By Daphne Loring
Sewing by the Sea Retreat Participants
Many people who have visited CCLC’s campus have seen the early mind maps generated by community members while laying the groundwork for this dynamic place. As CCLC has evolved, we have seen many more of these mapped dreams emerge and shift from imagination to reality. As a relative newcomer, I can trace all that I see and experience here to these early visions, these roots. The founders recognized the importance and value of not only coming and going from this place, but of coming here to dig in, to dig deep, to connect, and to retreat.
Heartwood Lodge has become a fertile vessel for the creativity, inquiry, learning, healing, and transformation that emerges when we retreat. In just the last few weeks, I have heard from guests about how rejuvenated they were after meeting over tasty food in the Commons, sleeping in the Lodge, connecting over the campfire, and exploring our trails.
Recently, the campus was filled with the creative energy of 25 women who came to Heartwood Lodge for a four-day sewing retreat. As the women shared their stories with me, I was viscerally reminded of the importance of retreating to rekindle our own creative energies as well as those of the collective. For the last 18 years, taking space from other aspects of their lives to focus on their sewing passion has helped them to build a loving, generative and supportive community.
A piece of our work here is to cultivate personal, community and global well-being. Heartwood Lodge, and soon our classrooms and conference area, is here for you, our friends near and far, to join us in this pursuit.