 A piece of old horse-drawn equipment by the horse barn on The Farm. Dear friends,
This issue of Polishing the Heart is to thank every one of you in our Dance Family for your welcoming, friendship, your love, your openness and to let you know how much I appreciate being part of this family.
As you have probably figured out by now, while some people are very private about their lives outside the circle, I tend to be very open and put myself out there, and so I want to let you know about what is going on in my life. I have heard that our absence from the fall Ozark camp stirred up various rumors and I thought it might be helpful to be out front and clear about my situation. I also hope my story might inspire my brothers out there to take action to safeguard their health.
In August, a blood test revealed my PSA had jumped from 2 to 10, and a biopsy that took place the week of Ozark Camp revealed I have a very aggressive form of Prostate Cancer. The good news is that it has not metastasized outside the Prostate. Deborah and I are currently at a Cancer Center in Atlanta, GA, with surgery scheduled for Monday, November 11.
If all goes as it should, I should be back on my feet in several weeks, cancer-free. Within a few months, I could even be ready to resume our life of travel and adventure.
I am blessed to have friends all over the world, sending love and prayers. I look forward to being back in the circle with you again to sing and dance our joy together.
 Much love to you all,
Douglas and Deborah
From our November Dance Weekend on The Farm
 Experiences such as our Dance Weekend in November are exactly the type of medicine we need to help us through these trying times. In the words of one person who attended, "What a blessed and beautiful…AND powerful experience of peace and love in action, radiating out to all beings everywhere!! May it be so! And so it IS!"
The Board of DUP North America came together for two days before the weekend to build our connection with each other, and to examine the questions, "How can we empower the circles around our region? What can we do to create more connection and collaboration between circles? How do we welcome, empower and encourage the Next Generations so that this practice can continue into the future?"
As part of the weekend, these same questions and others were posed to our Dancers and Dance Leaders in attendance. Discussions were held in breakout groups, sharing thoughts and ideas.
 SAVE THE DATES for our 2025 second annual region-wide retreat at The Farm! July 31 - August 3, 2025! This one will be guided by our DUPNA Next Generation Council! Some comments from the collaborative Dance weekend:
One of the most wonderful events took place on The Farm. Seventy people came from around the US and Canada to attend the Dances of Universal Peace. We sang and danced, ate Wonderful food and got to know each other. The musicians were terrific and the dance leaders were superb. This is a growing movement for peace that is happening around the US and the world. It is healing to put attention into this spiritual event.
What a beautiful group of humans and what a blessing and privilege to dance in such a connected, expanded, heartfelt, heart-centered and mystical way. Slice of heaven. Dances of Universal Peace Dances are such a gift to our world.
This weekend was so full of blessings and beauty that my heart’s battery has been fully recharged. This medicine is truly a blessing for our whole tribe! The positive side effects are forgiveness of self and others, releasing of pain and trauma, and dancing our prayers. It is truly a blessing for which I am eternally Grateful! Muchos Gracias compadres!
Thank you so much for hosting this gathering and including us all so lovingly. It is refreshing to meet new people from faraway places and make new friends. The dances uplift my heart. So grateful.
It was radiantly filled with love and light. I’ll be riding the waves of bliss for months to come.
Deja Vu
The situation with Trump is reminiscent of the election of Nixon, who was an obvious crook to so many of us, and Reagan, the beginning of the right-wing wave.
My takeaway, especially after Nixon, was that we cannot expect change through politics.
We find peace through our own spiritual path, and when we find other people who share a commitment to a spiritual path, we have the strength to survive and prosper.
This is how The Farm came into being and we will be here long after Trump is gone. And we will wait for the pendulum to return.
More to consider...
 "To see the universal and all-pervasive Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself. And a man who aspires after that cannot afford to keep out of any field of life. That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion means."
Gandhi, as printed in Stephen Gaskin's This Seasons People
Peace in our hearts,
Douglas A Return to Guatemala
When Deborah and I were in Guatemala with Plenty International in 1978, our kids were 2 and 4 years old, 4 and 6 when we returned to Tennessee in 1980. By 1990, the turmoil in Guatemala had subsided enough that we took them back as teenagers so that they would remember this very special time in their childhood. Both have since returned on their own and this past summer, our son Jody traveled to Guatemala with his wife and 14-year-old daughter to give them a taste of this land of our heart.
 Jody looking at the same view into the village from the home rented in 1978 by Plenty International volunteers. One thing we have learned from our service in other countries is that there are often unexpected changes in response to the help you provide. As part of our work there, we installed a village water system, providing clean drinking water to every home in San Bartolo. This made it a highly desirable place to live, and when we returned 40 years later, we found the population, along with the number of houses and small businesses, had grown considerably.
 Forever friends. left to right: our daughter Leah, Emily Cook, Jody, and Christopher Cook  Agustin was a village leader who took us under his wing and became our partner in the construction of the soy dairy, in operation now for over 40 years. Sharing pictures from his photo album.  In addition to soy milk, soy ice cream, and tofu, the soy dairy (now called ADIBE) uses the whey from making tofu to produce a soy-based shampoo.  The production crew at ADIBE.  While we were in Guatemala, our son attended first grade in a one-room building with no electricity or running water. Plenty built a new modern school on land adjacent to the soy production facility.  School kids line up for Ice Bean at the soy dairy in Solola, Guatemala - photo by Jody Stevenson  As this newsletter goes out, representatives of Plenty's Board of Directors are in Guatemala visiting ADIBE and other projects.
Thank you for your time and attention!
 My books:
Out to Change the World and The Farm Then and Now
Out to Change the World! $12 plus shipping
The Farm Then and Now $19.95 plus shipping
Watch my TEDx Talk: Out to Change the World - Living the Hippie Dream
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Douglas Stevenson
Douglas@villagemedia.com www.douglasstevenson.com Village Media www.villagemedia.com |
