The Restory Retreat Centre

Photograph by George Angus This coming weekend we have our first mindfulness retreat here at Barrowfield. Earlier this week the one motor of the planer thicknesser burnt out. A major crisis. I am right in the middle of a big woodworking project and working with a very tight budget after December’s quiet and bonuses that were paid out to the employees. I knew for a fact that the motor either had to be replaced by a new one or if I am lucky it could be repaired. Either way, the project is delayed by days and money has to be spent. Lately Matilda and I often talk about the wide-spread perception that mindfulness and reality clash. A large number of people believe that the two actually just don’t go together: “Interesting, this mindfulness-thing you’re busy with. Maybe I’ll look into that when I’m retired and have more time. For now I do not have that luxury. I have to provide for my family and work hard to earn a living.” We do not have to quit our day job to be min

Drawing by Kirstin Noelle We spend a long time wishing we were elsewhere and otherwise.  - Robert Farrar Capon The aim of the Mindfulness retreat is to explore ways to get to the “more” our souls yearn for. For us, the key lies in living with awareness or to coin the popular term; to live mindfully. Simply put this means to not live on “auto pilot” or as if you are sleepwalking. To become fully alive and to experience the present moment to the full. More than that: To experience the moment without judging it. Allowing it to be simply what it is. This sounds nonsensical to the rational, modern brain but it is paramount if it is a meaningful life you’re after. To live with such awareness from moment to moment is possible through the mindful implementation of elements as natural as breathing and silence. After all, we are equipped with a body with senses and a respiratory system with which to experience, stay alive and savour the world and our environment. Why l

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace The practical How Soul nurturing Walking One of the most powerful tools to reconnect us with our wider environment, nourish our soul, open us up and ignite creativity is.... walking. Yes, plain walking. No, you don’t need expensive shoes or fancy clothes. Don’t over-complicate things. Most of all, do not make it a competition of sorts in whatever disguise it may come. This is not a training session as such. This is taking your inner child for a stroll and feasting your senses. Most probably it is the best medicine in the cheapest form. But I’ve said enough. Let’s give the floor to some of the great lovers of and believers in walking. George

Sê nou jy is baie meer talentvol as wat jy tot nou toe gedink het? Sê nou die lewe wag om wonderlike dinge vir jou te wys? Sê nou iets wag om tot stand te kom, geskep te word, maar dit kan net deur jou gebeur? Sê nou net jy dink te klein in terme van bronne, geleenthede en wat alles moontlik is? Sê nou… Is jy die trotse eienaar van ‘n polsslag? Dan is jy kreatief. En dit het met baie meer te doen as verf op doek, klei op wiel of houtskaafsels om jou voete. Te veel mense sukkel met die woord  kreatiwiteit . Jy kan byna verseker weet dat hulle by die hoor daarvan beelde oproep van skilders in verfbesmeerde jasse voor groot esels met ‘n beret skeef op die kop. Of nog erger, iemand wat verward met een oor deur die lewe gaan. Hulle besluit en sê dis nie vir hulle nie. Buitendien, die naaste wat hulle ooit aan teken sal kan kom is onderaan dokumente en kontrakte. Eenvoudig gestel – hulle is nie kreatief nie. Ons sien dit anders. KREATIWITEIT BETEKEN OM ‘N UNIEKE OOP KANAAL

A historical ruin at The Restory shrouded in early morning mists. Photograph by Marinetha Marais To retreat quite literally means that we step out of our normal day to day life and responsibilities and isolate ourselves for a time to restore energy and to find renewed balance in life. This may be for a few hours only or extended periods of days or weeks. In our busy lives, this may sound like a complete waste of precious time. To the contrary, new perspectives arise by reconnecting to our inner selves through practices such as gentle exercise, rest, meditation and contemplation. This leads to higher levels of energy, creativity and productivity. Being in an environment dedicated to provide the necessary support and guidance can be of immeasurable value in bringing meaning to life. The mindfulness practices introduced at a retreat center can and should be continued in normal day to day life.  It holds the key to a heightened awareness of our moments and days which is life chang

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace The practical How Soul nurturing Treat-time Next up - FUN! And not just any fun, but tailor-made-for-you-and-you-alone fun. Sounds too good to be true? Read on. Again, we draw on the wisdom of Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, and introduce you to Artist’s Dates. We prefer to use the term Treat-time for the same concept, because we have experienced that many people’s immediate reaction when confronted with Artist’s Dates are to visibly shy away. They say something like: “I’m not creative”, “I’m no artist” or “I can’t draw or paint to save my life”. This is not about being a painter, potter, writer, dancer or actor. Nor will you need to take up any artist’s tool if it is not your inclination. This tool was created by Julia Cameron whose area of expertise lies in the unblocking of creativity, which she refers to as the inner artist or the inner child. We will in due course

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace. The practical How Soul nurturing Wake-up notes So let’s get started. For this game of hide-and-seek we need some writing paper and a pen or pencil, crayon, or whatever takes your fancy to write  with. Now, don’t take fright. This is no writer’s course. We are into soul nurturing, into seeking out the hidden child within. Only the most gentle and undemanding probing will be met with a favourable response.  So we start off by listening, pen in hand and paper to catch the sounds on. Julia Cameron, writer of The Artist’s Way is famous for the genius of her tools of creative recovery, which she calls Morning Pages and Artist’s Dates. We can do no better than her and having experienced the transformational potential of these tools for ourselves over many years, we give her the credit and share it as she so generously advises us to.     Morning Pages, in our context, we would like to cal

