A Birthday Wish

September 26 2010

A Birthday Wish

Peggy Rubin Sacred Theatre book, Peggy Rubin, To Be and How to Be

On my 75th birthday friends carried me away to a dream. The dream consisted of days spent in Istanbul, seeing once again Hagia Sophia, that very early Christian declaration in monumental stone of the miracle that is Holy Wisdom; the Blue Mosque (hearing the Call to Prayer with newly attuned ears on the first day of Ramadan); the sparkling blue waters of the Bosporus, unmoved by the oppressive August heat; the Grand Bazaar, with its ridiculously handsome young Turkish men luring one forward with words like, “Come in, Lady, let me entice you to spend your money on something you don’t need.” Who could resist such a promise? The dream went on and on and included a cruise aboard the Windstar to Ephesus, Rhodes, Bodrum, Santorini, Melos, finally landing in the ancient city of Piraeus, which serves as the port of Athens. The dream culminated with visits to Delphi and Epidauros, my two favorite places in all of Greece. Nights were spent in the bar restaurant on the roof of our hotel, looking out at the Acropolis, the next-door Temple of Zeus and the mysterious little mountain that is now in the city though it once seemed remote and slightly dangerous, Likovettos. Several stories below, Athens displayed her vivid night presence, so caught up in the present that the past seems a dream, perhaps like the one I was living.

All during the dream journey, everyone within a ten-mile radius (including dolphins, octopi, and Indonesian geniuses of kindness) learned that it was my 75th birthday and that I had just published my first book. And everyone responded with generosity, joy, and congratulations.

My birthday wish is that everyone one on earth experience a similar dream journey to celebrate the fact that she was born and is alive. May everyone on earth have friends like these who gifted me with this mad and beautiful extravaganza.

What Others Are Saying

Peggy Rubin is a master of theater and the art of becoming. Her book – a masterpiece in every way – will hold you spellbound as you discover the drama of your soul and the purpose of your life. The unique expression of your essence – the Divine theophany that you are – emerges almost magically as you read this clear, penetrating, and insightful book and work with the exceptional exercises. Brava, Peggy!"

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. Author of Your Soul's Compass and A Woman's Journey to God.

"From Sacred Theatre to sacralizing your life's story, Peggy Rubin takes you through an engaging and wonderful process that will expand your perspective in a myriad of ways and enrich your journey forever. We love this book."

Donna Eden and David Feinstein, Authors, Energy Medicine

"I have always been able to employ in real life what I’ve learned in my theatrical training. Peggy Rubin has now made that process available to anybody who reads this book. It’s very readable and I highly recommend it."

Ellen Burstyn, Golden Globe and Oscar-winning actress

"Each of the arts offers models for the composing of lives, but, as Peggy Rubin demonstrates, theater perhaps most of all. This effervescent description of sacred theater should inspire us all as composers of our lives and caring actors in the world."

Mary Catherine Bateson, author of Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom.

"Peggy Rubin’s brilliant elucidation of the nine powers of sacred theatre propels us away from any impoverished tunnel vision about our lives that we may have slipped into in the face of changing times. We find ourselves in a place where we recognize our lives for their full power and wonder, as a lifelong performance of sacred theatre. Peggy gives us tools from the best in theater tradition translated into effective life skills for sustaining and guiding us."

Trish Broersma, author of Riding into Your Mythic Life, Transformational Adventures with the Horse.

“It gives me perspective on what I am in this time in the world, and feeds my sense of vitality; it enables me to go through really tough stuff knowing that sooner or later the scene will change. There’s a different sense of everything when you begin to look from this point of view.”

Life Coach Elizabeth Austin, RN, CPCC, CEC

TO BE AND HOW TO BE presents an entirely fresh pathway to self-understanding. The book delights the ear, heart, mind, and soul, offering the riches of a deep love for the theatre and the harvest of a long and wide-ranging study of literature, spiritual traditions, and brain and energy research."

Lisa S. Nelson, Ph.D. Professor,Department of Political Science and Masters in Public Administration (MPA)Program

“It makes me want to walk on chairs, take delight in playing different roles, and gives me the courage just to step out there. I find it's possible to do things I would never have dreamed of doing.”

EG