As we (Brian M and myself) have been hosting various memorial services for Jessica (Colker), I've been struck by the magnitude and consistency of how Jess has impacted the communities in which she lived, worked, and played..
She has been repeatedly, and simultaneously, described as sometimes quiet or maybe soft, sometimes spontaneous, always authentic, apparently (to anyone who took time to pay attention) loving, and typically present - as in grounded without pretense, and therefore, available.
People have, of course, remarked about her physical beauty, but it's been apparent that there's more there than her smile and her looks. Her beauty is more complex, sometimes expressed as grace, sometimes expressed as her availability. She's been described both as "graceful"; and at other times as "having grace".
And I've been struck by breadth of people's expressions. People have shared about Jess all the way back to her childhood, through her college years, and her early employment positions. They have driven several hours to attend the memorials, "just because". Just because Jess has somehow touched them, such that they would do so in order to express themselves and complete their relationship with her.
Last night's group gathered in Charlottesville, VA where Jess has both lived after college, and regularly participated in 5rhythms dance programs/workshops, dance that accesses authenticity through kinetic motion - providing opportunities for accessing transformation through structural conversations.
As described on the 5rhythms web site:
Our bodies and behaviors tell the story of our social conditioning, our belief systems, and our personal experience. In movement we embody these narratives, we give them form. We also have the opportunity to deconstruct and re–imagine our identities, every time we step on the floor.
As I listened to people sharing about what Jess meant to them, or how she had impacted them, I found myself noticing her wake - the way each of these communities was touched by Jess, was impacted by her passing through, her presence among them, and the connection she brought with her into each of these communities and relationships. It was without guile and obviously prodigious
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