Journeying the Spaces Between
CIL Summer Retreat
For the Traveler John O’Donahue
May you travel in an awakened way
gathered wisely into your inner ground,
That you may not waste the invitations
which wait along the way to transform you
Many of us are journeying in the wilderness spaces between a familiar identity dissolving and a new beginning, not yet glimpsed, or glimpsed and filling us in turn with hope and dread. This is our rhythm of growth when we listen to our inner Call, that Still Small Voice Within. We find ourselves in the land of uncertainty, the land of liminal space and transitional time.
When we look around our CIL community, many of us are in transition. We are leaving a familiar home, retiring, facing illness, enduring losses, some of them major. The generations are moving in their cycles: children are no longer children, they leave, some return, some thrive, some don’t. For some, grandchildren bring joy as do new relationships, friendships, and pets. Parents age, some well, some not. Some of us find ourselves standing on the threshold of elder-hood. As we move through these shifting spaces from one identity to another, we know both moments of lostness and moments of how very precious life is, moments of awe. We may be touched by exchanging a smile with a stranger, by the winter amaryllis, the tenderness of an unexpected exchange with a friend or family member, all invitations of connection as we journey in the inner spaces to create our lives anew, over and over again.
While liminal passages confront us with the challenge of things falling apart, these times are intensified if we have suffered early trauma. Old wounds may open and call to us: “you cannot go forward until you bring healing to us in the past”. And so we are called by wounds of our past, both personal and collective as we journey toward an unknown future, all for the sake of growing toward wholeness, following the invitations of our personal Call.
In our retreat, may we come together to support one another, hold one another as we stand in liminal space, facing both the sadness and hope in releasing what it is time to let go of, that which is no more who we are. May we stand in the feelings of unknowing, ‘gathering wisely into our inner ground’
We will create ceremony to mark our passages and create time for personal process, learning, for writing, art, yoga, and time for relaxing in Alexis’s beautiful gardens.
As you know, our gathering space holds about 20 people so we are limited to that number. If you wish to register and claim a space, please send a deposit of $300 to Kelly Byrne Skarupa, 25 North Broadway, Tarrytown NY 10591. Please note, that only a deposit guarantees your place in the retreat. Like last year the total cost is $700 including lunches, snacks, teas, coffee. Like last year we will begin at 6:00pm on Thursday, June 25th and finish around noon on Sunday, June 28th, 2020. Any questions or needs, please contact one of us directly.
The CIL reservation discount code for the Danbury Hilton is: CILJUN Hoping to see you there
Alexis & Judith