The Restory Retreat Centre

Wider View On Purpose The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music Sometimes, in living our calling, we just need someone to stand by us, to whistle the melody for us when we have forgotten the words. Once more, as alwys, with our love.  May your life carry the marks of love. Especially in what you do. George & Matilda

Conducive To Creativity   The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Video Be open. Be creative. May your ideas sprout forth.  With our love. George & Matilda

  Creativity Gives The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music Drawing Inside everybody's head  There's a place that they can go,  Where they're free to draw and doodle  All their fancy-doodle-doo. They can draw a cat-bat-raddle-daddle-  Floogle-boogle-bip,  Or a funny-looking-squimmily-wimmily  Slippery-slippery-slip. They can draw their thoughts and feelings  Instead of hiding them inside,  And no one else can see them...  Unless they want to show their pride. So if you see me staring into space,  And a kinda smile comes on my face,  And I kinda look up at the sky,  Don't bother asking me why... 'Cause I'm drawing  In my head. Shel Silverstein                                          Take note of what Shel is saying: "In  Everybody's  head...: Go and do it. Please! With all our love. George ...

  When You Know But Still Do The Conversation  Elements From The Conversation  Remnants of sculptures at the bottom of the kiln. Snow outside, pottery workshop and Glühwein inside. In spite of disappointment and setbacks, we return to create again. To create is to live this life. Again, always, with love. George & Matilda

  Spirituality In Conversation With Art “All Jesus did that day was tell stories - a long storytelling afternoon.” ‭‭Matt ‭13‬:‭34‬  (The Message)                               The Conversation Elements From The Conversation ~ ❖ ~ “When we move toward our own creativity,  we move toward our Creator.  When we seek to become more spiritual,  we find ourselves becoming more creative.  Our creativity and our spirituality are so closely interconnected  they are in effect one and the same thing.  Speaking of God, we often use the words “Maker” or “Creator”  without recognizing that those  are the terms for “artist.”  God is the Great Artist.  We are creations  and we are intended, in turn, to be creative ourselves.” Julia Cameron                               ~ ❖ ~ What if we were ...

  More About Matilda The Conversation Elements From The Conversation The house It grows larger wall after wall sliding  on some miraculous arrangement of panels, blond and weightless as balsa, making space for windows, alcoves, more rooms, stairways and passages, all bathed in light,with here and there the green flower of a tree, vines, streams casually breaking through- what a change  from the cramped  room at the centre where I began, where i crouched and was safe, but could hardly breathe! Day after day I labour at it; night after night I keep going- I'm clearing new ground I'm lugging boards I'm measuring, I'm hanging sheets of glass I'm nailing down the hardwoods The thresholds- I'm hinging the doors- Once they are up they will lift their easy latches, they will open like wings. Mary Oliver                                                  ...

  Sharing In Other's Creativity The Conversation Video: Sharing In Other's Creativity Elements From The Conversation   Music/Dance With love and our wish that something creative will stir in you. Even if it's just a little. It's a start. George & Matilda

  Creativity The most beautiful thing a potter produces is.... the potter.                                                                                Matthew Fox  The Conversation  Elements From The Conversation  Music Sometimes creativity sprouts amidst our greatest limitations and challenges. Keep well. George and Matilda 

I have not written for a long time. I’m exploring why. I love writing. I love the process of allowing a story to unfold through me and to then hone it until it shines with the sheen of something made with utmost care and appreciation for the beauty of the material, in this instance, words. How words fascinate me with their beauty! I love how they look formed in my own handwriting, or in the handwriting of someone I hold dear. My long departed mom’s left-handed longhand, or in many cases all capital letters when she needed to make it legible, looking very much like my own. George’s penciled-in notes in books he’s read, make as good reading as the book itself; tiny scribbles often with page numbers as cross references or main themes pointed out. But even if they are typed, there is a balance and feel to every word that make me want to simply sit with it and look at it, pronounce it maybe. “Maybe” – “ Maybe” – “Maybe” – “Maybe” – “Maybe” So why then this long period of not w...

Photo from the Tumblr Account alittlebitofsillinessreally For a long, long while now I've had no inclination to write. I love writing, but for a couple of years now, there’s been a void in me as to subjects or reasons to put my thoughts on paper. Typing the words “a void” my head sounded it as one word, “avoid”, and I’m wondering whether or why I would have avoided writing. Since I believe in being simply a channel, albeit a unique one, through which creativity can flow, why wasn’t I open to this flowing? It wasn’t a complete creative block. I was creating on other levels; busy building out ranges of functional ceramic art, sculpting, facilitating workshops and retreats.   I often felt that I didn’t have enough creative energy to go around. That doing pottery and sculpting are “using it all up” in a sense. Lately, thoughts are starting to gather like sparrows in a rain puddle. I delight in how they splash around, but I’m aware of their wariness, their mistrust of ...

“No matter how slow the film, Spirit always stands still long enough for the photographer it has chosen.”                                                                                        - Minor White Every retreat is a journey in itself, a process of discovery and growth.  I have always been fascinated by the wealth of knowledge that abounds and the intellect’s ability to tap into that and apply it in any number of ways. To a large degree my mind has always been my tool of choice in relating and understanding my world. In a society and culture that prides itself in being rational, it was to my advantage. However, through grace and my exposure to contemplation I have discovered how limited and limiting my approach has been all...