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| Returning to the mainland |
Someone asked me when I was recently leading a retreat what I meant when I used the word soul. I told them that to me it referred to “the authentic you.” The “who you’d be in your truest form” without outside influences. Most of us are enculturated to operate as our society dictates and it usually feels most comfortable to operate from a place of fitting in with others. Nobody will call you out if you are doing as you are expected. Making sure you are coloring within the lines keeps the peace amongst friends and family.
But I have found that as
people age, they begin to chafe against all of the rules they have been
following their entire lives and as they begin to see the endpoint, they desire
to make changes more in line with their soul. This is where soul work comes in.
David Plotkin in his book “Soulcraft” does an amazing job in outlining what is
needed to do soul retrieval and discovering how to live your authentic life. While
I have found David’s book to be very useful for those in the elder stage of
life, it would be applicable for anyone to use.
Soul work is the work me
and 16 other people set out to do as we set off from Michigan’s mainland and
traveled to a retreat center called Tara’s Meadow on Beaver Island. The 90
minute ferry ride offered a chance to reflect on what we hoped to accomplish
and to leave our daily worries behind. The retreat center itself is located on
a remote section of the island, surrounded by woods and meadows. Spending time
in a place such as Tara’s Meadow, where nature takes center stage, set the tone
for the work we were to do that weekend with Plotkin’s book serving as our
guide.
Plotkin talks about the three
stages of finding your soul’s voice and then acting on what you discover as he
provides what he calls “practices” for making discoveries in each of the
stages. The three stages are Practices for Leaving Home, Pathways to Soul
Encounter and Cultivating a Soulful Relationship to Life. Practices for leaving
home involves doing work which allows you to look at your childhood and early
experiences and decide what parts you need to leave behind to grow into your
real self. Pathways to Soul Encounter gives you examples of activities you can
do to remember your authentic self or soul and Cultivating a Soulful
Relationship to Life talks about how you can use what you’ve learned to move
forward into living as your real self.
The retreat itself was
designed for elders who were desiring to determine what their true calling was
and how they would like to devote their time going forward. The retreat, being
held totally outside for two full days, was meant to use the healing powers and
wisdom of nature to make new discoveries and because Plotkin’s book uses this
same methodology, it was a perfect fit. If you are at all interested in this
sort of work, I highly recommended Plotkin’s book. During the first day we
focused on Leaving Home and Soul Encounter activities and devoted the entire
second day to Cultivating a Soulful Relationship to Life. Over the course of
the two days we did some activities from Plokin’s book as well some of our own
that fit the framework. We met in council to discuss our discoveries and that
appeared to be the most powerful work of all. Putting voice to your past trials
and hope for the future becomes especially meaningful when shared with others. With
nature ever present, we made transformations that guided us all to new places.
Discoveries made on the
island have left me feeling more whole than ever, allowing me to put a distance
to my early difficult years and embrace myself in new ways which honor who I
am. Granted me the ability to start to put my voice out there in stronger ways,
such as this blog, rather than keeping quiet about what is important to me. The
ferry ride back to the mainland was bittersweet as I was leaving behind all
those I had made connections with over the weekend. Landing back at the ferry
dock in Charlevoix and getting in a car, having cell phone connectivity again,
returning to the fast paced human world where nature took a back seat was
jarring as I wanted to keep the peace of the island in my soul as long as I
could. Now that I am home, I find I keep the spirit of the island retreat alive
by spending as much time as I can in the natural world.
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