PIVOT POINT

Step on a labyrinth

Kathryn McLean shares her first walk on a labyrinth and why walking a labyrinth works for such a time as this Get full access to Saturday Morning Magazine at lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe [https://lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Wednesday Notes, May 8, 2024

In the year 2017 I took the first step on a journey that continues to unfold. It was Lent.  A season associated with eating fish on Fridays and giving things up for 40 days, like television or sweets. Penance, I guess. But there is more. Lent can be a time for renewal, for growth, for trying out new things. In 2017 First Congregational United Church of Christ in Sarasota [https://uccsarasota.com/] offered FEAST: friends eating and studying together one day a week during Lent. Lots of choices. I picked the spiritual path course. Coming together for the first week we boarded the church bus and headed for St. Boniface on Siesta Key [https://www.bonifacechurch.org/]. There we gathered around their labyrinth, the first I had ever seen. Labyrinths [https://labyrinthsociety.org/faqs] are ancient. Some say the twisting curves represent the journey of life. Walking this path can be a way to heal, to destress, to meditate and entertain transformation. Walking labyrinths are listed as a choice under alternative therapies along with yoga and Pilates. Grief counselors often recommend walking a labyrinth to clients to help them heal. You get the idea. A labyrinth is not a maze. You cannot get lost. There is one path winding its way to the center. The same path returns to where you started. One at a time we stepped on the path. Our feet did the walking. It took focus to stay on the path as it circled around, coming close to the center, then far away, then back again and finally standing at the center. Deep breath. Return the way we came. Afterwards we adjourned to the fellowship hall for tea and cookies. A church member talked about the labyrinth and how she hoped someday to see a labyrinth trail in Florida. I sat up like a bird dog – head up, tail out, catching the scent. Oh yes, I get this. Already written books about walks around Florida. And so, it began. For a year I walked labyrinths all over Florida, 138 in all and 95 made the cut for my book entitled Circling the Center Labyrinths in Florida [https://www.amazon.com/Circle-Center-Labyrinths-Florida-Tobias-ebook/dp/B07GL91MX9/ref=sr_1_3?crid=335WVO4WF81W3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.XXJhQNzOGvHQQZGUm-JSkErTHuweBFgOwmP6R7OzchdfJwFB8kKSIsK8c2meBY3LwFjkFdNW8wihMbdEPZiZEvtZuGsWYfKG_Vf6a3kr2Pt6kaiANNXWck7XTP2uJn5_cT7-X_e8FCH2OlYqGqCuTkFl6Jdsa2bCqzRvLMVoVuTYLRhlGbafQMvjlS9BOvEjHuyF047RzypXkfRd8_aVm63SND5DofMcZmsnsAoh-lI.e7DDFhp86RTm1LEYxxjOuHjwbSNVSh3rTFEsF-QDbk8&dib_tag=se&keywords=lucy+tobias&qid=1715025520&s=books&sprefix=lucy+tobias%2Cstripbooks%2C95&sr=1-3]. I called that church member and asked to connect for coffee. We met. I said this book was all because of her words that day. No. That was her response! You don’t understand the nature of call, she said. Call has two parts – call and response. For years she had been issuing the call for a labyrinth trail at public events. Not one response. Until bird dog Lucy showed up, listened, and answered the call. Now you know. There are two parts to call – the call and the response. Many were called to walk a labyrinth this past Saturday, May 4, on World Labyrinth Day [https://www.worldlabyrinthday.org/wld-2024] and they responded. It is always the first Saturday in May. The motto is: walk as one at 1 p.m. whatever your time zone. So, a rolling tide of peaceful energy encircled the globe on Saturday. A friend and I walked the Unity of Venice, Florida [https://veniceunity.org/]labyrinth, stepping on the path at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4. The numbers are not in yet but surely that amount of positive energy helped lower the rising trend towards violence that runs through our cultures – labyrinth activism! Should you wish to walk a labyrinth, start with the worldwide labyrinth locator [https://labyrinthlocator.com/]. Type in your location and see if there are labyrinths in your neighborhood. Or if traveling, look at your destination for labyrinths. While researching my labyrinth book I met a labyrinth maker who told me he and his wife were in Las Vegas on a tour and the agenda had local suggestions, including walking a labyrinth. That was new. They walked the walk and went looking for more. Just FYI there are seven labyrinths listed in Las Vegas. One thing led to another. Eventually they bought the empty property next to their house here in Florida. His wife gave him a huge pile of rocks as a birthday present – they became the outline of a path for a labyrinth on that next door property. I invite you to step on the path this summer. Find a labyrinth near you. Walk the walk. Every time it surprises me to realize I am smiling when I finish a labyrinth walk. It is that kind of experience. Go for it. copyright 2024 Lucy Tobias www.LucyTobias.com [http://www.LucyTobias.com] Get full access to Saturday Morning Magazine at lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe [https://lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Pivot Point with Dr. Ceil Bare

