Isn’t this the most fun and interesting thing ever!?
I just learned that something I previously thought was a done deal and definitely happening….isn’t.
There have been a few other things in my life which have gone that way, some of them that triggered me wildly.
I practically had a heart attack and thought my life was over when I experienced the following: death of my father, divorce, job loss, money gone, moving from this location to another one (against my will!), best friend cutting me off.
This current situation is perhaps not so dramatic, and yet….what an exciting awareness for what is possible when you don’t think the way it’s going is a disaster.
The Breitenbush Retreat in Oregon has been changed.
The good people of Breitenbush needed to cancel due to low enrollment and feeling the sting of financial loss because of forest fires last summer (causing evacuation of their entire property). Unless things looked really full, they didn’t want to move forward.
I got crazy surprised!
I know how people decide last-minute to come to a powerful retreat to question their thinking. People worried about driving through the snow to the woods. They didn’t like it.
But here’s the deal: We’re still sitting in inquiry for 3 days, and bringing this experience to life: re-group, re-wire, re-set.
Because that’s what can happen December 8-10, 2017. A complete Control-Alt-Delete. A Reset.
A way to look at what you’re thinking…and start over.
The retreat is now in Seattle, at half the original fee. $195 for 3 days, and you can commute, find your own lodging, stay with a friend, share with others who are also already coming.
If you live in Seattle, it’s a pretty unusual occasion.
Have you wanted inquiry? In a focused, concentrated environment?
That’s what you’ll get with this retreat.
In fact, I’m amazed at what I can open up to, when I question my thoughts and don’t have a closed mind. It’s revealed itself in this retreat-changing process.
At first I thought: “Oh, sad day. This is terrible. OK then, I have three days unexpectedly free, so I’ll revert to my usual solo sessions with clients.”
(And not need to leave home, by the way, or pack…I could see advantages for the news).
The mind flashes images of what it thinks will happen, now that the plans are changing.
You might have noticed this kind of alternative image-flashing with what you think will happen when it comes to a relationship change, a family change, a job change, a home change, a climate change.
Oh yah, I will be better off, finally .
Oh shi*t, I will be worse off, oh dread.
Do you see the images you anticipate, because of what you think will happen in the future?
I thought my life would be Un-Supported because my dad died. I thought my life would be Un-Loved because my marriage ended. I thought my life would be Un-Known because of the relationship weekend retreat change.
People with major life changes think often of frightening, even horrifying, terrible, dark, difficult, awful alternatives about the future.
It’s going to be BAD.
Is it true?
Can you absolutely know, without any question of a doubt, of the terrible-ness of this situation you’re imagining?
Yes.
In my case…Breitenbush cancels, and someone has actually made plane reservations. They are coming from very, very far away to this particular location.
How do you react when you believe “this change is horrible.”
I FREAK OUT.
I worry about what THEY feel. I’m anxious because I took 3 days out of my life and schedule to be with a group of inquirers.
I’m at a loss for creativity, or other alternatives, or different ways of looking at the situation. I feel aggravated with the people who “caused” this.
But who would I be without this story?
If I couldn’t have this story at all, this thought, AT ALL?
Really.
What would that be like?
Use your imagination, in your situation. Who would you be without your thought that what has changed….shouldn’t have changed?
Wow.
I’d be excited, open, not alarmed, wondering what will occur next.
I’d be putting together a new possibility of what December 8-10 will look like for me, and for some others who join me.
Exciting!
Everyone’s invited to our home. We have a cozy living room, we’re near a beautiful walking/biking trail, we live VERY near Lake Washington (we’ll go there for a meditation walk–it’s a block away) and our cabin is warm, welcoming, and most importantly we’re deep in self-inquiry and love exploring our thoughts, and what can happen when we do).
We’ll begin Friday morning 9:30 am on December 8th and end on Sunday at noon on December 10th.
Commuters are entirely welcome. In fact, there’s no place to sleep here at the cottage, but come and go every day and you’re welcome. It’s adorable. This Goldilocks Cottage has held many a retreat, and it’s shockingly only 710 square feet. But oh what a lovely little space.
We’ll have the kettle on the boil, snacks, clipboards, comfy chairs…and most importantly we’ll have the power of self-inquiry using The Work of Byron Katie.
I can’t imagine, honestly, a better time of year for this work.
About to visit relatives? About to connect with friends you haven’t seen in years? Reuniting with a family you thought was “broken”? Thinking some stressful thoughts?
This work is how to deal with these considerations.
Who would we be without our painful or limiting stories?
“As you begin to question your mind, mind loses the ability to believe that it’s a this or a that. It ceases to identify itself. It becomes free.” ~ Byron Katie in A Mind At Home With Itself
If you’re drawn to joining me in my living room in December, with a cup of hot tea and these powerful questions known as The Work….then come, come. You’ll have personal attention. YOU will be the one to answer the questions.
Oh, and by the way….speaking of change. My website has a completely new look. Total makeover. Check it out HERE.
And when it comes to beliefs, and how-it-is, it’s amazing what you can find without anyone else telling you what to find. You know it’s the only true way. No guru, no teacher, no set answer. Seeing for yourself.
Join me for inquiry in the least expensive retreat of the year (there seems to be a “sale” orientation in the atmosphere at least in the US). Perhaps this is the black Friday option that was not ever intended to be. Ha ha.
To sign up for the newest revised edition of the retreat, please click HERE. You’ll also see the new version of Work With Grace’s website.
Much love,
Grace