On a beautiful Saturday evening outside the city of San Miguel de Allende, friends showed up to demonstrate their love and hope for the coming birth of Andrew, Pau and Mike’s first son.
Pau and Mike are the founders of an ecological and sustainable community, where they are in the process of building a vision for what else could be possible. Hapori (the name of their community) is where loved ones gathered in circle to offer gifts and blessings.
Friend of the soon-to-be parents, Stephanie Koehler, smudged all the guests before they entered the circle.
Then, the parents-to-be, Pau & Mike, made their entrance.
Cacao was served to open the hearts of those coming into circle.
Once everyone got settled into their place in the circle, Stephanie guided the group in ceremony to set an intention for the time together.
Everyone contributed a bead to create a mala-like gift that Pau could take into her birth. Each person shared aloud and infused their bead with their hope, blessings, and/or wisdom for Pau to draw from during her transformational journey of birthing Andrew.
A wide range of heartfelt and touching moments were experienced in this circle.
The love that was expressed was beautiful to witness and capture. It was a beautiful example of what is possible through authentic and vulnerable community connections. I imagine that every mom-to-be could feel so much more supported by having such a community to hold her during this big life transition.
What could our world look like with more communities like this?
Following the beautiful ceremony, we gathered under the desert palapa and enjoyed a potluck of dishes prepared by the guests.
Conversations continued, and we witnessed Pau and Mike open gifts.
It was a lovely evening, and Cedar and I enjoyed being welcomed to capture the beautiful moments and emotions that made this event what it was.
All the very best, Pau and Mike, welcoming Baby Andrew.
If you would like to know more about what Pau and Mike are creating with their ecologically-minded and sustainable community, please visit their website here.