My guest on Pivot Point today is Dr. Ceil Bare, a Tallahassee resident. She talks about two pivot points in her life - going back to school in her 40s, getting degrees, having a career with Florida State University’s International Programs, and living a dream of being an archaeologist by being part of FSU’s Cetamura excavation in Italy for 25 years - digging up the past. Molto bene! So, turn up the volume and enjoy today’s podcast. FYI The hilltop of Cetamura was home to the Etruscians, Romans and Italians of the Middle Ages. Here is a link: https://www.cetamuradelchianti.com/ [https://www.cetamuradelchianti.com/] Here is Dr. Ceil Bare on the site, photo from https://www.cetamuradelchianti.com/friends-of-cetamura/#bare [https://www.cetamuradelchianti.com/friends-of-cetamura/#bare] And I would be remiss if I didn’t include this awesome display of camellias, blooming now at her home. The fallen blossoms look like a blanket bouquet. For more on camillias see this Wednesday Notes blog: Get full access to Saturday Morning Magazine at lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe [https://lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Pivot Point with Alan Youngblood

Alan Youngblood joins me for an exciting Pivot Point podcast. He is an amazing photographer both above and below the waterline. Youngblood shares the defining moment in college when he realized his life’s journey would be telling stories visually. After working for 35 years as a photojournalist and photo editor for the New York Times Regional Group, Halifax Media Group and Gatehouse, Alan is fulltime freelance. Every day is a new day, a new chance to capture the moment visually. Alan, an Ocala, Florida resident, covers all kinds of genres, news, sports, magazines, underwater, illustrations, video and web pages. Here are several of Alan’s images, more can be found on his website: https://www.alanyoungblood.com [https://www.alanyoungblood.com] Also in this podcast, you will hear the story of how the glass bottomed boats at Silver Springs came to be cleaned by a group of dedicated divers, including Alan - thank them next time you go for a boat tour! Here is a link to my recent Wednesday Notes blog about floating along in a Silver Springs glass bottomed boat - and yes, we could see clearly through the glass. Get full access to Saturday Morning Magazine at lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe [https://lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Pivot Point with Garland Pollard

Garland Pollard is the editor of the Boca Beacon and the Gasparilla magazine, both print and online versions, plus a visitors guide, and a phone book - yes there are still phone books! He is my guest on Pivot Point for December, 2023. Garland, who became editor in November, 2023, shares why comminity newspapers matter and how the Gasparilla Island community supports them. Community newspapers around the country are actually thriving. We eaily forget that good news with hearing and reading all the doom and gloom when it comes to print. Listen to this podcast and be uplifted - print lives, even thrives, and the Boca Beacon lights up the way. Note: Episodes of Pivot Point podcast with host Lucy Tobias appear the last Wednesday of every month in Wednesday Notes. Get full access to Saturday Morning Magazine at lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe [https://lucytobias.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]