Saturday, August 1st, 5:30–7pm, St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm (2752 Clay Hollow Rd., Cuba City, WI). Please bring a dish to share and your own dishware. Prayer, feast, farm tour.

Read more about this seasonal celebration in the Embracing Repair newsletter and while you’re there Subscribe!

Groundswell Joy Collective at DBQfest!

Washington Park- Dubuque, IA

Saturday, August 8 from 2-5pm

Join Groundswell Joy Collective as we bring elements of Song, Dance, and puppet making to Dbqfest- an arts festival celebrating music, art, & culture for all ages. Join us at 2:15 for a snake dance through the park with the larger than life snake puppet from Brigid’s Flame, sing songs, and craft a puppet that will be used in next year’s production at our puppet making station. Dancing and singing 2:15-2:30 followed by puppet-making 2:30-5!

Check out DBQFEST and all of the festival offerings!

Brigid’s Flame: A tale of healing 1/29, 30, & 31, 2027

Thank you to Iowa Arts Council for awarding grant funding for Brigid’s Flame! We’re still raising the required matching funds. If you’d like to help, please consider contributing to our fundraiser. We appreciate your support!

Allyson (story tender/scriptwriter) has been hard at work writing Brigid’s Flame: A Tale of Healing, a sequel to last year’s production. You’ll recognize some familiar characters and puppets while also meeting many new ones. (Hint... you may spot a few clues in the beautiful new Brigid’s Flame artwork that creative director, Lyric Morris Latchaw, designed).

We’re also delighted to welcome Te Martin from New Mexico as this year’s song writer & song leader. We can’t wait to share their music & joyful spirit with our community. Listen to Te’s music here.

Other upcoming Groundswell events:

• The world will be saved by beauty: nurturing peace through the arts

Join Allyson Polman Winter (Scriptwriter of Brigid’s Flame) and Mary Kay McDermott (founder of GJC/co-producer of Brigid’s Flame) for this program offering through Shalom in conjunction with International Peace Week!

A free-will donation is appreciated. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are encouraged; please RSVP online or by calling 563.582.3592 by Monday, September 14.

• Singing the Joy of Creation: A Community Song Circle

  

  Sunday, October 4, 3:00 - 4:30 pm CT
  Shalom Spirituality Center

  You are invited to sing and celebrate with us! Pope Leo has declared 2027 as a Jubilee Year for St. Francis, in light of this being the 800th anniversary of his passing. October 4th is the Feast Day of St. Francis, as well as the closing day of this year’s Season of Creation. This is a perfect collection of reasons to step into the spirit of Francis and join with others to sing the joy of creation!

  Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being in community; there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music!

  A free-will donation is appreciated. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are encouraged; please RSVP online at shalomretreats.org or by calling 563.582.3592 by Friday, October 2.

• Church of the Oak: Autumn Equinox - Tuesday, September 22nd, 5:30pm Potluck, 6-8pm Prayer, Sinsinawa Mound (585 County Rd. Z, Sinsinawa, WI)

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Join Groundswell Joy Collective on facebook for more current reminders about events!

Join our friends at the Dubuque Rescue Mission for this upcoming offering!

Read more about it and register to attend here.

Sound when stretched is music.

Movement when stretched is dance.

Mind when stretched is meditation.

Life when stretched is celebration.

-Ravi Shankar

I’m excited to be leading community singing around the bonfire this Fri at this Woman of the Land retreat taking place at the Mound Center this weekend. Take a look & consider attending! Mary Kay

Women of the Land Retreat - Sinsinawa Mound Center
Theme: Living Roots of Soil and Body

Friday, July 10th at 1:30pm and concludes Sunday, July 12th around 11:00am

What can soil teach us about ourselves? What can our bodies reveal about our relationship with the land?

Join Sinsinawa Mound Center, a sacred landscape shaped by generations of stewardship, contemplation, and care for creation. Gathering on this special land invites you to slow down, listen deeply, and reconnect with the living systems that sustain us. Together, we will explore soil texture, water dynamics, and aggregate stability while discovering how healthy soil supports thriving ecosystems and resilient communities.

Through Movement Fundamentals —an embodied practice that facilitates agency, awareness, learning, connection, and creative expression—and the practice of Soul of Soil Sampling, facilitators Jane Hawley and Jodi Lynn Enos-Berlage engage us in both scientific inquiry and embodied experience.

Examining the movement of water through soil and how gravity and the cosmos shape our bodies reminds us how we are not separate from, but participants in, nature. Inspired by Robin Wall Kimmerer’s words, “All flourishing is mutual,” this retreat weaves together soil science, movement, reflection, reciprocity, shared meals, nature walks, an evening bonfire, and community singing with Mary Kay McDermott. Participants will also learn about the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa and their land stewardship efforts through a Heritage Tour led by Sister Sheila Fitzgerald.

Join us in cultivating deeper connections to the land, our bodies, and one another.

Cost: $50 per person or $125 with overnight accommodations.
A retreat benevolent fund is available if needed (Ryan Fund).
Childcare is available during the day.

To preserve an intimate setting, space is limited. Please note that by reserving your spot, you are committing to Friday – Sunday. For scheduling concerns, please contact Chelsea at the Mound Center. 608.806.6087.

This retreat is part of a larger series that the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, Fields of Sinsinawa, and the Mound Center are honored to bring to our community.

Join caller Mary Kay & live band, the Old Gray Cats, @ Folklore Village this Saturday (7/11)!

Folklore Village’s Barn Dances are fun-filled nights of traditional American dances including contras, big circles, and old-time squares. The night starts with a potluck at 6:00pm, with dancing to follow around 7:15pm. Families and beginners are especially welcome!

Admission: $10 adults, $8 seniors and teens, $5 kids.
Children under 5 are admitted free, and family admission is capped at $25.

Folklore Village is in Dodgeville, WI. A beautiful spot- well worth the trip!

Need encouragement? listen to my friend Hannah read this wonderful recent poem she wrote about her evening dancing at Folklore Village. Find her on substack

Save the date for these upcoming events!

Groundswell Joy Collective at DBQfest!

Washington Park- Dubuque, IA

Saturday, August 8 from 2-5pm

Join Groundswell Joy Collective as we bring elements of Song, Dance, and puppet making to Dbqfest- an arts festival celebrating music, art, & culture for all ages. Join us at 2:15 for a snake dance through the park with the larger than life snake puppet from Brigid’s Flame, sing songs, and craft a puppet that will be used in next year’s production at our puppet making station. Dancing and singing 2:15-2:30 followed by puppet-making 2:30-5!

Check out DBQFEST and all of the festival offerings!

The world will be saved by beauty: nurturing peace through the arts

Join Allyson Polman Winter (Scriptwriter of Brigid’s Flame) and Mary Kay McDermott (founder of GJC/co-producer of Brigid’s Flame) for this program offering through Shalom in conjunction with International Peace Week!

In a world that can feel fractured and uncertain, we gather to remember a simple and powerful truth: beauty has the capacity to heal, connect, and transform us.

This evening of participatory song, story, movement, and reflection invites us to explore how creativity and shared ritual can become pathways toward peace. Inspired by the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky and the lived example of people who have carried hope through difficult times, we gather to remember that beauty is not a luxury—it is a way of tending the human spirit and renewing our connection to one another.

