Everything can begin with you. You are the foundation of any change that will happen in your society.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Dear Springhouse community,
The light is golden here in Floyd County. The leaves are beginning to fall, our full-time programs for youth, teens, and adults have started, and our online autumn meditations have begun. This change of season finds us engaged and grateful for many things, especially being part of an intergenerational learning community committed to waking up to ourselves, each other, and this world.
I am inspired by our mission of fundamentally transforming education and by how we stay committed to that mission no matter what. I am also deeply inspired by the following powerful principles that guide our learning, no matter the age:
Community is the crucible for learning.
To participate in the cultural renewal needed at this time,
we learn about ourselves, the world we live in, and what is possible when we align with life.
Learning is grounded and relevant when we participate in and serve our local community.
Learning how to stay connected to ourselves and our experiences is where we start. Some of the things we do to strengthen that connection are obvious, like mentoring or the personal practices we engage in like singing, yoga, wilderness retreats, meditation, and dance. Though less obvious, another way we strengthen the relationship we have with ourselves is by taking trips together. These trips not only strengthen the community – they also help us to better understand ourselves.
In the past, I have often begun my journeys with this blessing from the late Irish theologian and poet John O’Donohue. There is so much wisdom in this blessing about the potential of what travel can be when we bring intention to it. At Springhouse, we take great care in planning the trips we take. The purpose of taking our three week-long trips each year is to experience new places and people, strengthen our community, and to get to know who we are when we are further away from home and from what is familiar to us. Our trips are much more than an extended field trip – they are a journey that we hope strengthens all of us, including the families of our teens and the places that we travel to.
Springhouse has been taking trips almost since our founding. We have been many places including the Chincoteague Bay to learn about a different ecosystem; Washington D.C. to experience more of the political landscape in this country; walking from Floyd to Roanoke on the Blue Ridge Parkway to better know the Appalachian landscape and our local community; Wisconsin to visit a school started by teenagers; and Alabama to learn more about racial justice and the Civil Rights Movement. We just returned from our most recent trip to Philadelphia last week where we experienced many new things including being at the Museum of the American Revolution and the National Constitution Center on Constitution Day, taking a tour of the historic social justice murals in the Fair Hill neighborhood, experiencing an immersive art experience and large-scale screen printing project at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, being inspired by the Philly Magic Gardens, and experiencing the incredible botanical beauty of Longwood Gardens. Experiencing new places and meeting new people is part of the journey, but as I said, this is not actually the central purpose. Ultimately, trips are an opportunity to learn how to befriend ourselves more deeply while experiencing new things together.
John O’Donohue writes:
When you travel, you find yourself
Alone in a different way,
More attentive now
To the self you bring along,
Your more subtle eye watching
You abroad; and how what meets you
Touches that part of the heart
That lies low at home.
We can learn a lot about ourselves and each other when we choose to leave home. Travel is fun, and it can also be very vulnerable. I remember experiencing this vulnerability clearly on a trip I took as one of the counselors on the study abroad program Semester at Sea when we visited a Japanese bath in a small mountain town called Arima. As I let go of my husband’s hand and headed into the women’s section of the bath, I found myself feeling particularly vulnerable as I could not speak or read the language at all, and I had no idea what the rituals of a Japanese bath were. I put all of my things in the locker other than the brightly colored beach towel I had wrapped around me. As I walked toward the hot baths, the Japanese grandmothers all shook their heads and pointed at my towel, gesturing to me to put my towel back in the locker. Though I felt incredibly vulnerable, I decided to trust the situation, follow the direction of the grandmothers, and put my towel in the locker. At that moment, the grandmothers surrounded me on each side, linked arms with me, and showed me the many rituals of the Japanese bath, finally sinking our bodies into rust-colored hot water.
We did not speak the language of the other, but we spoke a deeper language I cannot explain. That day, I learned a lot about what happens in a Japanese bath, and I also learned about myself. I learned that I was way more willing to be helped than I thought. I learned that I was willing to be led, to be touched, and to laugh without understanding. As we approached the end of our time together in the steaming hot bath, I noticed my head was on the shoulder of the woman next to me and hers on mine, our shoulders and hips touching side by side. I was willing to let these women into my life in that one moment and that changed me.
From John O’Donohue again:
Every time you leave home,
Another road takes you
Into a world you were never in.
This applies to the world within us as much as it does to the world around us. Having a community that both supports us on our inner and outer journeys and provides a place to reflect on what we have experienced and learned is a blessing. These trips are so powerful that we are inviting adults to join us this year. If you are interested, check out our Sacred Learning Journeys. There are plenty of other opportunities to participate online and on campus at Springhouse. I hope to see you along the way.
Finally, everything we do has no financial barrier. We depend on the support of those who want Springhouse to be here – people who participate in what Springhouse offers and value it or those who are inspired to know that there is a place taking bold risks in cultural, educational, and economic design at a time when our world desperately needs it. Springhouse Partners are people willing to contribute monthly to support our annual budget – a budget where 80% of the dollars go to staff salaries. We are grateful to you for all of the ways you contribute to Springhouse. We simply could not do what we are doing without you.
With love and dedication,
Jenny
