Rooted

"All his life has he looked away, to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was, hmm. What he was doing. Hmm?"

Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Yoda was talking about Luke Skywalker, but in my experience, his statement could apply to most of us.

We spend the majority of our waking life with our attention not focused on where we are, or what we're doing, but thinking about what we're doing next, or what we'd rather be doing instead, or the people or places we'd rather be around than the ones we're actually with right now.

That tendency robs us of so much.

So much knowledge and experience.

So much wonder and joy.

So much feeling. So much love.

So much capacity and efficacy in our work for a more just world.

We miss out on all of that, because we are not present.

This programme will help you to change that.

"Stand in the place where you are"

REM, feat. The B-52s

Present is for you if you want to:

• become present and alive to what is here and now, in yourself and in your locality
• explore the stories that weave between yourself and your environment
• deepen your understanding of your relationship with and responsibility to place, environment, and nature

Through this programme, you will:

• learn tools to become present in and to your being and body, your thoughts and feelings, your spirit and essence
• explore and research the place where you live, through ancient and contemporary histories, stories of real people and places, local legends and myths
• choose one local story that resonates with you, and immerse yourself in it
• look at what you discover through spiritual, natural, economic, social, and political lenses
• come to know both your place and yourself in greater depth and dimension
• make commitments to your self and to your connection with place and people.

My hope is that you will leave this course with:

• new resources of presence
• renewed access to your own knowledge, experience, feeling, capacity, and efficacy
• tools for connection with place
• knowledge of yourself and your location
• deeper understanding of your relationship with and responsibility towards your place and environment, and the people in it.

Present takes place from 24th April to 24th June, 2022.

We highly recommend you take Working With Story before joining Present.

There will be weekly live calls via Zoom, with AI closed captioning. Recordings and transcripts will be available to course participants. Weekly assignments will be suggested between calls to deepen experiential learning. Communication between calls will take place in a dedicated online space, provided via Slack.

Present is offered on a sliding scale, as follows:

• Access rate: £300 / 5 payments of £60
• Support rate: £450 / 5 payments of £90
• Equity rate: £600 / 5 payments of £120
• Justice rate: £750 / 5 payments of £150

To find out where you might place yourself on this sliding scale, I've created a simple survey which you can complete here.

There are will also be one place available for work exchange, and one place at no charge to a BIPOC/BAME, trans/queer and/or disabled/chronically ill person in financial need.

Awesome! Enrolment doesn't start until March 2022, but you can sign up below to be notified in advance and get first chance to join.