Photo by George Angus In recent weeks I ordered and sorted our books again. It was long overdue. We want to declutter and simplify. However, taking books of a shelf and putting it in boxes to give away and pass on is more than that. It is a spiritual act. It is letting go of holding on and hoarding. It is making room. For what? For whatever needs the space the books filled. It is the handing in of identity cards. “I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be...” (Joan Didion) The people using and reading certain books don’t live here anymore. Standing before the sorted shelves I meet myself. George
The Restory is a Retreat Centre nestled against Tafelkop, a singular mountain head near Wakkerstroom, South Africa. Here we live a simple life as contemplatives. It is a place of re-connection: with ourselves, people, Nature, Silence and Creativity. Our retreats are aimed at this. Our conversations, writing and art centre around the univocity of life. We need a place that reminds us that we are all one. The Restory hopes to be such a place and space.