Rooted in what Dorothy Day called the “Duty of Delight,” we will explore joy not as an escape from the world’s struggles, but as a source of courage, resilience, and renewal. In a time when so much calls us toward fear and division, choosing delight, creativity, and connection becomes a way of practicing peace.

Through community singing, storytelling, gentle movement, and moments of silence, we will celebrate the threads that bind us to one another and to the living world. No experience is needed—only a willingness to listen, participate, and share in the warmth of gathering.

This event is part of Groundswell Joy Collective’s ongoing work to cultivate belonging through song, story, movement, and meaningful community experiences. We believe that when we gather in beauty, we strengthen the roots of compassion, imagination, and collective care.

Join us as we kindle the fire of connection and remember that peace begins in relationship. Together, we can risk delight, nurture belonging, and help bring more beauty into the world.

A free-will donation is appreciated. Walk-ins are welcome, but RSVPs are encouraged; please RSVP online or by calling 563.582.3592 by Monday, September 14.

Church of the Oak: Lammas Celebration

Saturday, Aug 1 5:30-7 St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm

In between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox, is the cross quarter day: Lammas-the first harvest. Join us to celebrate the themes & fruits of the harvest season— cooperation, sharing, and enjoying the rewards of hard work!

Please bring a dish to pass and your own dishware.

Brigid’s Flame- Save the Dates!!

Brigid’s Flame is back this year with a new script!! Mark your calendars and save the dates for next year’s production. Jan. 29, 30, (evening shows) & 31 (matinee) 2027 at Steeple Square! More info coming soon!

Not related to Groundswell Joy Collective activities but summer fun for the whole family!

Dickeyville Family Fun Night

A favorite night of summer! Feature a giant Slip N Slide and Mary Kay’s brothers, the Boys of Lloyd, playing music! Come join the fun!

• Saturday, June 20, 2026 6:30-8:30 Casper Bluff 870 S Pilot Knob Rd Galena, IL 61036

• Join us for a potluck at 6pm- BYO dishware

Join the Church of the Oak at Casper Bluff in Galena for a celebration of Summer Solstice, as we honor one of humanity’s oldest ritual observances and one of Earth’s “Holy Days,” an important time in which we recognize ourselves as part of the great web of the community of creation. The evening will be filled with prayer, readings, gratitude, silent wander, song, and fellowship. This event will take place all outdoors… please bring a chair and dress for the weather.

Community Singing and Barn Dance in collaboration with Dbq Rendezvous climate festival

• Thursday, June 25, 2026 7-7:30pm Eagle Point Park- Riverfront pavilion

• Find more details and exact timing as it gets closer on https://climaterendezvous.org/schedule/

Join song leaders, Alyssa Zasada and Mary Kay McDermott, from the Groundswell Joy Collective for a time of shared community singing that uplifts the spirit, energizes the body, and builds connection. Rooted in the element of air, we’ll explore the breath as the foundation of our voices and the thread that connects us. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some include easy harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community—breathing, listening, and singing as one—with no performance involved. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music. All voices welcome!

Community Barn Dance

• Saturday, June 27, 2026 6:00 -7:00 PM

• This event will take place in the parking lot in the historic Millwork District. See https://climaterendezvous.org/schedule/ for more details and exact timing as event gets closer.

Join founder of Groundswell Joy Collective and folk dance caller Mary Kay McDermott, as well as a live band, for a community barn dance that will spark energy, warmth, and joyful connection. We’ll dance contra, circle, longways, and square dances that bring people of all ages together for a no-practice, no-performance dance that’s easy to learn and fun for the whole family. Come kindle joy, share in the rhythm, and experience the warmth of community on the dance floor.

Barn Dance at Folklore Village

• Saturday, July 11, 2026 7:15-9:15 PM at Folklore Village 3210 County Road BB, Dodgeville, WI 53533

Folklore Village’s Barn Dances are fun-filled nights of traditional American dances including contras, big circles, and old-time squares. Families and beginners are especially welcome! Dance calling by Mary Kay McDermott and live music by the Old Gray Cats.

The night starts with a potluck at 6:00pm, with dancing to follow around 7:15pm. For more info check https://folklorevillage.org/barn-dances/

EarthKeeper Wisdom School

Additionally, you might be interested in this offering created by a couple of friends--Carolyn Griffeth and Lyndsey Scott--called A Year in Ceremony. A Year in Ceremony offers a deeply immersive apprenticeship in the art of ritual and ceremony for personal and community healing and transformation. It is ideal for those seeking to deepen their practice of sacred space holding and ritual weaving within their communities. It is also ideal for those yearning to remember a deeply soul-nourishing way of living and being community in connection to Earth, Spirit, and Ancestors.

If this resonates, you can learn more Here. They are now enrolling for their coming cohort which begins in September. Applications are due June 12--you may request an extension by emailing info@earthkeeperwisdomschool.org

Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some have simple harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community, and there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music.

May Day/Beltane Celebration with Church of the Oak

Saturday, May 2, 2026 5-7:00 PM

Little Platte CW Farm- 1860 Stumptown Rd. Platteville, WI 53818

Join the Church of the Oak community to celebrate Beltane and May Day! Potluck at 5 (bring a dish to pass as well as your own dishware), followed by ritual and dancing around the Maypole from 5:30-7! Dress for the weather and bring a chair!

May Day/Beltane falls at the midway point between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, a cross-quarter day. Beltane is a time of increase: as the days continue to lengthen, flora and fauna grow and multiply. On Beltane, we mark the transition from winter’s cold and darkness to spring’s warmth and light.

Maypoles use colors to represent the season and the harvest to come: gold for the sun, green for the leaves and vines and purple for grapes. As the dancers weave the ribbons together, it’s hoped they act as a prayer for all these elements to work together in harmony and produce a good crop. The dance itself is a symbol of the farmers/gardeners working together as they will work later in the year to bring the harvest in. A tall pole in the center serves as a totem for spring renewal, bringing life back to the land.

Not an official Groundswell Event per se but for those subscribers who know & love St. Isidore farm- join us to celebrate!

Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some have simple harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community, and there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music.

May Day/Beltane Celebration with Church of the Oak

Saturday, May 2, 2026 5-7:00 PM

Little Platte CW Farm- 1860 Stumptown Rd. Platteville, WI 53818

Join the Church of the Oak community to celebrate Beltane and May Day! Potluck at 5 (bring a dish to pass as well as your own dishware), followed by ritual and dancing around the Maypole from 5:30-7! Dress for the weather and bring a chair!

May Day/Beltane falls at the midway point between the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, a cross-quarter day. Beltane is a time of increase: as the days continue to lengthen, flora and fauna grow and multiply. On Beltane, we mark the transition from winter’s cold and darkness to spring’s warmth and light.

Maypoles use colors to represent the season and the harvest to come: gold for the sun, green for the leaves and vines and purple for grapes. As the dancers weave the ribbons together, it’s hoped they act as a prayer for all these elements to work together in harmony and produce a good crop. The dance itself is a symbol of the farmers/gardeners working together as they will work later in the year to bring the harvest in. A tall pole in the center serves as a totem for spring renewal, bringing life back to the land.

