Aging as a Spiritual Journey
This Workshop is Now Full.
Aging is a new frontier for many of us and can be fraught with confusion, uncertainty, anxiety, and loss, yet paradoxically, growing older can also be a time of great awakening, empowerment, and enjoyment. Aging is inevitable but how we choose to age is a decision we can make.
Aging can also be a spiritual practice that allows us to recognize the fact that “everything changes” but those transformations can bring new beginnings, appreciation, and gratitude. When we recognize the importance of our inner lives and connect it to our outer lives, we begin to connect role and soul. Such conscious and intentional eldering allows us to discover our potential for fulfillment, growth, and service.
This half day retreat will explore the life journey, beginning the “inner work of age” early in our lives as we connect role and soul on the voyage to wholeness and purposeful eldering. Together we will create a safe space and cultivate the support found in the community of others as we delve into the work that only we can do but cannot do alone.
In our time together we will explore the journey toward elderhood and notice the steppingstones in our lives. We will have time to journal, walk and talk with others, enjoy poetry, music and other “third things” that guide our work in solitude and in community thus allowing us to chart the course we choose to create as we age with clear intention, purpose and meaning.
Refreshments will be available, and participants will receive a complimentary copy of The Eldergarten: A field Guide for the Journey of a Lifetime by Sally Z. Hare.
workshop details:
May 18, 2024 from 9am - 1pm
Fee: $10 to register. Additional donations are welcome.
Location: Lancaster Community Library
16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock, VA 22482
This workshop is 4 hours. Snacks will be provided.
Participants should bring a journal.
ABOUT THE FACILITATORs
Claire J. Salkowski is the Principal Consultant for C. J. Consulting and Services, an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) practitioner and a Montessori educator having worked as a school founder, teacher, administrator, accreditation specialist, teacher trainer, professional mediator and retreat facilitator both nationally and internationally for over 40 years.
She was also the Director of the Montessori Education Program at Delaware State University and Mediation and Educational Programs at the North Baltimore Center of Mosaic Community Services and continues serving with several Montessori and other organizations. She completed training for facilitation of Circles of Trust with the Center for Renewal and Wholeness and has led retreats and peacemaking circles for over ten years.
Claire’s passion for peace education, conflict resolution and lifelong learning has informed her work and writing throughout her career and her belief in the importance of personal growth and spiritual development leads her to work with others in this next stage in life.
Sue E. Small, Ed.D. Sue Small is a lifelong learner who believes in a holistic and developmental approach over the lifetime. She is walking the path to combine soul and role as a facilitator for retreats and gatherings of those seeking their own lifespan development and peace of mind.
Dr. Small’s most recent transition is from a long career as a teacher and administrator in the public schools and at the university to new beginnings as a learner and facilitator of the Center for Renewal and Wholeness (CRW). Sue is Clinical Associate Professor Emerita at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and an Associate of the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution where she was trained as a mediator.
Currently, Sue is co-facilitating with others to offer retreats and programs focused on self-care for leaders, racial justice awareness, and peacemaking circles.