Painting:  Pam White, from the Spirit Horse series.  This painting is FOR SALE.  Contact me here for details.

I have been contemplating the approaching new year.  2012 seems an oddly impossible number – something from a future that I have not achieved.

So I am going to look back at 2011 in an effort to bring myself up to speed with this new number.  Two things stand out in particular.  They are about practice and rooting.  I am using that word because of its developmental associations.  It is what an infant does when seeking the mother’s nipple.  Seeking nourishment, the font, the center.  That feels to me like what this year has mostly been about.  Bringing work into new focus.  Nourishing myself with the work.

This was the year that I started my blog.  It began as a piece of the puzzle of my book, Horse Dancing and quickly took on a life of its own.  The book is still seeking its publisher as the blog steadily threads its way through the digital palimpsest that it is the internet.   The blog has become a taproot of my creative practice.  It is where I start the day, and often where I end.  It is teaching more more about showing up, steadfastness and finding focus than almost anything else I have done.  I have been greatly helped and encouraged in my efforts by Jon Katz, Pam White,  Gwen Bell, and Ev Bogue.

This was also the year that I deepened my work with horses to include the Mustang Nelson.  Nelson was rescued from slaughter from one of the BLM’s ugly culls of wild horses that are decimating the herds of the West.  Working with a horse with no intention of riding or making him ready for any human use is something relatively new for me. It is completely about figuring out the steps to his dance for the purpose of making his life out of the wild more manageable for him and safe for his caregivers.  Nelson is my kindest and most patient teacher.

I began to develop  classes and writing for those who are interested in going deeper into improvisational practice.   Opening to new teaching opportunities in this way gives me a new kind of juiciness and flexibility.  Watch for links to other offerings that I find rare and exciting, like Jenna Woginrich’s webinars.

OK.  Now I feel ready to dive into 2012.  Tomorrow.

What has been the root of your year?