Earlier this month I facilitated a powerful and intimate retreat in Sedona. Each woman arrived with some expectations and pre-conceived ideas of what might happen.
Throughout the weekend there were many opportunities to express and release the known and open to the unknown, creating space for new possibilities.
As each woman let go and opened up, she discovered something about herself that surprised her, excited her, inspired her.
When we create space for the unexpected, it’s amazing what we begin to notice about ourselves and our lives.
There were many invitations during the weekend to write, to use language to explore, express and make connections. Following are excerpts from my own journal writing during the retreat weekend.
“…there is so much space and room and vistas and comforts and amenities and grace and the grounds are lush and tended and tendered. I follow the sound of water, down an easy step-stoned path, across big, solid-footed boulders that lead to the creek where I stand.
To the left, the creek is barely a trickle, low water, almost stagnant, so much rusted rock exposed, the past. To the right, a larger body full of algae, of growing, of gathering, of gaining momentum. And beyond, the rush of living water, white capped, clear, moving, flowing, breathing water.
Between these two waters under the very rock I stand on is a metal pipe that connects these two bodies of water.
And I stand on this rock of NOW and this is where I am and this is how I move and this is why I am here.”
…..
“I walk to the edge of the rushing water, to the whole of the creek and open my heart, to this place, to this offering for the weekend, that each of us finds stillness and peace, and that in the stillness, we hear our heartbeat, we feel our life open, we realize what we have held too tightly, in fear, in comfort, in habit. And we open to what lies deeper, bigger, truer, waiting, ready to shine.”
….
“…the difference between a conductor and a conduit: A conductor controls. Orchestrates. Everyone must follow her lead. A conduit is an open channel, flowing the energy, serving, connecting, facilitating. A conduit is an integral component, yet no more or less important that the energy, the source, the flow itself.”
…..
“…What I am learning, what I am teaching, is that, when you let go of the need to control, the magic happens. And that’s when our hearts fill up and overflow. Sure, I had a “plan” for the weekend, but really, it’s just a guide. The women show up and I follow the energy of the group, of each retreater. And, by letting go of what I think SHOULD happen, space opens up for what NEEDS to happen.
And when it is really working, I am no longer the leader. I have become the conduit and each person moves the group forward, points to something for us to notice, shares something that we can each relate to. The group now holds and grows itself…”
If you’d like to be a part of the next Spark Your Heart, Ignite Your Life! retreat, save the dates: October 14-16, 2011. Stay tuned for details.
