Desert garden by Paul Fearnside
“Almost everyone is screwed up, broken, clingy, scared, and yet designed for joy.”
Whatever our flaws, it is indeed encouraging to know that we are actually designed for joy. But what is joy? And how can we live into it more fully, intentionally and courageously? Join us for Living into Joy to begin exploring these questions.
Living into Joy is a Circle of Trust ® Retreat 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 in life-giving ways.
Your facilitators:
Kirsty McGeoch (PhD, MEd, LLB, B.Com, Grad Cert. Professional Supervision) has a few different hats: engaging with schools to embed the 4Cs - creativity, communication, collaboration, critical reflection - in their teaching and leadership practices through her role with 4C Transformative Learning; working at the University of Sydney in pre-service teacher education; and facilitating courses for women leaders in education with the National Excellence in School Leadership Institute. A common thread is her deep interest in reflective practice, which led her to becoming a Courage & Renewal facilitator. In this role, she derives great joy in offering people the safe and welcoming space to tune into their own wisdom for living and leading well. In her free time she enjoys family camping trips, playing in a band and singing in an acapella group. If she had more time, she’d like to do more dancing outside her own living room.
Noela Maletz (M Soc Sc BA Dip Ed) is an educator, psychotherapist and visual artist who also loves to write. More than thirty years ago she joined with others to establish a Waldorf School and then a Social Therapy Centre for people with disabilities, in Adelaide, and worked in both of these places. Most of her current work is in private practice, as a psychotherapist, and in growing Courage & Renewal work in South Australia. She is awed by the possibilities and necessities of a life lived as mindfully, wholeheartedly and as kindly as she can manage and is challenged by remembering her many grandchildren’s birthdays.
Kincumber Broadwater, St Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre
Venue:
Living into Joy will be held at St Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre, 8 Humphreys Rd, Kincumber South. The centre is approximately 1.5 hours by car from both Sydney and Newcastle. For those coming by train, it is a 20-minute taxi ride from Woy Woy station. St Joseph's historic sandstone buildings and expansive grounds are set in bushland right on Kincumber Broadwater, creating a tranquil environment for reflection.
The Labyrinth, St Joseph’s Spirituality and Education Centre
Cost:
A deposit of $100 is payable upon registration.
Early Bird - $825 (incl. GST) payable by 5 April, 2023.
Full fee - $925 (incl. GST) payable by 5 May, 2023.
The price includes all materials, nourishing meals and comfortable accommodation in a single-occupancy en-suited room.
Feel welcome to inquire about payment plans.
Cancellations:
We understand that life challenges emerge and changes happen. You will receive a refund less the $100 non-refundable deposit when you notify us in writing at least 3 weeks before the program begins. No refund will be given if we receive your cancellation less than two weeks before the program start date. If you need to cancel due to testing positive to COVID-19 or being a close contact, you will receive a full refund. If the program is cancelled due to low enrolment or other circumstances, you will receive a full refund. Please note travel costs are solely the responsibility of participant.
Twilight Garden by Paul Fearnside