Save the date for these upcoming events

• Sat. June 20th- Summer Solstice Celebration at Casper Bluff

• Thurs. June 25th in the evening (time TBD)- Song Circle in conjunction with Dubuque Rendevous- Eagle Point Riverfront pavilion

• Sat. June 27th in the evening (time TBD)- Community folk dance in conjunction with Dubuque Rendevous

• Sat. July 11th- Join Mary Kay and live band, The Old Gray Cats, at Folklore Village for a Barn dance

• Sat. Aug 1st- Lammas Celebration

  

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Thanks to Liz Rog for coming to lead us in song last month! What a treat! We had an incredible circle of 60 singers raising their voices together. The last song we sang together, “Hold On” was by Heidi Wilson. Liz shared afterwards by email this beautiful & short rumblestrip podcast interviewing Heidi about the origins of the song. Definitely worth a listen.

Liz Rog, will be joining us THIS SUNDAY, March 22nd 2:30-4:30, to celebrate 12 Years of Community singing in the Dubuque area. You are invited to come sing and celebrate with us! Liz is a music magic-maker and has been a long time leader in the Community Singing movement— teaching the next generation of song-leaders and spreading the joy of singing together in this ancient way. It’s an honor to have Liz joining us to celebrate 12 years together since she was the one who jump-started our group a dozen years ago.

Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some have simple harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community, and there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music.

No Registration necessary- Suggested $10 donation at the door

Liz Rog believes in singing together as an ancient technology for belonging, a simple and powerful tool for restoring our connection in community. She sings with all ages, teaching simple songs that can be woven into the seasons of the year and the changes and challenges of our lives in play, at bedsides, at rallies and in rituals. Liz delights in helping folks rediscover their ancestral birthright of group singing to nurture collective joy, courage and healing and supports songleading leadership practices to nurture our collective unfolding. In 2021, with friends and family Liz helped to create the Center for Belonging Folk School where people of all ages are welcomed to share stories, songs, food, handcraft, laughter and tears, all nested in a beautiful gazebo in a pristine wooded hollow near Decorah, Iowa.

Find Liz on Substack

Spring Equinox Celebration this Saturday (3/21) 3-4:30 Swiss Valley Park- Green Ash Pavilion!

Equinox means equal night: There are exactly as many hours of daylight as there are of night, as the Sun shines directly onto the Earth’s equator. It’s the season of buds, not blossoms. Ice is melting; the hard frozen ground begins to thaw. It’s a time of softening and loosening. We made it through the darkest days of Winter.

From the book “The Wheel of the Year” by Jessica Roux

The park entrance is likely closed, so enter through Swiss Valley Campground at 9483 Whitetop Rd. Park at the back of the small campground and walk about 400 ft past the gate and the playground. The pavilion will be on the right, and we’ll be gather behind it at the fire pit. Bring a dish to share and your own table setting, if possible.)

As always, please bring your own chair and dress for the weather!

Church of the Oak is a spiritual community of practice in the Dubuque, Iowa area seeking to connect with the living world as kin and to deepen into intimate relationship with the land, the water, the air, and the creatures with whom we share our homes. We feel compelled by love to heal those parts of our relationship with the Earth that have been distorted by colonization.

Our gatherings offer opportunities for contemplation, grief and gratitude, movement and song, solo wandering and wondering, advocacy, ecological restoration and activism on behalf of and in collaboration with the beloved others in our watersheds.

We gather outside on each Solstice, Equinox, and Cross Quarter, as well as other sacred times of the year. See the full Church of the Oak schedule here.

A Springtime favorite:

“At start of spring I open a trench
In the ground. I put into it
The winter’s accumulation of paper,
Pages I do not want to read
Again, useless words, fragments,
errors. And I put into it
the contents of the outhouse:
light of the suns, growth of the ground,
Finished with one of their journeys.
To the sky, to the wind, then,
and to the faithful trees, I confess
my sins: that I have not been happy
enough, considering my good luck;
have listened to too much noise,
have been inattentive to wonders,
have lusted after praise.
And then upon the gathered refuse,
of mind and body, I close the trench
folding shut again the dark,
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal
the old escapes into the new.”

―Wendell Berry, New Collected Poems

We are so excited to have Sue Hulsether lead our first Groundswell Joy Collective pop-up event. Sue’s dances are fun for all, playful, and community oriented. Be ready to be amazed at the magic she creates! Don’t miss the opportunity to experience a folk dance led by the remarkable ‘dancing Sue!’ Find out more about Sue at her website.

Also, the band “The Old Gray Cats,” who have years of accumulated experience playing for dances, will be joining us to play live music. We are delighted that they’ll be gracing us with their music-making for this dance! Find them on facebook

Joining our friends who are forming a Dubuque Singing Resistance group for this upcoming song circle! Sunday, March 1 12-1:30 pm

There are songs for these times. Simple and powerful songs that uplift our collective vision and voice. Songs that ground us in courage and care. Come sing. Come as you are – hopeful, heartbroken, fearful, determined. We’ll use our voices to weave a net that can hold it all. All songs are simple and strong and taught by ear. No experience needed. Singing is for everyone!

Save the date!

Church of the Oak- Celebrations of the Wheel of the Year & Lenten Series

Church of the Oak is a spiritual community of practice seeking to connect with the living world as kin and to deepen into intimate relationship with the land, the water, the air, and the creatures with whom we share our homes. We feel compelled by love to heal those parts of our relationship with the Earth that have been distorted by colonization.

Our gatherings offer opportunities for contemplation, grief and gratitude, movement and song, solo wandering and wondering, advocacy, ecological restoration and activism on behalf of and in collaboration with the beloved others in our watersheds.

We gather outside on each Solstice, Equinox, and Cross Quarter, as well as other sacred times of the year.

We hope you’ll join us!

Reporting back after our Brigid’s Flame weekend, with a heart brimming, I can say that both evenings—sold out and overflowing—exceeded our expectations! Thanks to all who joined us! It has been deeply moving to hear the stories of what the weekend stirred in both cast and audience.

One audience member, Carolyn Griffeth, commented, “my soul senses that we engaged in something truly world changing: A ritual that proclaimed a more beautiful vision of who we can be and that was totally enjoyed by old and young alike! I honor and give thanks for the Holy Foolishness that led to such an extraordinarily impactful offering!” And another person reflected, “you all made me feel like art can and does change the world around us. Thank you Thank you!”

For me, the moment that felt most like heaven on earth was leading the spiral dance of nearly 200 people, moving hand in hand with my beloved community— smiling faces, hearts open, and joy circulating.

We began rehearsals just as unsettling events were unfolding in Minneapolis. In joining the “creativism” rising across the region, the cast & crew producing Brigid’s Flame was choosing to respond to the events of the world not with fear or withdrawal, but with beauty, relationship, and collective joy.

This approach places us in a long lineage of movement builders who understand joy not as escapism, but as responsibility. Dorothy Day gave voice to this conviction when she said, “We must risk delight! It’s not always easy to be joyful, to keep in mind the Duty of Delight.” She saw joy as a necessary response to hardship—a practice that strengthens resolve, sustains community, and dares us to accept gladness even in difficult times.

In that spirit, Brigid’s Flame and the Groundswell Joy Collective will continue to tend the sacred fire—gathering us in ritual and relationship, carrying light, warmth, and shared joy into the world, and inviting all who join to risk delight together. We hope you’ll join us.

