Letting You In on a 5-Month Conversation
6/14/22
Dear friend,
In January, after hosting a retreat day on the divine feminine that was open to guests who wanted to join us in the Light House community for the day, I had a conversation with a friend.
I was sharing with her how the day went—the beauty of it, what it was like to have guests join us for a retreat inside the community for the first time, and my wonderings about whether any of them would decide to join us in the community after their experience of it.
"I bet there are a lot of people who feel like they're a part of your community already," she said, "even if they aren't formal members of the Light House."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"People who follow your work," she said, "who like what you're about and feel connected to it, like they're a part of it already, but they aren't able to join a community at the moment."
She went on to suppose people in different life circumstances or desires who might be more inclined toward something more finite and contained—say, a 4-week series, or a 2-day workshop, or a 1-day retreat, or a 6-month group.
We got to talking about the vision for 5,000 women I've been stewarding with my work.
"What if those 5,000 women aren't just members of the Light House?" she asked. "What if they're all the people who connect with your work, in all different kinds of ways?"
Yes. What if?
I was surprised to notice this had never occurred to me before that moment.
***
Fast-forward three months, and I was sitting across a Zoom screen from a delightful woman who had just attended our April retreat day as a guest.
She posed that exact same scenario.
"You have a vision for 5,000 women," she said. "What if they're not all part of the central Light House community?"
We talked about how a lamp casts its light a farther distance than its base, where the lightbulb is. What if the 5,000 women were spread throughout a diffuse area of light, not just in one place?
What if, indeed.
***
Around that same time, I received an email from a wonderful woman who has attended several Light House–sponsored events that we've offered to people outside the community.
"I'm unable to commit to long-term involvement in a community," she said, "but I'm also deeply drawn to the way you frame your retreats and experiences. Know that I am grateful for your offerings."
***
About a month later, I shared an email conversation with a beautiful soul who had joined the Light House but found herself unable to make time for it, given her life circumstances.
"I'm very drawn to the community," she wrote, "and I'm very drawn to your words (your newsletters feel like they are written directly to me!), but I found I was not able to participate fully in so many of the offerings due to schedules and responsibilities in this particular time of life."
***
In my contemplative practice, I adhere to something my spiritual directors taught me, which is notice what you notice.
What I'm noticing is the steady drumbeat over several months of a unified statement: "I want to connect to this work, but an ongoing community isn't possible for me. Is there another way for me to be a part of this?"
The answer is yes. There is.
Or, at least, there will be.
I'm paying attention to what's being said—noticing what I'm noticing, and then responding. I've begun working on a broader "ecosystem" for this work of the Light House as a result.
My work centers on a vision that sees 5,000 women walking around in the world, confident in who they are and what they're being invited to contribute. My approach to this work invites you into spaces of personal reflection, ongoing discernment, and a deeply supportive experience of community.
My question for you is: Where do you need support in becoming the kind of woman described in this vision—confident in who you are and what you're being invited to contribute?
Do you need help with discernment?
Do you need help gathering courage?
Do you need support as you take steps forward?
Do you need friends for the journey?
I am building this broader ecosystem of my work for you. I care about you coming fully alive to your singular life and your invitations to live it.
How can I help?
Yours in contemplative light,
Christianne