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Monday, February 08, 2010

Dreams and Visions



"The heart of all creativity is the awakening and flowering of individuality. The mystery and magic of being an individual is to love life in response to the deep call within, the call to become who we were dreamed to be...the divine blueprint of the soul. This is where true freedom awaits us. Freedom...is the poise of the soul at one with a life which honours and engages its creative possibility."  from Beauty, by John O'Donohue

Over the weekend I was inspired to sit down with my journal and start to draw up plans for a dream of mine: a retreat centre where I could offer journal writing classes, have yoga teachers do classes in the morning, have a place to show videos from Words of Peace (www.wopg.org) and offer a haven or shelter from the turmoil without and within.

The crazy thing is, I am taking steps to find partners to help me find that perfect Oasis somewhere near where I live.

The beauty of retreating is that you get to step out of the busy activity and hectic pace of your life and slow down to the rhythm of your soul, the pace your body can breath and feel relaxed in.  The downside is that most retreat centres are far away.  I envision a center close by, in a quiet neighbourhood, with a big sunny room for stretching the body in, and a comfortable sitting room for watching inspiring videos, and an office upstairs for me.

People with busy lives who can't leave the city (moms with small children for example), could get away for a mini-retreat of a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.  Women who work could take an afternoon for themselves once a month, a kind of mini-sabbath or rest day.

Why I like the quote above from Beauty http://www.johnodonohue.com/ is that I have been listening to this inner calling for a while now (a long while) without being able to envision it as something concrete that could happen now.  It remained in the realm of dream of the future, or someday it may happen.  I did not believe enough, or it was not time for it, simply. 
It's wonderful to feel things are moving towards realizing that dream, even if only by baby steps, spreading my wings, taking short flights over the terrain, asking the Creative Power for the strength and clarity to fulfill the vision, accepting my role as an individual responding to the call.

happy Monday,
jenn
 

1 comment:

Raven said...

Wow brilliant. Perfect manifestation of both your need and your vision. Can I come and teach some art classes there? :)