How to Hold It: Engaging Creatively in Life’s Contradictions

In our lives we all too frequently encounter gaps: gaps between our aspirations and our behaviours; our hopes and realities.  These contradictions create tensions, which can weigh us down or take us out of the action.   It is one thing to be aware of these contradictions, but what would it be like to engage with them kindly and creatively? In How to Hold It,  we will be exploring how to do the hard but possible and necessary  work of  holding tensions in ways that “enhance our lives and allow us to enhance the lives of others.”  Parker Palmer

How to Hold It is a Circle of Trust ® Retreat for anyone wanting to take the time and space to renew and/or re-imagine their inner and outer lives.  It is based on the approach to reflective inquiry of sociologist, educator, author and activist, Parker J. Palmer and The Center for Courage & Renewal. Led by highly experienced and skilled facilitators, these Circles are a space for honest dialogue and non-judgmental listening, providing opportunities to learn and practice ways of relating that help us to be more present with ourselves and others. Prompted by evocative texts, imagery and insights from the natural world,  there will be time for individual reflection and journaling as well as large and small-group dialogues in which our own stories can be shared. These processes offer the opportunity to gain a new depth of self-knowledge and clarity around the questions we are holding, and build our courage to respond and act from a place of wisdom.