Find us online groundswelljoy.org & on facebook- groundswell joy collective

Save the dates for our first Groundswell Pop up Events!

I (Mary Kay) am so excited to welcome my folk dance mentor, Sue Hulsether, to lead our first Groundswell Joy Collective pop-up event. Sue’s dances are fun for all, playful, and community oriented. Be ready to be amazed at the magic she creates (she’s the one who taught me how to lead that magic spiral dance that was part of Brigid’s Flame)! Don’t miss the opportunity to experience a folk dance led by the remarkable ‘dancing Sue!’ Find out more about Sue at her website.

Also, the band “The Old Gray Cats,” who have years of accumulated experience playing for dances, will be joining us to play live music. I have really enjoyed getting to know Linda (Fiddle), Greg (Guitar), and Al (Banjo) this last year and are delighted that they’ll be gracing us with their music-making for this dance! Find them on facebook

Calling ALL voices!

Another very influential mentor to me and our community, Liz Rog, will be joining us to celebrate 12 Years of Community singing in the Dubuque area. You are invited to come sing and celebrate with us! Liz is another music magic-maker and has been a leader in the Community Singing movement— teaching the next generation of song-leaders and spreading the joy of singing together in this ancient way. Did you enjoy the singing at Brigid’s Flame? We’ll do more of that type of singing with Liz! It’s an honor to have Liz joining us to celebrate 12 years together since she was the one who jump-started our group a dozen years ago. Find Liz on Substack

Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some have simple harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community, and there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music.

Church of the Oak- Lenten series

Join the Church of the Oak — community within the Wild Church network — as we settle into Lent’s call to listen more deeply and explore some of our area’s sacred and desecrated places. All of these events will take place fully outside, so please bring chairs and dress for the weather.

• Ash Wednesday, February 18, 4:30-6, O’Leary Lake, Keiler, WI

• Saturday, March 7, 3-4:30, Mines of Spain Kayak Launch, Dubuque

• Saturday, March 14, 3-4:30, Bee Branch, Dubuque

• Saturday, March 21 (Spring Equinox), 3-4:30, Swiss Valley Green Ash Pavilion, Peosta

• Saturday, March 28, 3-4:30 Hardscrabble Prairie, Hazel Green, WI

We’re having so much fun rehearsing for Brigid’s Flame and are excited about the way all the pieces are coming together. We think this is going to be an incredible arts experience unlike any other in the region. With over half the tickets already reserved the seats are going fast. Make sure to remind friends that opening night is coming right up! Reserve tickets HERE

Thanks Dbq365 for including us in your latest issue!!

Also see our poster ad on page 15. Local friends, pick up a few copies to spread the word with friends!

Podcast recommendation

Want to learn more about the history of Brigid, The Cailleach, and Imbolc (Brigid Day) to help prepare for Brigid’s Flame? Listen to this fantastic podcast from Roots of Lore!

See you next weekend!!!

Spark- $15

We need lots of sparks to start a fire! Consider purchasing a ticket at this price if you would not be able to access this offering without a discounted payment option.

Ember- $30

Embers keep the eternal flame alive! Consider purchasing a ticket at this price to help sustain the work of Groundswell Joy Collective.

Neid Fire- $50

Neid Fires are lit in times of community need! Consider purchasing a ticket at this price if you have the means to assist us in keeping our offerings accessible to people in our community from all economic situations.

The Way Knows the Way- Free

This show is a work of love and we want the joy to be accessible to all! Consider purchasing a ticket here and donating any amount below that is within your means.

Can’t attend the show this year but want to support Brigid’s Flame and the ongoing mission of Groundswell Joy Collective to reawaken a sense of belonging, wonder, and connection to the earth through the participatory experiences of storytelling, song, dance, and silence? Donate HERE

We are so grateful for your support!

Upcoming Groundswell Joy Collective pop-up events. Save the dates and spread the word!

I (Mary Kay) am so excited to welcome my community singing and folk dance mentors to lead our first Groundswell Joy Collective pop-up events. Both Groundswell Joy Collective and Brigid’s Flame have been deeply shaped by Sue and Liz, who introduced me—and our wider community—to the magical, collective practices of folk dancing and community singing. They are true kindred spirits and have been profound influences, always encouraging and supportive, and generously sharing their many years of accumulated wisdom and resources.

Thank you, Sue and Liz, for recognizing the importance of teaching and mentoring the next generation of teachers! Please join us for these exciting opportunities to experience a folk dance and song circle led by these remarkable women, whose depth of experience and love for community truly shine.

Sue Hulsether is a dance caller, teaching artist, and musician. Since 2003, she has travelled from coast to coast to lead dances in dance halls, schools, barns, and community centers.

Her calling repertoire includes squares, contras, circle dances, longways whole-set dances, and play parties. Dancing with thousands of school children each year, her artist-in-residence career has risen out of the skills she gained from over 10 years as an elementary music teacher. When not travelling to call and dance, Sue spends her time growing food and cooking it for others to enjoy. She lives on a 20-acre farm in Wisconsin with her spouse and a crew of shy barn cats. Find out more about Sue at her website.

Calling ALL voices!

You are invited to come and sing with us as we celebrate 12 Years of Community singing in the Dubuque area! Community Singing is accessible to anyone and everyone. All songs are taught call and response (no need to read music or have previous singing experience). They are simple, yet beautiful when sung together. Some songs are rounds, some have multiple simple parts, and some have simple harmonies. This kind of singing is for the sheer joy of being together in community, and there is no performance. Come experience the pleasure of simple connection with others through music.

Liz Rog believes in singing together as an ancient technology for belonging, a simple and powerful tool for restoring our connection in community. She sings with all ages, teaching simple songs that can be woven into the seasons of the year and the changes and challenges of our lives in play, at bedsides, at rallies and in rituals. Liz delights in helping folks rediscover their ancestral birthright of group singing to nurture collective joy, courage and healing and supports songleading leadership practices to nurture our collective unfolding. In 2021, with friends and family Liz helped to create the Center for Belonging Folk School where people of all ages are welcomed to share stories, songs, food, handcraft, laughter and tears, all nested in a beautiful gazebo in a pristine wooded hollow near Decorah, Iowa.

Find Liz on Substack

Art by Olly Costello

Allyson Polman-Winter (script writer), Lyric Morris-Latchaw (creative director), Mary Kay McDermott & Brenna Cussen-Anglada (producers)

Lyric made so many incredible t-shirts!! Thanks Lakiah for making these awesome stamps!

We got a grant!!

Thank you Iowa Arts Council for believing in our project!! We are so grateful to receive financial support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Reserve your tickets now! We have made our show’s ticket pricing accessible to all.

Not able to join us for the show but still want to support our mission? You can donate here…

Press Release for Sharing- please help spread the word!

“Brigid’s Flame” to Launch in Dubuque January 30 & 31, 2026

Participatory Theatre Production Will Weave Together Song, Dance, Silence and Story

[January 30 & 31, 2026 7pm, Dubuque, IA]. On January 30 & 31, Brigid’s Flame, the first annual participatory celebration and theatrical production of the Groundswell Joy Collective (GJC), will bring the tri-state community together to experience the joy and creativity of community singing, dancing, storytelling, silence, and puppetry!

