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WHERE'S THE TEMPLE?
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On a gray, rainy afternoon the day before I left Bali just over a week ago, I impulsively asked my driver, Eka Merta Sedana, to take me to Tanah Lot. I had never been to this famous temple on the sea, which is only accessible at low tide, for it is known to be inundated with tourists who come to take photos of the sun setting dramatically behind the open-sided building. But I was curious, and I figured it might not be so crowded that day because of the weather.
Besides, I needed a lift. I was feeling sad because a Balinese friend is very ill, because the weather in Bali has been so unusually rainy (people blame global warming) that the flowers of all the fruits and crops are being knocked off the plants before they have time to grow, and because the ongoing nightmare in Japan is so sad and frightening.
What I found at Tanah Lot was not what I expected. The tide was just coming in, and people from many countries--Java, Japan, Australia, France, Bali, America--were wading out on the rocks to get a photo of the temple, which still looked dramatic, even under gray skies. But the real drama was elsewhere. As the waves came in and people got splashed, they were shrieking with laughter and delight. It was a scene of joy, childlike play, and a momentary release of all the national differences and personal cares that usually keep us isolated.
When I got back to the car, I was feeling so exhilarated that I babbled to Eka about what I had experienced. I showed him some of the photos I had taken. "Where temple?" he asked in surprise.
But I had seen something even more wonderful than the temple: radical joy in hard times.
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SURVIVING THE CRASH
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 In the following story Kate Forsyth of Ellicott City, MD relates how her family survived, and ultimately prevailed over, a severe economic setback. What I didn't know when we were wealthy was the full cost this lifestyle was having on our family. My husband left at 7 in the morning and didn't return until 7 PM or later each night. He'd come in exhausted with nothing left for me and my daughter. There were no dinners together, no family time, and on the weekends he'd seek stress relief in long bike rides alone. The job wasn't supporting us; we were giving up ourselves for "the job." Our family's "Great Crash" happened in May 2008. My husband walked out of his executive job after a long, embittered battle to be CEO. He played the game and lost and came home a broken spirit. Since that day I have seen him transform from rage and depression to acceptance to hope, with me right along with him. The ride for our family has been arduous, grueling, interminable, then a sliver of light, and now full-blown rebirth. The violent thrust into economic insecurity forced us to change everything. I went back to work after an "early retirement." My husband went back to school to become a teacher--the job he used to dream about when he was sitting in endless corporate meetings. All of a sudden he was around--all the time. We had no money for anything beyond absolute necessities. It wasn't fabulous. It was beyond hard. The changes ripped open the Band-Aid on our fragile life and forced us to reconfigure our concepts of who we were from the ground up. We're on our way "up" again, but I wouldn't trade the forced change we've experienced or the consciousness gained for the sacrifice. I have my husband in a way I never did before. My child has a father she never had before. I'm a stronger person than I was. And it's all been worth it.
Photo by Tony Geneva |
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RADICAL JOY FOR HARD TIMES NEWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  An Act of Beauty for Japan About a week after the triple cataclysm in Japan, Eugene Hughes, director of People Brands in London and a member of the Radical Joy for Hard Times board of directors, breached the wall of baffled inaction that so many of us have been feeling as we confront both our compassion and our helplessness in the face of what is happening. Eugene wrote out on sheets of paper this poem by the 17th century Japanese poet, Basho: If you will let me, I will willingly wipe Salt tears from your eyes With these fresh leaves. He then tied a poem to every flowering cherry tree in his London neighborhood. Photo by Eugene Hughes Social Media Wizard Wanted! The second annual Global Earth Exchange is coming up June 18. On this day people all over the world will be going to ecologically wounded places to find and make beauty as a way of declaring that although we are deeply affected when the lands we love are damaged, we refuse to submit to helplessness and despair. That, to the contrary, we can heal the land and empower ourselves by reconnecting with these places and give them attention and beauty. For this worldwide event, when we need a very specific kind of help. We're looking for someone who understands and is fascinated with the possibilities of the social media and will spend a few minutes a day between now and June 30 monitoring our Facebook and Twitter accounts and helping us connect with people around the world about the Global Earth Exchange. Contact Trebbe for more information. And to read some of the stories and see photos of the 2010 Global Earth Exchange, click here.
