Wild Mirrors
An Invitation to Wild Mirrors: A Wilderness, Expressive Arts, & Poetry Retreat in SW Montana, May 28th - June 1st
Seemingly every day, these days, I am humbled by this central looming question:
What am I supposed to be doing right now?
Even the question is loaded with baggage - “supposed to” as defined by whom, exactly? And good old “doing.” Ah yes, doing, that most protestant work ethic of morals, emerging from the knot of tension I carry in my gut that starts to twist if I’m inactive just a bit too long. I dance with the dying paradigm in the way my mind still holds its conversation with life, and yet, the question remains.
We’re witnessing the exponential acceleration of collapse. In the foreground is the undoing of social, political, economic, and spiritual paradigms, while the climate crisis and it’s chaotic impacts unravel, it seems, in the background. Surely, my mind tells me, there is something I should do with all this urgency.
It is in these moments that I am reminded by something slower and wiser in myself to step outside, to breathe, to go on a walk or even better, to remember all the work I’ve put into cultivating faith in life and its mystery. What seems to be most true is that doing, when it is at its best, is sourced from being. And to connect with being, I must slow down, listen, and even, *gasps,* relax. It is from the place of deep listening that right action emerges and the work that is mine, that is ours, to do in this lifetime presents itself.
And so perhaps as you read, you’re relating. Maybe you, too, feel the urgency and the emergency of this moment and the social, moral, or self-sourced obligation to do something about it. And if you’ve read this far and subscribe to my work, you probably also know that place where wisdom comes from; have probably touched or danced with some being of the earth who teaches of the great everything-is-okayness, even in the face of destruction, and who points you towards the next right step.
So here’s an invitation:
One of the things I am consistently implored to do in my moments of deeply listening to the earth is to pair up with my friends and cultivate spaces for the same kind of slowing down, deep listening, and heart-forward expression that allows me to heal, connect, and locate the path I’m supposed to be walking in my life. One such offering is something we (me and my collaborators Amy Tuttle and Chris Berman) call Wild Mirrors, and this will be our third, and longest (5 days) iteration of it.
It’s hard to say exactly what Wild Mirrors is - the sales pitch is something like “a wilderness, expressive arts, and poetry retreat in the mountains of Southwest Montana.” And it is that - all of those things happen - but it’s so much more. There’s a unique magic that starts to open up when a group of people collectively agree to listen to the world as if it’s alive. Synchronicities, dreams, unexpected conversations, somatic experiences, impossible animal encounters, undeniable slips of the tongue, all start to emerge and converge, revealing the wild rivers of soul and meaning that live beneath the ego’s sense of control. In these spaces, what’s ready to be known and felt emerges and expresses, what’s ready to die, dies.
Some call it the “imaginal realm,” some call it “soul,” others “the holy ghost.” Modernity and mechanized consciousness have no clue that it exists, but that doesn’t mean it’s not still utterly vital, real, and present. The bottom line is that we can connect to this source of wisdom, that in fact we must connect to it, should we hope to find and give the best of ourselves in this poignant moment in time.
Wild Mirrors is a place for doing that; for being with the most vital questions stirring in your heart, for hearing and attending to the still, small voice within, and for allowing the parts of yourself that have felt too big, scary, weird, or broken to come up for air, explore their story, and be welcomed back into the embodied embrace of belonging. This dying culture is what it is because of all it has denied. Part of our work, now, gets to be composting that denial.
I’ll share some more of the details below, and if you’re interested to know more or sign up, please send an email to me at admin@kristopherdrummond.com
The abundance of this place,
the songs of its people and its birds,
will be health and wisdom and indwelling
light. This is no paradisal dream.
Its hardship is its possibility.
Wendell Berry
The Details:
This is a retreat for anyone feeling the call to community, creativity, and contemplation at this potent moment in history. Merging wilderness rites-of-passage, eco-depth psychology (dream work, imaginal explorations), embodiment/dance and writing, we will take these few days to connect to our bodies, each other, and the land to hear the voices of our own creative spirits. We strongly believe that art is a central component of personal and collective healing and transformation and that by offering our attention to our muses and the wider chorus of the earth, we can step beyond wounds and blockages to inhabit a larger, more alive sense of existence.
The actual dynamics of how this gathering will unfold are often determined by the group and the moment but this retreat will definitely include somatic/embodiment practices like Authentic Movement, dance, and meditation/yoga. Each day will also involve dream work, wandering on the land with contemplations/questions, lessons on poetry and writing, and a group sharing circle for witnessing and being witnessed.
In this gathering, we will:
Slow down into our bodies through somatic practices, contemplative practices on the land, and sacred talking circles
Hold gentle space for the grief and fear we’ve been carrying around the direction of society and the natural world
Explore poetry, writing and dance as mediums of listening, healing and truth telling
Work with dreams and learn how they connect us to our specific place and time and point us toward our own meaning and purpose
Explore the “imaginal realm” through the practices of wild wanders, art/collage, dreams, poetry, deep imagination journeys and more
Practice ceremony in community to claim your life and set intentions for what you really want
Have supported solitude in nature to move slow and listen to your own inner voice
Cultivate wholeness through being in co-regulated relationship with the natural world and human and other-than-human community
Cost & Other Details
We try very hard to keep this as accessible as possible. Accessibility is the point, and we’re not doing this to get rich. That said, it’s a big undertaking that requires us to take time off from our regular jobs, travel across the country, and engage countless hours of logistics in addition to guiding the retreat. So we are asking for and offering an exchange on a sliding scale basis of $600 - $950. If this is out of your budget but you really want to be there, reach out to me, admin@kristopherdrummond.com and we can talk about possible scholarship and work trade opportunities.
We’ll be starting in the early evening on Thursday, May 28th and ending late morning on Monday, June 1st.
That’s all for now, I hope to meet you in the mountains this spring.
Warmly,
Kristopher
Beautiful, Kristopher! We are such soul friends--your words, my words. Slowing down" and I love your title Wild Mirroring" practices. and in Montana! YES!