The Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College is dedicated to furthering community healing and resilience - a goal that continues to be realized through its convening of the Creating a Resilient Community (CRC) Network. This movement has grown to include over 400 local community members. After the group's most recent annual conference in April, PJI has intentionally continued furthering this work both in the community and at its home institution, Valencia College.
PJI believes that promoting the wellness of our college’s workforce builds a resilient community. To support that work, PJI hosted 20 individuals at Lake Lily for the Radical Compassion: Healing the Body, Mind, & Heart full-day summer retreat on Saturday, June 4th, 2022. Most of the participants were Valencia employees with a few community members. In essence, this work is first personal, deepening our connection with ourselves and building our own inner resilience and self-compassion, so that we are better able to connect with and show up for other community members to strengthen our collective resilience.
In these times of stress, discomfort, uncertainty, and division, the retreat allowed participants to slow down, engage in reflective practices, explore the PJI Principles, and practice the art of asking open and honest questions as a means of knowing oneself and others. This time of renewal and reflection drew on the works of Tara Brach and Parker Palmer, and was facilitated by Celine Kavalec and Jason Mills, both trained through the Center for Renewal and Wholeness in Higher Education.
The day began with coffee and discussion. Participants then had the opportunity to engage in mediation exercises, reflect on poetry and guided questions, journal, and share intimate stories in both small and large groups. All the while participants were immersed in nature and reflected on the power of the day.
Deb Hall, Ed.D., M.S.E.E., from Valencia’s Energy Management and Controls Technology Department reflected about her retreat experience:
“My experience at the recent PJI summer retreat was magical. Perhaps you find it a bit bizarre to learn that an engineering technology professor could find any professional development experience at the college to be "magical", but I assure you that it was indeed just that. The PJI summer retreat's curriculum was centered around a book called "Radical Compassion". From the book's title, you might already be clued into how this professional development learning experience rapidly transformed itself into a unique learning environment unlike anything I've ever experienced at the college in my nearly 22-year journey thus far. Our learning environment took us on an adventure into the phenomenal power of listening. Our pre-retreat book reading assignments introduced us to an interesting acronym called RAIN (Recognize-Allow-Investigate-Nurture) which is a tool to assist in awakening mindfulness and compassion. During the retreat, we learned more about RAIN, read aloud and discussed poetry that further illustrated this concept, and put RAIN into practice with different smaller groups that were formed outside of our larger "sacred circle" and would change with each new activity. This allowed us to meet with, listen to, learn from, and become changed by more of the retreat's participants. We wrapped up our retreat by creating art inspired by what we had learned. The concept of RAIN was brought even more to life by the fact that our sacred circle was held in a brightly lit room with big windows facing a lake and beautiful, lush, older trees all being bathed in a continuous cycle of rain showers and sun showers throughout the entire day-long retreat. I felt like that continuous cycle was occurring internally for each of the retreat's participants as well where we would practice RAIN and then sun showers containing bits of wisdom and enlightenment would pour over each of us. Before the retreat, I was already familiar with David Augsburger's powerful quote: “Being heard is so close to being loved that for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” I feel that this PJI summer retreat has breathed new life into that quote for me so that I am able to appreciate the power of listening in a completely different, more nuanced type of light.”
Another participant--April Montallana, administrative assistant with the Valencia College Dental Hygiene program--also shared her experience:
“I had a wonderful experience at the Summer PJI Retreat. This was my third time attending a PJI retreat and my second one in person. The retreat gave me a chance to intentionally slow down, self-reflect, and connect with others. This retreat moved my soul and I left the retreat feeling “lighter” and my spirit nourished. I am so grateful that the facilitators and the attendees created a safe and sacred space. Hearing stories and experiences from my peers made me feel more connected and less alone. It was nice to empathize with others who are also coping with the tragedies and conflicts that are currently happening in our world. The reading materials that PJI provided for this retreat also deepened the experience and widened my perspective. I am looking forward to the next retreat!”
The retreat overall provided a much needed space for self reflection, healing, and connection with others.
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