Glimpses from the Retreat...

A couple of participants gifted themselves this retreat on their birthdays. Touched by the experience, Deepti, one of the birthday girls, blogged later, "On my birthday, I gifted myself something I had been yearning for, not a material thing, but a space. A space to pause, reflect, and reconnect. Retreats like these are hard to put into words. Not because nothing happens, but because what happens is mostly internal. These are not events where you walk away with bullet points or takeaways. Something unravels. Quietly. Gently."

During the retreat, we shared space with 200 senior citizens, the retreat venue being a senior citizen centre in Navi Mumbai. Conversations with seniors, clowning in the immobile aged wards, painting art on the walls of the centre, and serving dinner to the elders added a different hue to this retreat. Diverse people from across the country came together to participate, most being first-timers. The Heart Cafe had some amazing questions to reflect upon, opening up a space for "beyond the visiting card" introductions. The ice broke - and how! :) . From among the questions, an unlikely combo, that on death ('what made you pause and reflect on death') and joy ('sing a song that inspires you') drew the most number of shares. One of the participants reflected : "Most of us keep asking 'What's the takeaway?' How about shifting instead to 'What am I taking in?'"  

A new city, a new host venue, a lot of "first times" meant there was a good case for Murphy's laws. But it all came together, through value resonance and deep connections (and 100s of hours of prework by the volunteers!).  Serendipity played its part - one participant, completely by chance, encountered his ex-wife's father, who happened to be a resident of the immobile aged care section. Old memories, good and sore, surfaced. With 'heart intelligence' in the air, he was able to build on the good ones. Every day of the retreat, he spent time with his ex-father-in-law to ruminate on good ol'days. Similarly, post the "Trust walk" - with one participant leading the other blindfolded participant for a walk around the campus - many reported how they found the "right" partner for the exercise, by chance. Apprehension gave way to surrender; transaction to trust. The retreat was capped on the final day as the group offered their bowing (3-steps and bow) around the campus, setting visible and invisible ripples into motion. Thank you for being direct or indirect flagbearers for this World Wide Web, which binds it all together.