We are living through bewildering changes in the world, our lives and our bodies. For so many, the ground keeps moving, and the usual ways of finding our bearings no longer hold. In a culture that rewards constant forward momentum, fast fixes, and immediate answers, this Circle of Trust® series offers a five-week sanctuary to pause, be present, and explore the parts of your life still being written.
We won’t be searching for the old maps. When the familiar path disappears, we are called to the edge of our own mystery to enter the wildness within and attune to the quiet truth of our own soul. This is its own kind of orienting. A compass made not of certainty but of attention.
This retreat invites you to step into terra incognita – the uncharted space between where you have been and where you are going. True wayfinding is not about reading a map. It asks us to slow down, listen deeply, and move through uncertainty with an open heart.
“The question then is how to get lost. Never to get lost is not to live,
not to know how to get lost brings you to destruction,
and somewhere in the terra incognita in between lies a life of discovery.”
~ Rebecca Solnit
Throughout the series, we will offer embodied practices for finding your own way into presence and widening your capacity for choice. This invitational and trauma-informed approach welcomes the wisdom of your inner teacher. Together we will explore the threshold before you at a pace that honors your body and soul, revealing the hidden abundance waiting in the quiet spaces.
The retreat will include Clearness Committees, a powerful discernment process rooted in the Quaker tradition, where one person who wishes to reflect more fully on an issue or question is held in deep listening by a small circle, receiving open and honest questions in service to their inner knowing.
“The soul is like a wild animal—tough, resilient, savvy, self-sufficient and yet exceedingly shy. If we want to see a wild animal, the last thing we should do is to go crashing through the woods, shouting for the creature to come out. But if we are willing to walk quietly into the woods and sit silently for an hour or two at the base of a tree, the creature we are waiting for may well emerge, and out of the corner of an eye we will catch a glimpse of the precious wildness we seek.”
~Parker Palmer
This retreat is grounded in the work of Parker J. Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal. Together, we will co-create a hospitable space for personal solitude, deep listening, group reflection, time off-screen, and nourishing breaks. Informed by Courage & Renewal Principles, Practices, and Touchstones, we can create a trustworthy, brave space with our attention, imagination, and confidential conversations. Over our five gatherings, we are able to create a Circle of Trust®.
All are welcome; no prior experience with the Courage and Renewal® approach is needed. More information can be found here: https://couragerenewal.org/courage-renewal-approach/ Enrollment will be limited to 16 participants.
The Center for Courage & Renewal and its facilitators do not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, height, weight, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status.