Held at Steeple Square in Dubuque, IA, the celebration will take place on the eve of St. Brigid’s Day, which in the Celtic calendar signifies the time of the year when the seeds begin to stir, the light begins to grow, and Spring is on its way. Using art and puppetry, Brigid’s Flame performers will engage the audience in storytelling, song, dance, and silence as together they explore our human connection to the earth and to one another through a mythical retelling of Irish folklore.

Script writer Allyson Winter of Platteville, WI, drew on feminine wisdom figures in the Irish tradition (the Cailleach - a goddess older than time who shapes the land - and Brigid - a saint and symbol of generosity and abundance), as well as the mythical creature of the Selkie (seals who become human by shedding their skin) to illuminate themes of healing our relationship with each other and with the land.

“I have always been continually inspired in my artistic life by the wisdom of plants, non-human animals, and elder women - all of whom are featured in this show,” says Winter. “This play came from my love for traditional folk storytelling, specifically the writings of Clarissa Pinkola Estes, as well as my spiritual community’s shared practice of celebrating the eight feast days in Celtic wheel of the year, one of which is Brigid Day, or Imbolc.”

Brigid’s Flame will feature both the music and song-leadership of Lyndsey Scott, a recognized leader in the national community singing movement who was most recently the 2024-2025 University of Iowa Grant Wood Fellow and artist-in-residence.

The idea for Brigid’s Flame was born out of the Groundswell Joy Collective, a Dubuque-based organization that seeks to reawaken a sense of belonging, wonder, and connection to the earth through the participatory experiences of storytelling, song, dance, and silence.

“In an age of so much disconnection from the Earth and from community, the mission of the Groundswell Joy Collective is to regularly weave Song, Dance, Story, and Silence - what anthropologist Angeles Arrien coined as ‘the universal healing salves’ - into our community year round,” says Groundswell founder Mary Kay McDermott, who lives on a community farm outside Dubuque. “We see Brigid’s Flame, which we plan to be an annual production, as a perfect way to do that.”

Groundswell has grown out of the Safe Passage Singers, a volunteer group of women who for the last twelve years have been regularly offering songs of comfort, healing, and courage to people on thresholds of life - from birth to death. Over the years, Safe Passage has expanded and deepened into a strong collective of women who gather monthly to build community through sharing songs in the oral tradition and keep the spirit of community singing alive.

Members of Groundswell have also been inspired by the ​​​​Revels, a national arts organization based in Cambridge, MA, that brings together people of all ages through musical and theatrical celebrations of our world’s cultural and seasonal traditions, engaging the lively participation of audience and volunteers in their performances and programs.

In 2025, GJC received the fiscal sponsorship of the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society, a registered 501c3 nonprofit organization. Such sponsorship enabled Brigid’s Flame to receive financial support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Iowa Arts Council, which exists within the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Church of the Oak - Wild Church: Winter Solstice. Saturday, December 20th, 5-6:30pm

Fire and song, ritual and community, prayer and quiet: this outdoor gathering on the land at New Hope Farm is centered on honoring the longest night of the year – the sacred time of Winter Solstice and Advent. You’re welcome to arrive anytime after 4:30pm to get a warm beverage (please bring your own mug, if able) and we’ll begin our prayer at 5pm. There will be a kids activity. Please bring a chair.

Address: 6697 Mitchell Mill Rd., LaMotte, Iowa (2 miles off US 52; note directions before entering the valley where you may lose your GPS connection).

THIS Sunday 12/14 3-5pm at Jubeck New World Brewing. Come learn more about the Groundswell Joy Collective project and bring a plain t-shirt or fabric to stamp with the Brigid’s Flame image!

$1 of every beverage sold goes to Groundswell Joy Collective!

Tickets for the show can be reserved starting Dec 14th on our website!

Featured in the show!

• Fog in Bog!

We’re so excited that our friends in this Irish Session Band have agreed to being in Brigid’s Flame.

• Done On This Side

Our friend, Kyle, has written a comedic groundhog segment that will be part of the production! Check out Done on this Side- family-friendly comedy sketches written by husband and wife duo, Kyle and Steph Klapatauskas, to bring laughter, light, and joy to you and yours. Need a laugh check out their videos!!

• Lyndsey Scott

  Brigid’s Flame will feature both the music and song-leadership of Lyndsey Scott, a recognized leader in the national community singing movement. Find her music on Spotify or Bandcamp.

  

Angeles Arrien Video

A great short video of Angeles talking about “the four universal Healing Salves”- song, dance, storytelling, and silence and going into more description of each element. The Groundswell Joy Collective has been inspired by these words and hopes to bring more of each of these into our community through the annual Brigid’s Flame production and smaller pop up events throughout the year.

Subscribe now

Our new Groundswell Joy Collective website is live! Thanks to Matt Latchaw for creating it. We love the design and how well it communicates our mission, our history, and all we hope to bring to fruition through this project.

Check it out HERE! www.groundswelljoy.org

Brigid’s Flame Fundraiser & Open House

We hope you’ll join us!

Podcast interview

Hi friends- I stumbled once again upon the podcast interview I did last Spring with my college friend, Sr. Julia Walsh, and loved how it tells the story of all the threads of my life that have come to this point of bringing Brigid’s Flame and the Groundswell Joy Collective to life (in collaboration with SO many in my community). Take a listen HERE.

“In this episode of Messy Jesus Business podcast, Sister Julia Walsh, FSPA talks with Mary Kay McDermott about following the lead of the Spirit, Catholic Worker, intentional community, works of mercy, co-creation, singing into the liminal, the healing power of community song and dance, and more.”

Enjoy!!

From the book- The Wheel of the Year: An Illustrated Guide to Nature’s Rhythms by Fiona Cook & Jessica Roux

Our next Church of the Oak gathering will be tonight, Friday, October 31st, with potluck at 4:30pm followed by 5:30 prayer and ritual. This gathering will be hosted by the Little Platte Catholic Worker Farm, 1860 Stumptown Rd., Platteville, Wis. Please bring a dish to share and your own dishware. Also your own chair, if possible. This gathering of prayer, song, fire, and community will honor All Hallows Eve and Samhain, and is found within the alternate triduum shared with All Saints and All Souls.

Big Show @

Tomorrow! Sat. Nov 1- Doors open at 6 show starts at 7pm

Join our friends up the road at Little Platte CW farm for this great show they’re doing to support the work of their farm.

Brigid’s Flame Update

We are stoking the embers of Brigid’s Flame and everything is coming along in such inspiring and beautiful ways! Click here- Brigid’s Flame to read more about and donate $ to this participatory theatrical celebration featuring community singing, dancing, storytelling, silence, and puppetry that we’re planning.

Lyndsey Scott joined our singing community this week at Steeple Square where we’ll be holding Brigid’s Flame. What a joy to gather and sing some of Lyndsey’s songs that will be featured in the celebration.

We’ve been gathering as a community to craft puppets and backdrops for the show. In the midst of so much darkness in the world we are delighting in the joy of gathering to create beauty together. Dorothy Day often quoted Dostoevsky saying “the world will be saved by beauty!”

