Since last December, our family has been going to Bo’s place every other Wednesday for peer support.  It’s not counciling, and it’s hard to compare it to any ‘group’ I’ve attendend before.  I guess it’s like going to a pot luck dinner at a friends house every couple weeks and afterwards, the families peel off into their groups and separate playrooms — Sophie has kids her age, Joey’s group has about 5 kids or tweens, young adults, ah, hell, the kid is taller than me and smells and eats like a man, maybe I’ll call his groups the Yetti’s….   Moms and dads each go their own way for the next 45-60 minutes.    Typically when  friends get together for dinner, afterwards each gender or age group has splintered off to sit at their favorite local to chat with the ‘girls’ or the guys check out the new ‘man-cave’ decor, and the kids usually take off and run, fight and color.

Bo’s is a lot like a normal pot luck dinner at a friends house, except when it comes to conversations — this is the stuff  you don’t/can’t talk about with family, let alone close friends.  Families here know that it’s good to talk about heavy, dark thoughts that loop in your mind like a broken record and keep you from sleep for many consecutive days.  We can tell everyone what keeps us up at night, or keeps us from getting up in the morning, without worrying about the vibe crashing down, looking up only to see your friends you thought might get it, don’t.   That’s why we go.  We can go and listen and talk and understand each other and not feel guilty about it.   I know it might not sound like a cool dinner party, but trust me, for us it is.  We laugh probably more than we cry.

Even though during ‘group’, the families are scattered throughout the house/mansion, we all work on the same themed group activity (arts & crafts!). This particular activity was one of my absolute favorites. During our orientation 8 months ago, Elizabeth, one of Bo’s Director’s, was giving us a tour and talking about the quilts, pictures, masks, paintings, etc that were done by previous groups.  Then we walked out side and she started telling us about the ‘Wishing Flags’ — the story behind them is beautiful and I couldn’t wait until OUR group could make one.  Then it started to snow — it was December.

Anyway, the significance and meaning of Tibetan Prayer Flags is beautiful.  Thousands of years ago, Tibetans believed the prayers and mantras written on the prayer flags will be blown upward to their deities and will bring benefits (such as happiness and good health) to all who hang them, as well as their families, loved ones, neighbors, and all people and sentient beings throughout the world, even enemies.

Prayer flags are hung outdoors to give the wind the opportunity to move them and send their blessings.  The sun, wind and rain will fade them or wear them out over time.  It is believed that the prayers on a flag become a permanent part of the universe as the images and words on them fade from the exposure to the elements.  Just as life moves on and is replaces by new life, Tibetans renew their hopes for the world by continually mounting new flags alongside the old.

In the Tibetan tradition, the five colors of the flags represent five elements:  Blue-Space, White -Water, Red-Fire, Green-Air, Yellow-Earth.  In Tibetan tradition, certain symbols represent different concepts: Flying Horse-Accomplishment of positive acts,  Snake-Drives away bad thoughts or intentions,  Dragon-Power,  Tiger-Confidence,  Lion-Success and achievement.