The climate crisis has weighed heavy on me the last few years. I spent years avoiding the headlines, not wanting to face it. Then having teenagers changed all that—it feels very hypocritical to say things like, “Gen Z is going to save us!” while I stand on the sidelines. Love has prompted me find ways to be on the front lines. Emily, who’s a hospital chaplain, has taught me what she teaches her patients and grieving families: Comfort through facing. We can’t be comforted if we haven’t truly faced the source of our sadness.
And how do we face reality? Two of the things that help me the most are creating and community, and this is your invitation to a very special weekend in March facilitated by my friend Nicki Lang and I.
Nicki and I have been friends for several years. She’s an artist, former science teacher, musician, seeker, and writer, and has played around with many mediums. Her latest is palette knife oil painting, and she’s turned her attention toward landscapes. She says that painting (often scenes of the Salish Sea coastline) helps her feel part of nature instead of an observer. I’ve admired Nicki’s work and experimentation for a long time, but this year I took a workshop from her and got to see her teach. Wow. Not all doers and experts know how to teach what they know. Nicki is really gifted in encouraging her students, bringing them along at a pace they can absorb, and helping them connect with the pulse of love behind the activity.
The two of us have cooked up a really special experience—she’s going to teach collage and block-printing sessions, I’m going to facilitate a writing session, and there are some other lovely surprises for a very special group of 25 folks of all genders March 8-10 on the Hood Canal. (And no, this is not just for women! I’ve been very intentional through the years about working with all genders and this is no different. All of us need liberation.)
The weekend isn’t about learning foolproof techniques, but about discovering your innate creativity. We are born to create, not just to consume. Tapping into our creative selves is one of the most empowering things we can do if we want to love and save the earth, parent or companion with mindfulness, be present to our vocations, and experience more joy in our lives. We care less that you go home with a print you stressed over, and more that you go home with a different idea of yourself.
We are creating a pop-up community. I’ve been to and led countless retreats. The best ones recognize that this particular group of people won’t be together again, but there is value in acting like we will be. This means introducing an appropriate level of vulnerability and risk to the communal times, sharing meals, enriching our experience as we learn from one another. Creating this kind of container is what I’ve spent my life doing, and it will be so enlivening to do it around creating art.