COURAGE AND GENEROSITY:  TOOLS FOR ABUNDANT LIVING
Women’s Winter Contemplative Retreat with Carolyn Foster

JANUARY 9-11, 2009
Santa Sabina Center, San Rafael


Courage is the capacity to meet the anxiety that arises as we achieve freedom.

Humanistic psychologist Rollo May


You carry all the ingredients

To turn your existence into joy.

Mix them, mix

Them!

14th century Sufi poet Hafiz


Poet Mary Oliver suggests that people come to poetry readings because they are eager to hear “some worthwhile news.”  Similarly, people go on retreat to shut out the news of the popular media, open to their quiet inner voices, and reconnect to the ordinary splendor of the natural world.  When I asked my own inner voice which qualities or character strengths would be most useful in this time of historic change, courage and generosity sprang to mind.  I believe that these two virtues support one another.  It takes courage to open our hands in abundance instead of clutching in scarcity.  Equally, every generous gesture emboldens us to live from ancient deep truths rather than narrow immediate fears.

Santa Sabina Center offers retreatants gracious hospitality, beauty, and a refuge for contemplation and renewal.  Whether you want to be cozy inside or clear your mind in winter air, the house, courtyard, and gardens offer dozens of places for letting go into serenity.  Scheduled program times alternate with free time for hiking, napping, playing in the art center, reading, or lying by a fire and drifting.  The silences and conversations are as healing a diet as the good food.

Register by calling my voicemail, (510) 484-3078 on or after Monday, November 10.  You may reserve for yourself and a friend with one call or have a friend call for you if you’ll be out of town.  Last resort:  e-mail me at cjf@creativechoices.net.  Sometimes people assume calling late won’t work, but whenever you get this or get around to deciding, call anyway.  The cost of the retreat is $290 for a double room, $340 for a single room.  This includes lodging, program, and six meals, from dinner Friday night through lunch Sunday.  

Come early in the New Year to warm yourself with courage and generosity!


To receive email or regular mail notification of details of this retreat and how to register, go to the contact page and call or email Carolyn with your request.