For twenty years, The Vermont Courage Cohort has met seasonally for Circles of Trust© to practice the principles, tools and habits of The Center for Courage & Renewal., based on the work of activist and educator, Parker J. Palmer. What began as a two-year commitment for K-12 teachers in 2001, expanded to people in a range of professions and drew people from beyond the State of Vermont. Over the years, some people have participated for one year and some have returned for two, ten or twenty years - thus creating more of a community of practice than a single retreat to attend.
"Community and individuality are not an either/or choice, any more than life and death are. Instead, they are the poles of another great paradox. A culture of isolated individualism produces mass conformity because people who think they must bear life all alone are too fearful to take the risks of selfhood. But people who know that they are embedded in an eternal community are both freed and empowered to become who they were born to be." Parker Palmer, The Active Life: Wisdom for Work, Creativity, and Caring
As we enter the 21st year, we extend welcome to a wider community. The pandemic is opening doors beyond the retreat space that has held us (and is not currently available) and inviting us to spread the wings of welcome widely. Might that include you? Are you:
Concerned with the state of the world?
Feeling isolated in these wobbly times and looking to connect deeply to a community of trust?
Seeking ways to cultivate your courage and find tools to navigate conversations across political and personal divides?
Wanting to contribute to a community committed to holding tensions in life-giving ways?
Looking for a space to pause, reflect, and reconnect to your inner knowing?
Registration for the Vermont Courage Cohort: Living Courage is open and accepting applications. Given the pandemic, we will be meeting monthly this year via zoom. These Circles of Trust(c) will include four three-day “retreats on home-lands” and six monthly calls in between to keep the web of connection well-tended. Having successfully run the final two retreats via zoom last year, we have found ways to limit zoom fatigue and maximize reflective space and community connection.
Retreat Sessions offer the Circles of Trust(c) Approach:
Generous Listening to oneself & others
Practicing Open & Honest Questions
Exploring Courage Principles and Practices, Habits of the Heart and Core Values
Individual Reflection through poetry, music, creative expression and connection with the natural world as ways into discoveries to navigate these stormy times with integrity and courage.
Renewal modalities to strengthen our heart-cores
Clearness Committees based on the Quaker tradition to hear our own inner wisdom while drawing on the wisdom of other people.
Facilitator Team: Holly Wilkinson, Rob Meyer & Ally Oswald. Holly is a certified Courage Facilitator with the Center for Courage & Renewal and has been facilitating Circles of Trust© since 2016. Rob became a facilitator through the Center for Courage and Renewal in 2016. He was a member of the Vermont Courage and Renewal Cohort for 4 years. Ally has been a member of the Vermont Cohort for over 10 years and is an apprentice facilitator. They each bring a commitment to Courage work and a deep appreciation for creative voice, equity agency, and diving deeply into learning edges to stand together with & for truth and compassion.
Dates: see registration form below
Cost: The full cost of participation in this ten month program is $1,500 to be paid in full or in monthly installments of $150. Upon acceptance into the cohort, an initial minimum payment of $300 will reserve your spot for the year.
Partial scholarships are available, please email Nate indicating the amount requested.
Graduate Education Credit is available through Castleton University. Please inquire with Holly: holly@wholeheartinc.org.