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PARABOLA MAGAZINE ON SUFFERING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By chance, the theme of the current issue of Parabola magazine is Suffering. Here are a few quotes from that issue that piece together wisdom about responding to suffering: "Don't look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you'll know you're dead." Tennessee Williams (from the Editorial by Jeff Zaleski) "Suffering is a necessary phase of existence. There is an ebb and flow within the spiritual life, between a sense of desolation and that of consolation. Both are essential. Consolation is a sweet gift that comes from the Divine, from the beyond. It is a kind of gift of grace. One of the problems of our times is that people want to feast on the consolation without tasting the desolation." Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man "Even if you know that the world will end tomorrow, plant a tree." Bhagavad-Gita "It seems that suffering can be the most squalid of all depths of a negativity towards life, insidiously leading us to a place in which we have no awareness of what we have come to. Or can it also, when faced, be the means of an opening to a new direction in our life" Rosemary Nott |
LEAD LIKE A RIVER: July 30-August 6
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"Your influence begins with you and ripples outward. So be sure that your influence is both potent and wholesome."
-The Tao of Leadership July 30-August 6 my friend and colleague Eugene Hughes (the same person who tied the poems to the cherry trees in the story described above) and I will be doing an exciting new program, an outgrowth of the one we offered the past two years in North Carolina. It's called Lead Like a River and it's designed to give ten American and European leaders in diverse fields the chance to explore their own leadership qualities through immersion in wild nature, clarifying: what they stand for as a leader, what's calling them forth, what they need to let go of to manifest visions they may have fostered for years and are now ready to take on, and what will be the first steps on that path. Held at the beautiful Kasbah du Toubkal in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco just south of Marrakech, Lead Like a River will serve as the foundation of the next phase of your leadership. Lead Like a River is limited to ten women and men who are true adventurers in body, mind, and spirit. We'll spend five days total at the Kasbah and one at a mountain lodge reached after a trek high up into the mountains. There will be a 24-hour solo in a wilderness place of your choosing. For a detailed program booklet, contact Trebbe or Eugene. For details about cost and registration see Vision Arrow Writing and Workshop News below. |
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WRITING AND WORKSHOP NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My book, The World Is a Waiting Lover, with a foreword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, is available from Amazon.com or from your favorite bookstore.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS from VISION ARROW
Upside of the Downturn April 20, April 27, May 4, and May 11, 7-8:00 EST
These telephone conference call workshops, four sessions of one hour each, will help you tune in to your relationship with money as if money were a constant, sometimes seductive, often difficult companion that you live with but may try to ignore. (It's probably true.)
The Upside of the Downturn "round table" workshops are confidential, fun, searching, and mutually supportive. They will give you insight and courage to walk forward with money more deliberately and confidently. Each program is limited to six participants.
Guide: Trebbe Johnson
Cost: $125 for four one-hour sessions
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 Youth Vision Fast
(recommended for ages 16-22)
July 14-24
In the high desert of eastern California
Sponsored by the School of Lost Borders
To recognize and mark the moment when one turns toward adulthood takes great courage, especially in a culture that has all but forgotten the importance of honoring this transition. With the intention of finding and facing your deepest truths, your strengths and weaknesses, you then turn toward the critical questions: "Who am I to be in the world?" and "What are my gifts?" This opportunity is both a great challenge and a simple task, providing the possibility of returning home with a timeless memory in your bones and a profound connection to the Earth, ready to embark on the life-long quest of finding and making your place in the world.
