Feeling at home, once more in Wear Terrace, this time lightly ... a week by week arrangement and holding the possibilities lightly too ... the Retreat House still available and some promotion on FB to stimulate interest .... quite clear that this project requires team energy ... alternatives like walking to Santiago, visiting the K Retreat Centre in the Himalayas and other things yet to arise, all possible ...
Coffee mornings in the Church Hall help reconnect with the elders ... the usual question being "how long are you staying this time?" ... who knows? .... settling awhile and sitting in silence perhaps one way to find the flow again ...
Daughters arrive for lunch and walk ... the ostensible reason for return at this time ... both living their lives authentically in their different ways ... lightly connected here too, since heart connection is in the non-local field, beyond space and time ...
August not the month for European wandering and this year temperatures appear excessive along with the volume of holidaymakers ... so, settling awhile and imagining the rather ambitious Retreat House ... the ambition is not daunting, but it is clear to this lover of solitude that such a project, promoting interbeing, has to have co-creators, which is not just cheering from the sidelines ... let's see ... FB a helpful tool and kindly offering to boost the relevant posts for a reasonable price ... well. it is a business after all, despite a common delusion that it is a social service ...
The vision of A Place to Be has been enduring over the past six years or so ... its formlessness somehow not a barrier ... though sometimes an opening to the further reaches of esoterica ... and if judgement is eschewed, then discernment surely must be practised ... simplicity of form and ritual as a temporary container, along with compassion two of the treasures ... patience the third and hardest to play with ... since concentrated effort is occasionally required in creative process ...
Connecting with tribe at this time maybe key ... setting out some framework for funding, since a quarter of the initial costs are now freely available and six bedrooms (large enough for more than one or two occupants if necessary) make co-housing an alternative or transitional use, along with Airbnb or just security for business loans ... the core idea of a residential and day retreat place, with elegant rooms and resonant vaulted cellars surely is of its time ... focusing on the tribe connection, the marketing skills and effort now the test ...
The setting, in the middle of the pretty market town of Stanhope, nestling in the foothills of the North Pennines, perfect for local access and easy enough from the great conurbations of Tyneside, Wearside and Teesside. .. inspirational walking on the doorstep ...
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