Photograph by Matilda Angus His name is Monty. Actually Montgomery, but he is only addressed that way if he’s doing something a naughty Monty would do. I also call him “Montego Bay” or “Wille Waghond” (Afrikaans for wild guard dog). Sebastien calls him “Monkey dog”. About the size of a brick, maybe smaller, with a thimble mouth, he epitomizes chutzpah. He has taken the guard duty of Barowfield onto himself, being of the opinion that it was in a shambles when he arrived here about four months ago. At the slightest noise outside, he’ll run from door to door or jump onto the coach and then into the wide window sill to deliver his warning or to inspect. Among other things, 800 kg bulls are charged and snakes confronted. And he’ll end up with the juicy bone initially given to Jasper the Border collie and will protect it so ferociously that none of the bigger dogs will come near him. With absolutely nothing to his advantage or in his favor but attitude. The love of his life is

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace. The glory of God is a human being fully alive. - St. Ireneaus The practical How Soul Nurturing Living a contemplative life starts here. In this place, at this time, with this body, mind and soul known as Me. It can happen in no other way. Nothing more is needed. We have everything we need (and more) to move in one instance from being nowhere in particular, to being on the contemplative way. All it takes is a waking up to it, as we have pointed out in  It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing . The notes from a different drummer, like rain, had fallen onto the pregnant soil of your soul. Soon a tender shoot starts showing. The seed of the Essential You is sprouting. How do we tend this into growing into a life that will bear the incredible harvest only you are capable of?  By careful and deliberate nurturing, like you would a rare sapling or a new-born baby. Th

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace The practical How. In our previous post Strange companions we said that we'll follow it up by introducing paradox as well. True to our word, here is that introduction.  “Nobody goes to that restaurant because it is too crowded”; “Your mission is not to accept the mission. Do you accept?” or “Don't go near the water 'til you have learned how to swim” are humorous examples of paradox. A paradox (taken from the Greek para and dokein meaning “to seem contrary to”) is something that at first glance appears to be a contradiction, but looked at from another angle is not a contradiction at all. All fine and interesting, but what does it have to do with us? Everything. One of the major elements in the contemplative life and spirituality is a tolerance for ambiguity, uncertainty and being comfortable with paradox. For that reason much of its wisdom comes in the form of paradox:

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace I will give you treasures from dark, secret places;  then you will know that I am the LORD  and that the God of Israel has called you by name.                                                             Isaiah 45:3 (Good News Bible) The practical How . The notes from the drummer have reached your inner ear. You are waking up and gradually you realise something is being born. There is no reason for panic. But it can still be a very confusing experience. And it can be made all the more difficult if you are not introduced to some strange companions that will accompany you on the journey. You are sure to encounter them and should you not be told that they are to be expected, their presence can indeed lead to anxiety and further uncertainty. You might think that you are totally lost and even doubt whether a birthing process is underway at all. Worst of all, their gift can be totally m

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace The practical How . The notes from the drummer have reached your inner ear. You are waking up. Now what? Don’t panic.  You’re not going mad, although it might feel like it. Some might even say you are rocking the boat. After all, there is the adjective different before the drummer whose music you are tuning into. And although there are days when you wish that your soul has never been stirred and things could be just as it was before, a seed lying dormant for years has cracked the soil.  Of course, you can choose the business-as-usual-route. You can play it safe and don’t let your life be disrupted. You can pull out the new seedling by its roots and turn the volume way down, silence the notes.To stay in your comfort zone is a very tempting possibility. Millions of people do it.  But if you want to live, you’ll have to tend to the new life that has sprouted in your soul. It is a gift that

Notes from a different drummer Learning the unforced rhythms of grace "There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves."                                                                          Thomas Merton So, to the practical How. To begin with: Become aware that you are waking up. I imagine you thinking: “The very last thing I need at the beginning of a new year, is yet another program to follow which promises to make me thinner, healthier, richer, more successful or ready for heaven.” Yet, you may have a nagging uneasiness about where you are heading. In spite of the recent holiday, you may feel tired and burnt out physical

 The regal Crowned Eagle photographed by Erich Lamprecht. Ever since the Sunbirds* I take birds seriously. Especially if they pay me a surprise visit. So when a Crowned Eagle granted us a fifteen minute audience by settling in a tree no more than a 150m from us, I intuited that it was of some importance. As is often the case, I didn’t immediately know what to make of it. I was aware only of feeling noticed and nurtured by the mere presence of this magnificent bird sitting quite peacefully in full sight. Last week we were on a short and belated honeymoon in as near a perfect setting as we could ever hope for: we spent it at the holiday cottage of our friends Pieter and Linda in a lush nature reserve close to Groblersdal. All through the week we were treated to sounds and sightings of the abundant bird life we are familiar with in this area with its unique eco-environment of  high cliffs, streams and indigenous forest. A pair of Paradise flycatchers entertained us with