If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been hiding, I have been in France for the past three weeks. I was with my sister and her family touring the south of France near Marseille for about 10 days, and then I was in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in the French Alps for the First Annual Inquiry Circle Retreat.
Both were amazing adventures. My partner and I loved playing with our nephews and hanging out with my sister and her husband in the south of France. We saw ancient Roman ruins including the famous Pont-du-Gard aqueduct and cute Medieval towns including Les Baux-de-Provence, and Salon-de-Provence where Nostradamus’ house can be found.
We even ventured to Monaco and had drinks in the Casino Royale like movie stars. One highlight for me was visiting the insane asylum that Van Gogh voluntarily checked into. We saw his room, and the views of irises, lavender, and sunflowers that he painted. What a gift he has given us all through his art!
I have no words to express the profound experience I had being together with other members of Inquiry Circle, my online practice group for doing The Work. Some of us had been doing The Work together on a daily basis in Inquiry Circle for five or six years but had never met in person.
As one participant put it, we went from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. As we got to know each other, we came to love each other and to love being with each other. And in that safe space, we did such deep work. Often we wrote worksheets on each other, with the courage to show our most vulnerable sides.
I come away with a very open heart and even more excitement to continue my daily work in Inquiry Circle online. I really love that Inquiry Circle is a course that doesn’t end. And now each year we will meet together in person too as a bonus to what we already do online.
Only active members of Inquiry Circle can come to the Inquiry Circle Annual Retreat. The prerequisite for joining Inquiry Circle is to take The Work 101. There are several courses of The Work 101 coming up: the nine-week courses start on Sep 9 and Jan 13, and the nine-month version of the course starts on Oct 6.
If you want to make The Work a steady practice in your life, Inquiry Circle is what I can offer you. it works very well for me, and I’d love to have you join us both online and in person.
I’ll also be offering a course called Dealing with Grief in Austria Sep 20-27, 2019. I’d love to meet you there as well to start questioning the stressful stories that keep you from experiencing peace. You don’t need to be a member of Inquiry Circle to attend this course. it is open to all.
Have a great week,
Todd
“Yielding or surrendering to the way of it is easy once your mind is clear. What people call surrender is actually a noticing. You notice that everything is continually disappearing, and you celebrate it as it goes back to where it came from: non-existence, the uncreated.” Byron Katie, A Thousand Names for Joy
Further reading: What is Meant by a Practice? And What Are Its Advantages?
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