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We invite you to begin your personal journey toward discovering and creating your TRUE HEARTS DESIRE through one of our three retreats. Our daily on-line retreats our half day rejuvenation retreats or our Four day intensive Farm Retreats.
All retreats from Sister Support are based in the Four Seasons. Each area of our life is in one of four stages newness and growth/Spring, flourishing and expasion Summer, Harvest and rewards for hard work/Fall, Death, letting go and rest/Winter. Join us to explore these phases of relationships, career and life so that you can embrace change and become familiar with that soulful part of you which is reflected in all that surrounds you. Make a committment to your life and your heart, we'll provide the rest. |
 WINTER |
 SPRING |
 SUMMER |
 AUTUMN |
What nonsense!
Without death life is meaningless
It would be a harvest left to rot.
~RUMI~
When we explored Summer we suggested that we spend our first forty years creating an image which we confuse with who we are. As only RUMI can say; "The mother of all idols is the idol you call "Me". We then spend the next thirty to forty years in misery trying to maintain that image of self or we mature, soften and create a new authentic peaceful self. If we do our work to mature we get to reap the harvest of a good life
All things spring from the space of nothingness. Hence spring follows winter! What beautiful space nothingness is? It is the space to explore newness, it is the space to rest quietly, it is the space to go inside, much like the seed and sit patiently waiting for newness or continued life, to spring forth.
The day was ending earlier than I wanted it to. Khalehla and I still had to clean the stalls. We could hear the sound of the local marching band practicing in the distance. As the sun continued to set I could feel that familiar 'nip in the air'. The air is cool and pure on my face like the smell of fallen leaves, crisp and aged. I look around and take in the essence of nature's changing ways. All things change...always.
When we get to become an elder, one of wisdom, patients and honor we begin to understand that this world is a passing dream and that the only thing, which we leave behind, is the support and love, which we provide for others. You see its no longer "All about Me"; it's now all about the process of life. In modern western society the process of becoming an elder is seldom honored.
We will all die. It is the only thing in life that you can truly know for certain. We will all touch others for the way the creation was arranged is for us to be INTERDEPENDENT, not independent, and not dependent but interdependent.
Lets look at nature. All the elements of the universe had to work together perfectly for an apple in the garden to come to life. The seed had to rest deeply in the womb of the earth. The sun had to warm the earth to the perfect temperature while the sky provided both sunshine and rain for the seed to sprout. The earth then had to provide all of the necessary nutrients for the tree to grow. The caretaker of the tree had to ensure that bugs, locust, and other pests did not destroy the tree or the fruit while it was growing and ripening until finally your hand reached up to release the perfectly ripened fruit to your waiting lips for sweetness and nourishment. Your body then took that nourishment and made perfect new living cells and bio-chemicals to support you through another two hours of your physical life on earth.
Are you getting the sacredness of the orchestration of life yet? Do you see the perfection and interdependence to make an apple? Do you really think that you are less important on Gods radar than a simple piece of fruit. Do you get that he made that beautiful juicy apple just for you? These are your harvest years. This is where you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Then one day God will reach up with his ever-present hand and release you perfectly ripened to his waiting lips for a kiss and the ultimate union with the divine.
Frank Sinatra sand it so poignantly in 'It was a very good year':
But now the days are short,
I'm in the autumn of the year,
And now I think of my life as
Vintage wine from the old kegs,
From the brim to the dregs
It poured sweet and clear;
It was a very good year!
We must face our mortality to fully embrace and appreciate our life. Again it is part of the universal set up. We live in a world of duality. We cannot fully appreciate on thing without knowing its opposite. The autumn of our life allows us the process of looking back and based on our experience determine what is important for us now. If we are truly exploring life and experiencing life than we know how dynamic it is. Things change and yet somehow remain the same. We must find peace in the contradictions; we must find our balance in the duality. Life gives us storms. No one leaves this earth unscathed. I once read; Sometimes God quiets the storm and sometimes God quiets his child.
As we explore the autumn we explore the difference between our youthful body and our mature body, we explore the difference in our youthful mind and our mature mind, we explore our contribution to the world as a youth and the possibilities of our contributions of our life as adults. The frenetic activity of raising children can now be replace by the contemplative motion of gardening.
Also realize that with all seasons they can be lived out in a day in a year or in a lifetime. The fall of the day is the evening, when things slow down and you get to relax in the quietness of the day. The fall of the year holds the seasonal changes of harvest and brilliantly colored leaves. The fall of our lives is the recreation of our selves as the elders. To explore your experience of autumn in any of these phases join us at our Four Seasonal Friendship Gatherings or begin your internal work on line in our member’s section.
For additional support woman can join us at Sistersupport.com, a gathering place for woman choosing to live their live consciously.
Love
Kathleen A Hartford
PS As I am reviewing this I am with my daughter at swim team practice. As I look up I see Alison. I’ve known Alison all of my life she is now in her seventies and acts as an assistant coach for the young swimmers on the team. I smile because as I look up Allison’s shocking pink lycra Speedo catches my eye. It is the only shocking pink suit in the pool. I think ‘sweet’ I hope I’m still wearing shocking pink in my seventies. I feel an urge to acknowledge her. I did she laughed and punched me…that’s Allison
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