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I wanted to share some pictures from an event which I helped to plan a couple weeks ago. Actually I was on the planning committee for the larger Community Retreat of which the event was part. Mt. Madonna is a conference center, so we work to provide a retreat space for guests and for the visitors who come to the temple and grounds. Community Retreats are a newer thing (this was the 4th) but they are a time for the residents to reflect and spend time together. This time, the retreat schedule included a workshop with a trainer from the Center for Nonviolent Communication; an art project where each person could create a panel of a giant prayer flag; a community work day; a group dialogue session focused on mission/vision and the future of the community, with input from our resident teacher and with a few readings of original documents regarding "community" from around the time of the Center's founding; a partner yoga class taught by the new resident yoga teachers; and a ritual yagna.The whole retreat was a big success, but for my part, I wanted to do a dress-up dinner that was catered since we NEVER get catering and we almost NEVER dress up! The idea was a
re-TREAT...I mean the thing is called a retreat, but so often it means more work, and what I wanted was a celebration of sorts. So, I got a budget and I organized a full-on Thai feast, preceded by a half-hour of mocktails and jazz piano. Yum and fun! It was a lot of planning but I had a lot of help on the actual day, which is good because we had just one hour to totally reorganize and decorate the main room! We hauled in and screwed together a bunch of tables and decorated them and then, after everyone ate, we turned the chairs toward the stage for a showcase of talent from the community, like a fancy supper club. The talent portion (which I didn't organize) was great because the people that usually perform did (there are SO MANY talented people here!), but some community members that had never expressed themselves until that night did too. There was singing, spoken word, skits, a comedy game, all kinds of stuff. It was so sweet, it came 
toward the end of the retreat, and people were buzzing for days after! As one of my friends put it so well, the retreat was like a renewal of vows between a couple that had been together for 30yrs (the age of the community). If the retreat was the renewal, to me the dinner night was like a community-sized date between people that know each other well, with a deep understanding, but who get a fresh look, an intimate new perspective on this person they have loved so deeply...like the feeling you get when you look over and realize how amazing and handsome your partner is all over again, and all dressed up just to spend time with you. And how special and grateful that makes you feel...The whole community retreat thing is right up my alley--I love the self-reflection as a group and the open dialogue process and deepening relationships with the people around me. But I also loved the opportunity to organize the dinner event because in it, I could sense a little of the energy I love from the House music scene, that special jolt when you know the night is going off and everyone is sharing in the same commonality. So, that night, I felt like I got to bring a little of myself and my history and my love for festive social events--!woo hoo!--and offer it up to this
place as a gift, as my talent in a way. And I realized the funny thing about a talent is that it's just a gift! It's easy for the person who has it! It's no thing! It just wants to be expressed! And it seems to want to be expressed for the people you love so that you can feel like yourself in your fullest way around them. It felt refreshing to be able to offer it and not be attached to the idea of that role--or ability--or even talent, if I want to think of it that way--defining me. It was just one more thing being exchanged and shared that night, how cool...So, here is the link to the Slideshow for the full collection of photos.
