The Restory Retreat Centre

  Meraki   The Conversation  Big apology! Meraki, even though it has all the characteristics of a Japanese word, is not a Japanese word. We discovered after our conversation that it is actually a Greek word. Elements From The Conversation  Music With all our love. George & Matilda

Sensitive To The Inner Voice The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music Schubert's Serenade expresses something of the soul's depth and variation, which often cannot be captured in words, but is communicated in and through beauty. Our longing for you: soulful days becoming a soulful life.  With our love.  George & Matilda

  Just Beyond Yourself Just Beyond Yourself Just beyond yourself. It’s where you need to be. Half a step into self-forgetting and the rest restored by what you’ll meet. There is a road always beckoning. When you see the two sides of it closing together at that far horizon and deep in the foundations of your own heart at exactly the same time, that’s how you know it’s the road you have to follow. That’s how you know it’s where you have to go. That’s how you know you have to go. That’s how you know. Just beyond yourself, it’s where you need to be. David Whyte                                                 The Conversation Elements From The Conversation There is a road always beckoning.  With our love. George & Matilda

  Into The Silence The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music This blessing, after a line by Alfred Lord Tennyson: May your eyes be homes of silent prayers. With our love. Always.  George & Matilda

We've looked at the basics of the True and False Self in a previous post (See: True and False is true ). An article* by Elyse Santilli in The Huffington Post provides valuable insight into the more practical and day to day matters where these two concepts are concerned:  When your ego [False Self]  is in charge: You're often caught in circling thoughts (thinking about the same things over and over). You're often consumed by your emotions (especially hurt, disappointment and anger). Your inner dialogue is heavily focused on anxieties, fears, doubts and self-criticism (I'm not good enough, I'm not beautiful, I can't do this, I totally stuffed up, I am bad at this, my life is meaningless). Your worth is dependent on external things (whether you've got a partner, a mortgage, a great job, a beautiful wardrobe, a huge circle of friends). You desperately need validation from other people to feel good about yourself. You're easily bru...

The world will ask you who you are, and if you do not know, the world will tell you.                                                                                                                  Carl Jung Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you. And see, you were within and I was in the external world and sought you there, and in my unlovely state I plunged into those lovely created things which you made. You were with me, and I was not with you.                                                               ...

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

Notes from a Different Drummer Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.                                                                            Henry David Thoreau Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.               ...

Only when the last tree has died  and the last river been poisoned  and the last fish been caught  will we realise we cannot eat money.                                                                  - Cree Indian Proverb. Think about Knysna and you think about wood. In many ways it is the indigenous wood capitol of South Africa. The names of the trees itself lead you into the cool, moist surroundings where they grow – Outeniqua Yellowood, Hard Pear, Cape Blackwood, Ironwood, Candlewood, White Pear, Stinkwood, White Elder, Cape Beech. From this timber craftsmen have brought forth the most beautiful furniture for almost three centuries. The 300 000 hectares of forest seemed to be an unlimited source of wood when it was first exploited in the 18th century and during the years that follow...

Photograph by George Angus When we moved to Barrowfield last year, we did so with too much stuff (See Matilda’s post Moving heavily ). There were mitigating circumstances as we stated before: it was years of living, by four different people and in different locations coming together – Matilda, me, Oupa Frans and my dad. There were two workshops, one pottery studio and four houses with all the tools and possessions associated with each. Add to that my father’s reluctance to move and our efforts to take into account that his belongings acted as a security blanket and all could not simply be taken away from him and you end up with all that arrived in Wakkerstroom and here on the farm at Barrowfield. And that despite everything that has indeed been sorted, discarded or sold. Too much. That is not the way we want to live. There is a dissonance between our possessions and our spirituality. We want to travel much, much lighter. Gradually things have settled in these past few ...

When will the world learn that a million men are of no importance compared with one man?                                                                           Henry David Thoreau We are always counting: “How many people attended the meeting?” “It was a wonderful service. I would say there were about five hundred people.” “We’ve got 73 likes.” Apparently, the bigger the numbers, the more successful the venture, the posting or the person. By using that yard stick we start playing for the audience. Whether the one playing is church, artist or school. We try to provide what the people want, what will draw the crowds. Of course it is necessary under some circumstances to make adjustments to help an audience grasp a concept. We owe it to our message and them to help people understand...