It was Rally P, and it was perfect in every way, of course, because Nothing Is Wrong and This Moment Is Right, and This Moment Is Useful, and I am Taking A Breath, and that is what perfect means, to me.

Not that everything went the way I wanted it to, not that everything was “flawless”, whatever that means. Just that everything that happens at Rally is part of Rally, and here we are, on a marvelous shared adventure.

And since I was on a Stealth Adventure for Rally P, it was, in a sense, a private week of P.

P is for playing, what we do here, the starting-point of self-fluency.

P is for all the things that are possible.

Since there are far too many pleasurable P-words to play with, how about a compass of Possibilities?

North: Possibilities.

Pure potential.

Anything can happen.

Who knows what marvelous things are in store.

Northeast: Provision.

Provisions and provisioning, all forms of taking exquisite care of myself.

Caring for past me and for incoming me. Planting jolly ranchers for later.

East: Presence.

I am here now.

Right here, right now.

I want to be here now.

A breath for this moment, and for being with it.

Southeast: Pleasure.

Delighting in pleasure.

Trusting in pleasure.

Choosing pleasure.

I avoided this one for years, too scary, too intense. It was waiting for me though. And it was just right. It was even better than I thought it would be when I was hiding from it. Uh huh.

South: Permission.

An anchoring word, if there ever was one.

Something else I feared, because I thought it was about a lack of boundaries.

Actually it is about marvelous boundaries: glowingly healthy boundaries.

It is about play and it is about presence and it is about knowing what you want. It is about giving legitimacy to what you feel, need and want. Big stuff.

Southwest: Passion.

Thinking about a former lover who introduced me to this poem, by Helen Chasin.

It is called The Word Plum:

The word plum is delicious

pout and push, luxury of
self-love, and savoring murmur

full in the mouth and falling
like fruit

taut skin
pierced, bitten, provoked into
juice, and tart flesh

question
and reply, lip and tongue
of pleasure.

Yes, passion is luscious. And so are words. And so, for that matter, are plums. Although the lover in question had never had one. I have a weakness for people who are unfamiliar with ordinary things that are not ordinary at all. It is a thing.

West: Passage.

It is about preparation for the voyage.

It is about crossing.

We are always in a state of passage. Sometimes in a significantly more heightened state of crossing the line. This is what Rally is for, to facilitate passages. So you can come back with new awareness.

Southwest: Protection.

Safety, shelter, sanctuary, safe rooms. But also: privacy.

Knowing that you are held. Knowing that you are cared for. Knowing that nothing can get in that doesn’t need to. A force field that only allows in the qualities you want, in the amounts that feel safe and comfortable. Protection.

Other P words.

Paths and pathways. Peace and Peacefulness. Percolating. Providence. Plenty. Poetry.

Planting. Purpose. Persimmon. Participation. Picking (both up and also: choosing). Pink. Past. Ports. Portals. Portable. Porches. Privacy.

Painting. Positivity. Patience. Perception. Percepting. Precision. Perseverance. Purpose. Poise.

Polish. Publish. Private Eye.

Peonies. Posies. Parenthetical asides. Possess. Parades! Parks. Pouring. Pie. Pennies. Picnics. Pizazz. Protests. Pickles. Perch. Periwinkle. Pass. Process. Promenade.

Perspective, which is seeing the Possibilities. Playground. Play! Pert. Picturesque. Party, and Briana’s brother who takes his party with him. Pattern Recognition. Power. Preparation. Potential.

And of course we must visit Phrontisterey for such words as paizogony (it’s totally making out), palanquin, and pantopragmatic.

May it be so! And come play with me.

Thank you, letter P.

If you want to whisper words or sound effects that start with P, go for it.

If you want to share in any of the qualities and magical words I named here, you can.

They work like the salves in the Friday Chicken: just take some, there is always more.

Whispering loving spells that begin with P, for myself, and for anyone who wants…