Journeying Through Advent with Mary: An Advent Evening for Women

Monday, Dec 15th- 6-8:30 Shalom Retreat Center

Design by- eycdioatl

The Safe Passage Singers will be joining Shalom retreat center to bring this inspiring program exploring Mary and the bold and revolutionary role that she plays in Christianity and the inspiration she is for women today.

Find more info and Register here

Monday, September 22nd, 4:30pm potluck, 5 prayer (Mt. St. Francis, Dubuque)

Fire and song, ritual and community, land and celebration. Join us in this sacred time of balance within the season of creation. Please bring your own chair, and if you’d like to join us for potluck please bring a dish to share and your own dishware. We will gather at the Dubuque Franciscans (3390 Windsor Ave., Dubuque, IA) behind the convent, towards the barn and prairie. Our gathering will be finished in time for anyone who wants to attend the talk at Loras College by Marie Dennis on “Choosing Nonviolence for a Just Peace” as part of Dubuque’s Days of Peace.

Barn Dance at Vesperman Farms!

Offering a discounted entry fee for the subscribers to this newsletter list!

COUPON CODE & INSTRUCTIONS TO PURCHASE- must be purchased online ahead of time, no discounts at the door

1. Click on this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/vesperman-farms-2025-fall-season-tickets-196508

2. Click BUY TICKETS

3. At the very top, click on Have a promotional code?

4. Enter promo code: FOLK

5. Select apply.

6. This will give each DAY pass a $2 discount. Select the number of day passes you need. If you have anyone under 4 years old attending, please select tickets for them as well. (There is no charge for 4 and under.)

7. Select CHECKOUT and enter your payment details to complete the transaction.

8. Bring these tickets with you to the farm. They are your passes to entry.

This discount code will expire at 3pm on Sunday, September 28.

Come for the dance and stay for the rest of the fall fun!! Corn maze! Pumpkin patch! Homemade apple cider donuts! Hay rides! It’s a magical place!

Brigid’s Flame: A Tale of Spring

Excitement is building for “Brigid’s Flame: A Tale of Spring”- Groundswell Joy Collective’s first annual participatory theatrical celebration featuring community singing, dancing, storytelling, silence, and puppetry! Our celebration, held on January 30 and 31 (note this slight change of dates) at Steeple Square in Dubuque - will incorporate Irish myth and tradition centered on welcoming the Spring, the growing light, and the feminine connection to the land.

Exciting news! Lyndsey Scott (incredible song writer and leader!) has said yes to having her music used in the show and TO BEING IN THE SHOW to lead music!! We’re so honored that this idea resonated with her and that she accepted our invitation.

Read more about Brigid’s Flame and the emerging of the Groundswell Joy Collective by checking out the announcement of the project here- Brigid's Flame.

Thanks to those who have already donated to make Brigid’s Flame a reality!

If you haven’t given already, would you consider making a contribution to support the Groundswell Joy Collective to bring “Brigid’s Flame: A Tale of Spring” to life?

Groundswell Joy Collective is a fiscally sponsored affiliate of the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

• Make a tax-deductible financial donation of any amount on our Zeffy page;

• Checks can be sent to Groundswell Joy Collective- PO Box 1166 Dubuque, IA 52004

Find us here- Facebook (please help us spread the word!) and Website

A note from Mary Kay

I recently listened to a podcast where they discussed how the first Great Depression was economic and that the time we’re in now, the new Great Depression, is one of social and emotional despair. The mission of the Groundswell Joy Collective is to be an antidote to the time of disconnection and despair we’re living in. Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement wrote, “We must risk delight!” and “It is not always easy to be joyful, to keep in mind the Duty of Delight.” She believed in “the duty of delight” as a necessary response to a world filled with suffering and injustice, urging people to cultivate joy, act lovingly, and risk accepting their gladness despite hardship. I hope you’ll join the Groundswell Joy Collective in creating the better world we know is possible. Peace, Mary Kay

Dear Friends,

I am writing today to let you know of this vibrant new movement I am helping to bring to life in the Dubuque area that serves to reawaken a sense of belonging, wonder, and connection to the earth and one another!

This February, our emerging Groundswell Joy Collective is launching “Brigid's Flame: A Tale of Spring” – our first annual participatory theatrical celebration featuring community singing, dancing, storytelling, silence, and puppetry! Our celebration, held on January 30 and 31 at Steeple Square in Dubuque - will incorporate Irish myth and tradition centered on welcoming the Spring, the growing light, and the feminine connection to the land.

Many of you are already aware of the Groundswell Community, Safe Passage Singers, and Wild Church – all part of a growing movement in the area to strengthen community through the participatory arts of singing, dancing, and contemplation. Out of this movement was born the Groundswell Joy Collective, which cultivates human connection, collective healing, and a sense of belonging through joyful, participatory experiences of song, storytelling, movement, and silence that engage the cyclical rhythms of nature while celebrating tradition, culture, and feminine connection to the land. In a society increasingly separated from community and the earth, our collective seeks to rekindle a sense of belonging to and wonder of the living world and one another.

We plan to make Brigid’s Flame an annual touchstone in Dubuque to which the wider community looks forward every year! This central annual event will support our growing collective to more regularly weave community song, story, dance, and silence – what some call the “four universal healing salves” – into our community year round.

We estimate that this production will cost about $12,000 to cover space rental, sound/lights, artist fees, costumes, props, and advertising. We have already raised almost a third of what we need!

Would you consider making a contribution to support the Groundswell Joy Collective to bring “Brigid’s Flame: A Tale of Spring” to life?

Groundswell Joy Collective is a fiscally sponsored affiliate of the Dubuque County Fine Arts Society, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization

• Make a tax-deductible financial donation of any amount on our Zeffy page;

• Checks can be sent to Groundswell Joy Collective- PO Box 1166 Dubuque, IA 52004

• Email me if you are interested in becoming a Sponsor of “Brigid’s Flame” with a contribution of $2500 or more! (Sponsors will be recognized on promotional materials for the production as well as the program.)

Or contributing any of the following to our puppet and prop making efforts? email groundswellcmty@gmail.com to contribute these

• Cardboard, especially large pieces.

• Newspaper

• Sheets, linens, and other fabric (light colored, unpatterned)

• Wire (variety of thicknesses)

• Hula hoops

• Casters (preferably ones that move in all directions)

• Scrap lumber and PVC

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions - we’d love to hear from you!

Gratefully,

Mary Kay McDermott (with Brenna Cussen Anglada, Allyson Polman, Lyric Morris-Latchaw, and Rachel Boeke)

Find us here-

Facebook

Website

Read this previous post I wrote on the importance of cultivating a practice of joy-making to sustain and nourish us.

In Times of Darkness, Why Court Joy?

I recently had the joy and honor of joining my dear friend and Loras classmate, Sr. Julia Walsh FSPA, on her amazing podcast- Messy Jesus Business. Our conversation hit on a variety of topics including but not limited to— following the lead of the Spirit, Catholic Worker, intentional community, works of mercy, co-creation, singing into the liminal, the healing power of community song and dance, and more.

Click the button below to listen.

Messy Jesus Business Podcast

Can also be found on Spotify!

Thank You Sue!

