STEADINESS AND SILENCE: FINDING THE CENTER THAT HOLDS
Winter Contemplative Retreat with Carolyn Foster

JANUARY 23-25, 2009
La Casa de Maria, Montecito

May all I say and all I think and all I do this day
help me to be part of the healing of my world.
May that part of myself that has not yet opened to compassion
be filled with lovingkindness and acceptance.
May love dissolve my heart's armoring,
and may I understand the utter uselessness of being afraid.

I don’t know who wrote the invocation above.  Someone sent it to me, and I keep it alongside my keyboard.  In times when I feel out of balance, the words call me back.  Our reactions to events often throw us off balance.  The Sufi poet Rumi described our emotional life as being “a guest house – every morning a new arrival.”  How do we find steadiness in the challenges that arrive daily?  I believe that creativity, companionship, and contemplative silence are a healing triad that can restore us to equanimity.  The retreats I’ve been offering over the last twenty years have become a reliable source of strength and rebalancing for those who want more joy and less stress in daily life.  In writing, reflection, and deep conversation, we come home to our truest selves. 

Register by calling La Casa de Maria in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, at (805) 969-5031.  You can also register through their website, www.lacasademaria.org.  This is a truly exquisite place of natural beauty – come and let yourself be nurtured and renewed.

To receive email or regular mail notification of details of this retreat and how to register, go to the contact page and call or email Carolyn with your request.