Chapter 1 - Getting Started
There is a central quality which is the root criterion of life and spirit in a [person], a town, a building or a wilderness... The search we make for this quality, in our own lives, is the central search of any person, and the crux of any individual person's story. It is the search for those moments and situations when we are most alive. — Christopher Alexander
When Black Elk, a Lakota tribal leader, looked back as an elder on the "happiness and sorrow" of his dramatic life, he referred to his view as from "this high hill of my old age." This program is an opportunity to reflect on our life's journey from atop such a high hill, survey the distances of our lives from every direction, and craft an Odyssey that we might share what we have experienced.
Each life is special and interesting. Each of us, if we so choose, might mine the history our life, rediscovering the story of our personal journey in order to better learn what life has to teach us. This resource provides a process for exploring and writing your life's journey, your Odyssey. It provides a guide for two facilitated weekend retreats for a group of six to ten people, one before the Odyssey-writing begins and the other for Odyssey preparation. It also provides a participant handbook—a guide for collecting memories, selecting what is important, writing and presenting an Odyssey, and reflecting after the presentation. It offers suggestions for congregational recognition and for continued engagement with those who wish to examine the far reaches of a lifetime, and in so doing, find more of its meaning.
- Goals
- Getting Started
- Participants
- Facilitators
- Publicizing the Program and Forming a Group
- Finding a Location
- Supplies
- Registration Confirmation Information
This work is made possible by the generosity of individual donors and congregations. Please consider making a donation today.
Last updated on Saturday, December 10, 2011.
Section Navigation
- BTWWDAYA
- Ethics
- Resistance and Transformation
- Faith like a River
- Building the World We Dream About
- The New UU
- Moves Us
- Harvest the Power
- Principled Commitment
- Spirit of Life Revised
- Spirit in Practice
- From The High Hill
- About the Author(s)
- Preface
- Chapter 1 - Getting Started
- Chapter 2 - First Two Day Retreat: A Guide for Facilitators
- Chapter 3 - Odyssey Writing: A Guide for Participants
- Chapter 4 - Second Two-Day Retreat: A Guide for Facilitators
- Chapter 5 - Congregational Service of Recognition
- Chapter 6 - Glimpses of Stories from the First High Hill Group
- Chapter 7 - Resources
- Bibliography
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