Hopework-l Mailing List: FW: Visioning Council Oct 27-29, 2006

[Lynn Englund (lynn]

Forwarded from Jan Hively.

------ Forwarded Message
From: <hivel001 [at] umn.edu>
Date: 20 Sep 2006 08:55:30 -0500

Subject: Visioning Council

Hello!!

I'm still hanging out on Cape Cod -- until October 1. I love it here,
especially the sunshine glittering on the ocean.

Could you send the attached notice as the body of an e-mail to people in
the folkschool group? or to those in the group or around the state who you
think might be interested? [See information below. -Lynn]

The Second Journey group organizing the Visioning Council will be
organizing a council in Denmark next fall (2007). I'm thinking about
joining them there and connecting discussion about co-housing communities
with discussion about variations of folkschools. Who might have contact
information for people involved with these movements in Denmark?

Best regards,
Jan

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News Release

For Immediate Release
September 1, 2006
 
For further information, contact Joelyn Malone at (952) 926-8554
jmalone [at] SecondJourney.us

Southern Minnesota is venue for October 27-29 program
Midwestern Council explores aging, community

Aging in community? what does it feel like? What does it look like? Can we
create the conditions that support community anywhere; and if so, how? This
seventh in Second Journey¹s series of regional VISIONING COUNCILS on
Creating Community in Later Life, scheduled for October 27-29, invites
participants to thoughtfully explore these and other questions related to
how we live and grow together during the second half of life.

What is a Visioning Council?

³You don¹t act normal for your age,² Garnett Walker tells Nannie Rawley, in
Barbara Kingsolver¹s novel, Prodigal Summer.

She counters: ³There isn¹t any normal way to act seventy-five years old? Up
till just lately, people were supposed to be dead and buried at our age.²

What is the ³normal way to act² our age when at retirement, typically, we
can look forward to another 30 ? even 40 ? years of life? How do we spend
these bonus years ? a life dividend our great-grandparents could not have
imagined? 

A Visioning Council invites participants to explore the social,
psychological, and spiritual aspects of aging and to see their own aging as
an opportunity to open new avenues for individual growth and spiritual
deepening ? so that their longer lives become more meaningful lives. It also
explores the challenge of creating new models of community in an age when
traditional primary communities ? the small town, the extended family, and
faith communities ? have lost their relevance for many.
 
The Council recognizes that the wisdom we seek is within the circle ? in the
wealth of life experience that each participant brings to the gathering. The
diversity within the group sparks new ideas, new partnerships committed to
specific projects, and new friendships.

Participants always leave with a great sense of collaboration, connection,
community, and a passion that returns them to spirited work in the world.
They leave with their own personal answer to life-changing question posed by
the poet Mary Oliver:  ³Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one
wild and precious life?²

Who should attend? 

architects, developers and smart-growth advocates committed to sustainable
design, new ³neighborhoods² with a sense of place, and revitalized urban
space; educators, activists and healing arts professionals associated with a
variety of teaching/ learning centers; and practitioners creating community
around new models of aging, spiritual deepening and care at the end of life;
conscious aging advocates, social entrepreneurs and other cultural
creatives; writers and visionaries; and passionate elders.

Costs and how to register
 
The Midwestern Visioning Council will be held October 27-29 at the Mount
Olivet Conference and Retreat Center in southern Minnesota. Attendance will
be capped at 36 participants. A special discount registration period will
extend through September 22 as we confirm there is sufficient interest to
conduct the program.

The cost for those registering on or before September 22 is $365; this
includes $200 to cover program expenses and $165 for 2-nights lodging and
meals (double occupancy/6 meals). The surcharge for a single room is $40;
the charge for meals only is $98. The registration fee will increase from
$200 to $275 after September 22. Full refunds will be given to those taking
advantage of the discount registration period, if their written request is
received on or before September 22.

Second Journey, a nonprofit organization based in Chapel Hill, NC, has
conducted Visioning Councils across the country pursuant to its mission of
³creating a new vision of aging, new models of community for the second half
of life, and a just and sustainable world now and for future generations.²

TO REGISTER ONLINE or for further information, visit the Second Journey
website at www.secondjourney.org/MW_register or contact Joelyn Malone by
phone, at (952) 926-8554 by e-mail, at jmalone [at] SecondJourney.us

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