For the last year I have had the honor and privilege of apprenticing with folk dance leader/caller extraordinaire, Sue Hulsether, through a WI Folk Arts apprenticeship grant. The grant offers people like me who are interested in learning more about a specific folk art form the amazing opportunity to work with an elder mentor for a year. When I met Sue 10 years ago at a home school folk dance event I asked her afterwards, “how do I become you?” because I found her music leadership so enchanting. Now slowly with Sue’s incredible guidance and shared wisdom I’m growing in my folk dance leadership in new and exciting ways. She recently was interviewed and featured by WPR’s WI life program. Read and/or listen to the well-done featured story here. Dancing Sue

Thank you Sue for being such a kindred spirit and for sharing so freely all of your gifts, resources and wisdom (that reached far beyond dance calling into spirituality, gardening, and beyond!) I’m so grateful!

Reserve your spot for the Lyndsey Scott Song Circle

Fuel your resilience and open your heart during this interactive evening of Song, reflection, and connection. Tues. April 29th 6:15-8:30 @ Shalom Retreat Center in DBQ

Read more about it and Reserve your spot here! Lyndsey Scott

May Day Celebration

Join the Driftless Wild Church community- Thursday, May 1 @ 5:30 at Little Platte CW Farm (1860 Stumptown Rd. Platteville, WI) for a May Day Celebration (with May Pole dancing!) and potluck to follow.

On this Easter Monday & the day of Pope Francis’ death I’d like to share with you this recent article I wrote for our farm newsletter.

Hold to the Constant, Hold to the Cycle
by Mary Kay McDermott

All things rise and flourish
Then go back to their roots.
Seeing this return brings true rest,
Where you discover who you really are.
Knowing who you are, you will find the constant.
-Lao Tzu

Amid my grief upon the death of our beloved farm dog, Dora, I also felt awash with gratitude upon realizing how well my family knows one of the corporal works of mercy–how to bury the dead. The procession, the blessings with words and holy water, the digging of soil, the singing of songs, the sharing of memories, and the shedding of tears as Dora took her last breaths came so naturally to us that we were able to allow these rituals to hold us even as we experienced such deep sadness. Surprisingly to me, the children—eight and twelve at the time—didn’t shy away from any part of the process. Instead, they were intimately and courageously involved in every step of the homemade ceremony. They joined Peter and me in bearing witness as Dora’s earthly elements of wind, water, and fire left her. Together, we carried Dora to her final resting place and covered her with the earth from which she came. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

While it is my motherly instinct to shield my children from such difficult moments, to protect them from the hard times and the traumatic images that might last, it also feels increasingly important to me to expose my children - and to engage myself - in these cycles of life, death, and resurrection. Rather than a spectacular one-time “Jesus event” that we commemorate yearly in the Easter Triduum, these cycles continually unfold before our eyes if we are open to seeing them. On the farm, we are gratefully (though sometimes also regretfully) enmeshed daily in these cycles in ways both big and small: tending flowers that bud, flourish, and fade; witnessing burned land resurrect dormant native seeds; turning decaying organic matter into dark, rich compost; and then planting into this compost tiny seeds that mature into a lush food paradise that, after fading, once again returns to the earth.

A few months after Dora’s death, we celebrated the birth of a newborn baby calf, only to awaken the next morning to find him grieving next to his mother, Flora, our loyal dairy cow, who had died in the night. Anyone who has lived on a farm knows well that proximity to life always means proximity to death. The Paschal Mystery of life, death, and resurrection is ever and always present here. And sometimes, as was the case on that day, it means intimately carrying the weight of both life and death in the exact same moment.

Thankfully, as Christians, we believe that death never has the final say, as resurrection is an integral part of the cycle. Witnessing these cycles of dying and rising over and over again in our daily lives builds hope that new life will always come with death or dark times.

Despite this trust, however, these losses close to home and upheaval in our cultural and political realms can at times still leave me feeling hopeless and praying about how to stay grounded in the midst of such turbulence. Recently, through my prayers, the message I kept hearing was, “Hold to the constant.”

Responding to this message, I began to reflect on those elements in my life I consider to be constant, to better understand what I was being asked to “hold to.”

Not surprisingly, I discovered that many of the things that I view as most constant in my life are not stationary, but are cyclical in nature: the Sunrise and Sunset; the Liturgical calendar; the phases of the Moon; Women’s Menstrual cycles (which circulate through life, death, and resurrection every month!); the Seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; Perennials that bud, flower, and fade; the Cottonwood tree outside my window; even the pesky flies and boxelder bugs—all of these things go through their own cycles of life, death and resurrection. All, in their own way, embody the Paschal Mystery.

It grounds me to know that the same cycles of life, death, and rebirth that are manifested by the world around me—from the plants and trees just outside my window to the sun and moon in the heavens—are a part of my own being as well. It is comforting to realize that it is good and natural in my life, as it is in the rest of creation, to experience both seasons full of life and energy and seasons of hibernation and rest. We are circular beings living in a circular universe. Rather than be made anxious or unmoored by times of death, I can remain grounded in the knowledge that such decay always creates fertile ground for new life.

I want to continue leaning into the cycles of life that surround me, which I am beginning to realize are the undercurrent of all that we do and all that we are. And I want to continue to accompany my children as they, too, allow these cycles to inform and nourish them during even the most tumultuous times. Because though it may seem paradoxical: by excluding death from our life we can’t live a full life, and by admitting death into our lives we enlarge and enrich our lives.

I appreciate how author Stephanie Duncan Smith writes about the importance of leaning into the cyclical rhythms of creation in her book, Even After Everything: “The cycle of the seasons, of both the earth and the sacred year, shows us that there is no clean, straight line. There is only the slow-gathered accumulation of wisdom through the circle… Authentic resilience is cultivated through braving the bend again and again, deepening with each new orbit.”

So friends, at this moment, when a lot of us are riding the waves of these turbulent times, I ask you to join me in attempting to hold to the constant. What are the elements that are constant in your life? Do they hold within them the sustaining undercurrents of life, death, and resurrection? And can you lean on them as a way of finding steadiness to help sustain you through the turbulence of this holy and mortal life? If so, then may we “brave the bend” together again and again.

Fuel your resilience and open your heart during this interactive evening of Song, reflection, and connection.

Register here!

A note from Lyndsey—

How you doing, Friend?

💜

How do we witness the suffering and chaos of our world and not turn away or be consumed?

How do we care consistently?

In our culture, strategies of anesthesia & amnesia abound --- how do we grow beyond these coping patterns to find sustainable pathways that engage both the inner and outer work that the marathon-not-a-sprint of true justice requires -- with ample support?

“Justice is what love looks like in public." ~ Dr. Cornel West

We need each other. Let's be curious and live into these questions together.

You are warmly welcome to come as you are ~ tired or fraught or inspired or sad or angry or lonely or glowing ~ and experience an evening of interactive call-and-echo style singing, facilitated sharing, restful reflection, and community care.

I know and practice community singing as a pathway to mutual liberation, a reclamation of ritual wisdom skill, and an expression of sensual devotion. Unblocking energy, melting judgment, decomposing scripts of separation, enlisting endorphins, . . . . in Singing, we practice the muscle to choose the love and freedom we desire to. Wavelengths change things.

