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Women's Winter Contemplative Retreat with Carolyn Foster
January 14-16, 2005
Santa Sabina Center, San Rafael, California
Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled –
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.
Mary Oliver
A sense of wonder and delight is present in every moment, every breath,
every step, every movement of our own ordinary everyday lives, if we can
connect with it. The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is
resentment. Joy has to do with seeing how big, how completely unobstructed,
and how precious things are.
Pema Chodron
How do we reignite the pilot light of joy and delight in our hearts in the midst of winter's cold or dark times? The title for this retreat expresses a double truth: We must leave ordinary life at times and go on retreat to reawaken our senses and our sense of meaning – and – when we are awake to know it – joy, gratitude, and appreciation of beauty come out of the ordinary routines of daily life to make us glad again to be alive. For this weekend, we'll write, discuss, and listen in shared silence to the clues, images, insights, and stories that reconnect us with joy.
Santa Sabina Center offers retreatants gracious hospitality, beauty, and a refuge for contemplation and renewal. Whether the weather is wild or mild, the house, courtyard, and gardens offer dozens of places for "being dazzled." Scheduled program times alternate with free time for hiking, napping, playing in the art center, reading, or lying in front of a fire. The silences and conversations are as healing a diet as the good food.
Register by calling my voicemail, (510) 484-3078 on or after Monday,
November 15. You may reserve for yourself and a friend with one call or have a friend call for you if you'll be out of town. Last resort: email me at cjf@creativechoices.net or fax me at (510) 769-8084. Sometimes people assume calling late won't work, but whenever you get this or get around to deciding, call anyway. The cost of the retreat is $250 for a double room, $290 for a single room. This includes lodging, program, and six meals, from dinner Friday night through lunch Sunday.
"Seat yourself next to your joy," Rumi wrote, and I hope you will come on retreat and do just that in the New Year.