Guides: Will Scott and Trebbe Johnson
Tuition: $700-$1,100 (sliding scale)
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 Lead Like a River
July 30-August 6
Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Being clear on who you are and what you stand for, defining your vision and inspiring others to act are all key competencies of your leadership. Mastering this is a lifelong journey, and this program in the Atlas mountains provides the ideal opportunity to reflect on your path, gain strength through connecting with nature, and listen to what is important and meaningful to you.
You will stay at the beautiful Kasbah du Toubkal, just one hour from the Marrakech airport. This hidden Shangri-la is pearched on rocks with stunning views of remote valleys and the summit of Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa. We will spend five nights in the Kasbah and one night in a mountain lodge that we will trek to. You will have a 24-hour solo in a wilderness place of your choosing, where you will reflect on both the landscape around you and the landscape within as you mark your passage to a new height of personal leadership.
Program is limited to ten participants.
Guides: Eugene Hughes and Trebbe Johnson
Cost: €3,300 / $4,250 (includes all meals and lodging and transportation to Kasbah du Toubkal Lodge; does not include airfare)
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 Endless Mountains Vision Quest
August 14-18
Northeastern Pennsylvania
2011 marks the 15th consecutive year for this four-day program, held in a secluded 400-acre nature preserve. The quest is specially designed for those who seek a meaningful rite of passage in a beautiful, yet accessible place. You explore many of the same processes and practices as in the longer vision quest, but with a focus on reading Nature's lessons and discovering how they apply to your own path in life. For the twenty-four-hour solo you may choose from among diverse ecological niches: glacial pond, meadow, wetlands, stream, or forest. Minimal backpacking.
Guides: Trebbe Johnson
Cost: $595, plus approximately $75-125 for one night's lodging in a local bed & breakfast
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 Path of the Lover workshop
August 26-28
Vashon Island, WA (a short ferry ride from Seattle)
The Path of the Lover is an approach to joyful transformation and soulful action that emboldens you, allures you, and points you in the direction that's already calling from deep within you.
In this workshop we use imagery, life map-making, dialogue with partners and your own inner voices, storytelling, nature walks, and other practices to:
- Discover how fascination and desire have been your allies all your life
- Recognize the persistent, persuasive voice of the inner lover in you that calls you forth into the beckoning mystery and how to mediate between it and the protective, often self-defeating voice that holds you back
- Take the first steps toward living as the lover of yourself in small ways and large
- Fall in love with your self and your own unique path in life!
Contact Drew Middlebrook
Cost: $250 for the workshop and snacks
$350 for workshop, plus breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday
For an additional $50 per night you have the option of staying in the cabin on the island, where we'll be meeting, instead of commuting.
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 Sahara Desert Vision Quest and Camel Caravan
December 31, 2010-January 21, 2011
Southern Algeria
Following the steps of intrepid seekers throughout the ages who have been drawn to the desert to fast and pray for guidance, we venture into the greatest desert of all: the Sahara. Our guides are a group of nomadic Tuareg, a matriarchal people known for their love of the desert, poetry, camels, and beauty.
Our base camp is truly remote, reached after 1-2 days travel by Land Rover, followed by 4-5 days in a camel caravan. Your three-day solo will take place in a place of your choosing, in a desert valley or in a black basalt wilderness. To undertake this quest, you must have an adventurous spirit and be prepared to sleep under the stars, immerse yourself in the ways of another culture, experience hot days and cold nights, live three weeks without a shower, and move fearlessly into a life of meaning and fulfillment.
Guides : Sabina Wyss, Trebbe Johnson, Adem Mellakh, and Tuareg hosts
Cost : $5,555 Swiss Francs, (approximately $5,585.00), including all meals, camping fees, riding camel, land transportation in the desert, and air travel from a European city to Tamanrasset, Algeria
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have questions or would like to talk about any of these programs.
For a complete list of 2009 programs offered by Vision Arrow, see our website.
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have questions or would like to talk about any of these programs.
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