Choosing a Course: Contemplation

 

CONTEMPLATIVE EXPERIENCE WORKSHOP

earthflower I n these busy times it is easy to get so involved in our daily activities that we lose sight of where we are going in our lives. This 2-day workshop is designed to help us consider our personal relationship with the natural world and our role in the movement to champion it. At the same time, how can we be of service to both the planet’s natural systems and communities, and its human passengers?

The environmental movement is the largest movement in human history, cutting across all geographic, political, and spiritual boundaries. So where do we fit into that movement personally? What is the ideal we seek, and how can we share it with others?

If you have ever found it difficult to explain your life’s work, this is an opportunity to examine the underlying motivations that propel you, and give them a concrete representation. What does it mean to say, “I am an earth educator,” or “I interpret the planet’s jewels for its people”? Why is our work not merely important but vital for the future of this watery oasis in the vastness of space?

btesContemplating one’s intent gives structure to the pursuit, and as we have seen in interpretive design, passion within structure produces enduring triumphs. Many of us have a passion for the natural and cultural world we share, but lack an organizing structure which prevents us from realizing our full potential as a servant of something larger. We bounce around, attracted to the latest buzz, but then cannot figure out what to do with it other than passing it along. We become perpetual sharers rather than purposeful ones.

Since a disruptive human relationship with the planet’s natural systems and communities lies at the heart of our environmental problems, how do we craft a more harmonious and joyous “ecological niche” for ourselves? And if a key to the “good life” is to live a life of sacrifice and enjoy it, as we claim, then how do we explain our choices to others?

In this workshop, participants take away:

  •  Focused contemplative exercises in the natural world
  •  An overview of the “energy path” humans are travelling
  •  A personal Quest Map
  •  The “Code of the Servants”
  •  Priceless rejuvenation