Preparing for the Year Ahead

Chase Collegiate School Leadership met recently at Wisdom House to prepare for the school year ahead. Their retreat involved the team reviewing the past year's accomplishments and areas to grow, as well as setting team goals for 2015-2016.  The team focused on innovative programs and design thinking on the campus and Chase brand.

The Chase Mission statement is: 'We educate tomorrow's leaders and inspire in each student a life-long passion for learning, personal achievement, and contribution to the community.'

Find out more at www.chasecollegiate.org. 

Wisdom House

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Meet Dick and Jani

Author Julia Lee Barclay-Morton of New York City recently had the opportunity to be at Wisdom House to put the finishing touches on her work in progress, "The Amazing True Imaginary Autobiography of Dick and Jani."

Julia notes, "This is a book about my grandmothers, both born during WWI before women could vote. They were women of modest means but with outsized dreams. They cut two very different paths through the 20th Century. The book is a study in contrasts between the soul-crushing cost of Dick's conformity versus the price of Jani's flamboyant rebellion." 

You can follow Julia and the developments around Dick and Jani by going to her blog: http://julialeebarclay.blogspot.com.

Wisdom House

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Pamela Dayton on Her Wisdom House Experience

Singer and actor Pamela Dayton of New York City spent time at Wisdom House this summer to work on a one woman show she is developing. 

This was Pamela’s second time here doing an Artist retreat.

“Thanks so much for letting this 'city kid' escape to this little bit of paradise. It is like 'Creativity Camp' where my soul opens up and creativity comes flowing out!”

She continues, “Listening to the birds, enjoying the flowers, walking the labyrinth, and enjoying the great food and company made the whole experience renewing.”

Wisdom House

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Artist Residency

Lisa Blanchette, an art educator from Bow, New Hampshire, took time this summer to come to Wisdom House to experiment on some new techniques in her work.

She writes, "Wisdom House's pristine environment was conducive to creative work. The food and staff are amazing. I was grateful to have the space I needed and the opportunity to interact with other guests also here for an artist retreat time."

Wisdom House

www.wisdomhouse.org

Escaping Pain by Seeking Pleasure

"We continually try to get away from pain by seeking pleasure, and in doing so, we just keep going around and around. I'm so hot I open all the windows, and then I'm so cold I put on a sweater. Then it itches, so I put cream on my arms, and then that's sticky, so I go take a bath, and on and on. 

We are always trying to get out of the boiling pot into some kind of coolness, always trying to escape and therefore never really fully settling down and appreciating.

That's called 'samsara.' In other words, we're always working in that framework of trying to get comfortable through political beliefs and philosophies and religions and everything, trying to gain pleasure in all that occurs."

  

Pema Chodron, "The Wisdom of No Escape," p. 75

Student Writer

Michael Ciervo of  Hartford, CT recently took advantage of the Wisdom House Writers Fellowship to spend a weekend at Wisdom House working on some short stories and poetry he has in progress. Mike is a student at Central Connecticut State University. 

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving through the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Fund makes it possible for Wisdom House to offer this opportunity to college students who could not normally be able to pay for this writers residency experience. CCSU is one of several colleges which recommend students to us for this experience.

Wisdom House

www.wisdomhouse.org