Retreat to move forward
Sometimes we have to retreat to move forward.
The next 37days retreat is scheduled for September 28-30, 2007, and registration has just opened for it. Limited to 14 people, I hope you can be one of them. I’ll be joined by my business partner, David Robinson, in facilitating the weekend retreat. He’s magical and brings so much to the gathering. Plus, we laugh a lot.
September 28-30
[A 37days Retreat]
“The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”
If you had only 37 days to live, would you feel happy with the story you have lived thus far? How would you express that story, learn from it, leave it for others? Those are the fundamental questions behind this blog and the grounding for this unique, experiential weekend gathering focused on unmasking our personal stories to achieve greater creativity, healthier relationships, and fuller engagement in what poet Mary Oliver calls our “one wild and precious life.”
Often, there is a gap between how we wish to be seen and who we really believe ourselves to be, between the story we meant to write and the one we’ve written so far. This gap mutes the colors of our lives and inhibits the quality of our engagements with other people—in our families, our organizations, our communities. Maintaining that gap diminishes our creative impulse and often splits our intentions. Why, then, don’t we do more to shorten that distance and mind that gap?
This unique Gathering will explore these questions:
How do we make meaning of our lives through story? What are the stories we tell ourselves about others? About ourselves? How do those stories reduce us? What learning and significances are right in front of us, in the stories of our days? How can we summon the courage to move beyond the limits of who we think we are into what we were meant to be? How can we relinquish our “role” in order to discover who we might be beneath the mask? What treasures can be found in the in-between space between me and you, between perception and preconception, between my Self and the Other?
We’ll explore concepts such as: Life as a finite or an infinite game, intention and direction, wicked problems & tame solutions, and naming our vicious and virtuous circles, those patterns that either reduce us or allow us to live expansively.
Learning Activities / We will:
- Use improv theatre, ritual, metaphor, mask, story, writing, and other narrative tools
- Explore “role” and other expressive personal and organizational “masks”
- Be 85% experiential–not in the sense of simulations or role plays—but as unmasked engagement with others
- Invite participants to extract meaning from experiences as a collaborative learning community
- Use focused free writes to help participants frame experiences in their own language for deeper exploration
- Experience how changing ourselves can deeply impact our families, communities and organizations.
Here’s what people had to say about the last 37days retreat:
“You created a safe environment for valuable learning.”
“I loved the gentle humor that developed in the group, the inclusive quality of the experience, and the practical writing techniques that I’ve probably encoded into my cells.”
“You don’t facilitate as if to say ‘we are the leaders.’ You’re great at taking cues from the group.”
“The story you wove through the whole weekend was masterful and amazing.”
“Your facilitation is beautifully collaborative.”
“Your ability to bring movement and play into the experience, and at the same time, relate that play to deeper concepts, was truly a pleasure to experience and to watch.”
“I appreciate all the thought, caring, and preparation you put into making the retreat weekend transformational for all of us.”
Cost / To honor the impulse of giving behind 37days, this retreat is offered for a reduced fee of $475-775 inclusive of tuition, materials, housing, and all meals. Please pay what you can in that range.
Location / Our 2007 retreats will be held at the Bend of Ivy Lodge in Asheville, North Carolina. Go here for more information and registration forms for this and other 2007 retreats (PDF).
We’d love to have you join us there. It won’t be the same without you.
