Facing Darkness with Presence and Purpose
Facing Darkness with Presence and Purpose
Our Intention
When nights get longer, and dark skies oversee dark times, it’s tempting to look away.
It’s tempting to close our hearts with anger, distraction, or despair.
But we can look deeper.
We can face the darkness together,
Until the light returns.
What is Facing Darkness?
Every autumn, the shortening days and lengthening nights draw many of us inward toward quiet contemplation.
This autumn, we watch a perilous US election against a backdrop of global conflict and inequity, eroding democratic institutions, racial injustice, disinformation, and climate change. The organic quiet of the dimmer months threatens to turn bitter and bleak. In the face of so many unknowns, it is all too easy to fear for the future.
If this speaks to you, you are invited to join a small, intergenerational group on a communal journey through the darkness of this moment – the darkness around us and within us. With music, art, visualizations, group work, private reflection, and relational exercises, we will find the inner resources to meet whatever is coming with Presence and Purpose.
· Presence: An embodied readiness to love the world as it is
· Purpose: An embodied commitment to build the world we yearn for
Our Inspiration (one of many)
When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.
When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.
Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.
There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.
The dark will be your womb
tonight.
The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.
You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.
– “Sweet Darkness” by David Whyte, House of Belonging
Our Invitation
This course is for you if:
· You’re tired of feeling angry, stressed, or afraid about trends in the world, but you can’t in good conscience look away.
· You want to meet our collective challenges with action that is centered, grounded, and wise.
· You are looking for human connection to meet you in the vulnerability of this moment.
By the end of this course, we will each
· See more clearly the beauty in all of this darkness, and in ourselves
· Hold our own and others’ anger, fear, and stress with open hearts
· Commit to pragmatic, wise, centered actions that address the growing darkness with light
Faculty Bios
Registration
This course is available on these dates. Select an item to see individual session dates and times:
Cancellation & Terms
Payment is fully refundable up to 28 days before the start of the event, less a 13% processing fee; it is not refundable thereafter. If the event is under-enrolled, we reserve the right to cancel 28 days prior to the event start date, and refund your registration fee in full.