved about Paul is that he was a sports icon when he could see ,showing immense courage in his racing , and having become blind he was an icon to many but particularly to school children around the country. It was wonderful that he was a role model that children could admire rather than the empty caricatures that make the headlines today. They listened enthralled to his stories told with a gentle humour. He explained how he had made a life to be proud of ,to be enjoyed though hethough he had come from a place a place of despair .He gave the glory for this to God.(He had a real faith in God’s love and care.)
He showed a spiritual courage to match his physical prowess. Throughout he was humble and self effacing ,generous and warm –a man of God indeed.
I will miss you Paul ,but I will not mourn ……..
The poet and philosopher Gibran wrote about the beauty of the giver – this could have been written about Paul and in fact explains exactly Paul’s beauty and what he gave to life…..
“You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,
and their coffers are never empty.
There are those that give with joy and that joy is their reward.
……………………………
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breaths its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He
smiles upon the earth.”
- On Friday ,10th May ,Paul’s family are organizing a Social Evening in the Wharf Hotel in the Bay ,Cardiff .Please come and join us for Paul’s Fund raising event for Touch Trust. We’ll have fun!!
- AlsoSaffron ,his niece has a Tribute to Paul on Face Book if you would like to know more about his amazing life.
10th January ‘13
Last week I went to see Phantom of the Opera at the Wales Millennium Centre and again it blew my mind .Such wonderful music and such a tragic story,so full of truths.
I felt the power of its message much more strongly than ever .Lloyd Webber’s musical underlines compassion as the highest expression of love. It hit me hard and brought home the power of the Touch Trust philosophy and practice, in a small place in another part of the same building where we touch the lives of vulnerable people .
I saw it so clearly.
In our lives we reach towards this pureness of love. We try so hard ,but only manage to understand what love is very imperfectly .
My marriage failed because I thought love was about attraction ,romance, sex , neediness. When eventually all these fell away I was disillusioned and then I looked elsewhere for love .
For many of us this is sadly our journey .Paradoxically I also know that if this is where we are we have to live through this , be honest and authentic on our journey .Learning must be meaningful, and the only way to progress is to suffer with courage as well as to enjoy living with courage.
It is only now finally ,past romance, attraction and sex ,having suffered and learnt and tried to love , can I in some small way enjoy the beautiful energy of compassion.
The Touch Trust Centre is fertile ground for compassion .Here compassionate love draws us into its arms .We learn to give and care and to know the joys of this expansion of our self interest to encompass others.
I came across a poem I wrote when we were looking for somewhere to have a Happiness Centre fifteen years ago and I was with Don ,a young man who so much needed beauty to counteract the pain of his unhappy life. As we spoke about our ambitions ,I looked down and saw one tear run down Don’s face !
This is the poem and now Don has this beautiful Centre and comes to us every week .We have enriched him ,but he has enriched our lives ( each enriching the other ,which is the wonderful and unique gift of compassion.)
Happiness Centre for Touch Therapy and Rhythmic Healing 1997
Darling your tears are the seal.
Your unhappiness overwhelms me. As we talked
One tear fell.
Almost unnoticed as
We talked of our love for you-
And the Happiness Centre
I dream of , where you Don
Could feel our love
Through touch, in a beautiful place,
(Sunlight ,water, music and harmony of colour.)
You heard us talking and one tear fell –darling that set the seal.
We will have it , for you and others.
Darling we will get this, for you and others like you.
The best is not enough.
Your tears are the seal….
This is my second blog – just before Christmas! We had a delightful Christmas ‘Sharing and Showing’ of the College students’ expressive activities last week. This was the eighth Christmas ‘Sharing and Showing’ on the Glanfa stage –and the BEST.
The authentic creative expression of each student was quite amazing, while the spontaneous joy and of the students and staff affected the audience in a very positive way . There were tears ,smiles, laughter and hugs .
This was the true spirit of Christmas, a celebration of love and diversity ;authentic expression confidently given and joyously received and the inevitable mood of wellbeing and happiness which resulted for both giver and receiver.
Claudia Mollzahn and Liz Harris surpassed themselves .We are so fortunate to have them leading the College ,thank you both. Their excellence and unselfish excellence calls to mind what Helen Keller wrote,
“I long to accomplish a great and noble task but it is my chief duty to
accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
As Mother Teresa once said ,
“ Do small things with great love”
After all, at Christmas we are celebrating the greatest gift of all – Christ’s Birth ,Death and Resurrection ;whatever religion we support ,it is about love and goodness and the triumph of Light!
Until the New Year enjoy yourselves and celebrate LIFE.
This is the month eight years ago that we took occupation of our allotted space in the new Wales Millennium Centre . There were only two of us then, our recently appointed Business Manager ( seconded from Barclays Bank) and myself.
On 26th November ,2004 the WMC officially opened with a magnificent performance on the Donald Gordon stage and we were part of it –on the stage with members of the other six Artistic Residents –a night and a time never to be forgotten .
From nothing –we wrote to schools and day centres and community houses where I had a link inviting them to come to Touch Trust sessions – we began a few sessions a week in our Centre.
I am amazed at how far we have come and to celebrate our wonderful journey I am going to start a monthly blog .
In my blog I will tell our story, celebrate our success, write about future aims and give thanks to God – or the Universe if you prefer- and friends).
To finish this first blog I will quote from (what can be seen now as a prophetic statement) our very first leaflet written in 1996 when we looked at deserted garages and stately homes and had no concept of anything like the WMC and were penniless!
This was our Vision 10 years ago- now it is a reality…..
“Can you imagine a “Cathedral of Light, a beautiful place where those with profound special needs can be touched and their souls can be reached and we can see their eyes opened revealing joy and love?
In turn, we as helpers are also touched and are enlightened by them-a beautiful interaction takes place which benefits them and us .We finally understand that they have yet undamaged minds and souls of great beauty and yearning as we have.
In this beautiful place, a programme is introduced on a one to one basis which encourages close personal relationships. This spiritual beauty will be married with the most beautiful building we can devise,which will incorporate art , colour, movement ,music and sound ,rhythm, scent and therapy.
This dream is already a reality in terms of beautiful individual interaction between a few. We desperately need support and sponsorship for this beautiful place to come into fruition and for more to benefit.
We are a small group of people dedicated to this dream, will you help us?
“Our goal while we are on this earth is to transcend our illusions and discover the innate power of our spirit. We are responsible for what we create, and we must therefore learn to act and think with love and wisdom and to live in service to others and all life.”
Caroline Myss
Our vision came true and the result is a reality beyond what we had dreamt of!