Hosted by:

The Safe Passage Singers, a tri-state area women’s song collective who have been singing songs of comfort, healing, and courage to people on the tender thresholds of life for over a decade. (Email groundswellcmty@gmail.com to find out more or get involved!)

Evening flow:

Doors open: 6:15pm ~ please arrive & settle in ~ Bring a tea cup!

Song container: 6:30-8:30pm

We'll open circle space, ground + warm-up + connect, then call-and-echo learn songs and make beauty -- building them slow and steady, welcoming harmony and improvisation as we find our groove. This type of singing is for all voices, to unfurl the line from heart to throat and claim our power and belonging. Science says our heartbeats sync up when we sing together ~ My prayer, you'll leave our gathering feeling more open and expansive, flushed with happy chemicals, love gleaming out your beautiful eyes, and with a pocket full of sacred songs to keep singing yourself free ꩜

Sliding scale: $15-45

Register here!

Dancing in Dickeyville

Save the dates for the final dances in the Movement through Dance Series—

• 4/7 7-8 pm Line Dancing with Adam from Adam’s Dance Connection

• 4/21 7-8 pm Social (ballroom type) Dancing with Adam

• 4/25 6-8 pm Last Chance Barn Dance! (poster coming soon!)

Dickeyville Community Center- 500 East Ave. Dickeyville, WI 53808

Free and fun for all ages!

A Taste of the Dances of Universal Peace

Thursday, April 24, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Shalom Spirituality Center

“Spiritual Folk Dance,” “Moving Meditation,” and Embodied Prayer” are all ways to describe the Dances of Universal Peace. A form of peace through the arts, the Dances are experiential in nature. Old hands and new arrivals form the circle, with no previous dancing experience necessary. This evening will be geared towards new participants.

The Dances unfold in an atmosphere of unity and connectedness, as we use sacred phrases, music, and simple movements inspired by many spiritual traditions. This combination helps us connect with the Source of all, touch the divine essence in ourselves, and honor it in others in a unique way. The Dances are not about performance, but rather transformance. Each dancer is invited to have their own experience. We like to say, “Spiritual growth is an individual activity best done in groups.”

Morgan has led a monthly circle in Des Moines since 2004 and has helped sponsor multiple retreats with visiting Dance Leaders.

Free-will donation only; please RSVP online at shalomretreats.org or by calling 563.582.3592 by noon on Wednesday, April 23.

Register here- Shalom Retreat Center

Embracing Repair

More great upcoming events listed on my farm community member, Eric’s, Embracing Repair newsletter!

“There is too much broken that must be mended,” wrote the poet-activist Denise Levertov over four decades ago. And we still live in a world in urgent need of repair - between peoples, between people and the land, between people and the Creator. This is a place where you can come to learn about and hopefully embrace possibilities for repair. This site will feature events, gatherings, and the occasional writing on themes of spirituality, land, Indigenous history and resurgence, colonialism, soil, reparations and rematriation, story, healing, and more.

Click here to check it out and subscribe- Embracing Repair

One of my Springtime favorites:

“At start of spring I open a trench
In the ground. I put into it
The winter’s accumulation of paper,
Pages I do not want to read
Again, useless words, fragments,
errors. And I put into it
the contents of the outhouse:
light of the suns, growth of the ground,
Finished with one of their journeys.
To the sky, to the wind, then,
and to the faithful trees, I confess
my sins: that I have not been happy
enough, considering my good luck;
have listened to too much noise,
have been inattentive to wonders,
have lusted after praise.
And then upon the gathered refuse,
of mind and body, I close the trench
folding shut again the dark,
the deathless earth. Beneath that seal
the old escapes into the new.”

―Wendell Berry, New Collected Poems

This dance is the 3rd of 4 in the Movement Through Dance series being held at the Dickeyville Community Center. This dance will also be my culmination dance for the WI Arts Apprenticeship Grant I received last year. Hope you can join in the fun! Please spread the word- it’d be great to have lots of dancers to show the WI Arts Board our communities’ enthusiasm.

Save the date for the last dance- 4/25 6-8pm

Lyndsey Scott is coming to Dubuque!

We are excited and honored to welcome incredible community song writer and leader, Lyndsey Scott, to lead a song circle on Tuesday, April 29th from 6:30-8:30 at Shalom Retreat Center- 1001 Davis St, Dubuque, IA 52001.

From her website: “I catch and carry Song as a force for radical trust, collective expression, & mutual liberation. My music is designed to be sung acapella with drum in live, unplugged community song circles. Taught on the spot, call-and-echo. Old school, like all our ancestors knew. Song is how i play ∞ pray.”

See her website here: Lyndsey Scott

All are welcome! NO singing experience necessary.

Save the date and look for more registration info coming very soon!

Looking for an epic family summer adventure? Come to Holden Village with my family!

I’ve been accepted to do a week-long faculty position at Holden Village’s family camp in central Washington the week of July 4-11. Fun for the whole family!! And who isn’t looking for a week in the woods away from all of your devices and connections??

See their website for more info and to register here- Holden Village

MY SESSION DESCRIPTION:

In this time of increasing darkness, disconnection, and overwhelm, we need encounters of heaven on earth to sustain us and to reconnect with ourselves, each other, and the divine. We can actively court the sacred by cultivating experiences where we feel more fully alive, connected, and present. Song, dance, and mindful yoga movement are some of the incredible tools available for creating these precious moments. Join Mary Kay as we engage these modalities and court the sacred together.

Tuesday morning Mindful Movement Yoga at Peace of Mind

Join me for a Mindful Movement Yoga class, where we blend breath, movement, and awareness to cultivate a deeper connection to body, mind, and spirit. This class invites you to slow down and explore gentle flows, mindful stretches, and restorative poses, encouraging relaxation and inner peace. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced practitioner, you'll find a supportive space to deepen your practice, enhance flexibility, and reduce stress. Embrace the journey of self-discovery through mindful movement and leave feeling rejuvenated and centered. All levels welcome!

Every Tuesday 8:45-9:30 at Peace of Mind 5797 Maple Glen Ln, Platteville, WI 53818

Register here- Peace of Mind

Lenten Lands & Wild Church 2025

“There are no unsacred places;

there are only sacred places and desecrated places.”

-Wendell Berry

In these troubled times, it is vitally necessary that we build community, connect with the land, and find paths towards healing. This Lent the Driftless Wild Church community that I am a part of is embracing repair by seeking the beautiful and blighted: to find the sacred in all lands. These gatherings are situated within the “lengthening of days” (literally, Lent) as a time for community, listening, hope, pruning, prayer, discipline, lament, resistance, song, and a meditation on our place within the community of Creation.

Outdoors. Saturdays, 3-4:30pm. In and around Dubuque, Iowa. Bring a chair.

Artwork by Allyson Winter

More Wild Church gatherings in 2025:

• May Day. Thurs, May 1. Little Platte CW Farm, 5:30

• Summer Solstice. Fri, June 20. TBD.

• Lammas. Fri, August 1, 5:30. St. Isidore CW Farm.

• Fall Equinox. Mon, September 22. 5:30. TBD.

• All Hallows’ Eve. Fri, Oct 31. Little Platte. 4:30pm.

• Winter Solstice. Sat, Dec 20. 6:30. TBD.

“Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling and silence are the four universal healing salves.”

Angeles Arrien,The Four-Fold Way