Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Writing Into Winter

with Christine Valters Paintner

Hosted by St. Placid Priory

Saturday, January 21, 2023

9am-12pm Pacific

12-3pm Eastern

5-8pm Ireland/UK time

Program Description

Join us after the winter solstice and in the new year to explore the gifts of winter in this Zoom mini-retreat session where we will explore writing in alignment with the turning of the seasons. The equinoxes, solstices, and Celtic cross-quarter days are all threshold moments and portals to a new season of life. We are invited to listen to the new invitations being offered by the earth’s turning.

Winter is a time of hibernating, dreaming, incubating, and yielding to the mystery of things. It is a time to slow way down and trust in the seeds deep beneath the surface. It is a season of profound rest so we can be renewed for what is to come. This fallow time is an essential part of the creative process and we will explore what winter is inviting each of us to consider more deeply.

Christine will guide you through different intuitive exercises to help you access writing as a process of discovery and honoring of your inner wisdom. In this way we can approach our writing practice in an organic way, not “forcing or holding back” as the poet Rilke once wrote but allowing what wants to emerge in the moment. She will share many examples of poems that explore winter themes as inspiration for our own writing. Along the way we will discover how our intuition and dreams might reveal a new way into creative practice that has less to do with goal-setting and visioning and more about allowing the unfolding within us and receiving the gifts that arrive.

We will engage in both free writing and poetry writing and all are welcome regardless of level of experience or preferred genre. This is a generative workshop, we are not here to edit our work, but to show up for the Creative Source when we slow down and listen to what is erupting in the silence. You will be invited to set aside your planning mind and enter into the playfulness of the creative heart, letting your writing guide you on a journey of discovery.

In addition to the writing exercises Christine will guide us in the contemplative practice of lectio divina, silence, reading of poems, song, gentle movement invitations to shift your energy and focus, and an optional chance to share a piece your writing in small groups in a contemplative and structured way as well as a few invitations to read aloud to all gathered if you feel inspired (always optional).  These contemplative and creative practices help to stir the soul’s imagery and open us to be surprised by the holy movements within.

The retreat will be recorded for those who register.

Your Guide for the Journey

christine-john-abbey-of-the-arts-025a.jpg

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE​

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess for Abbey of the Arts, a virtual monastery and global community integrating contemplative practice and creative expression. Her programs draw on the wisdom of the desert, Celtic, and Benedictine spiritual traditions as well as the joy of the expressive arts, embodied practice, and Earth-cherishing wisdom. Christine is the author of numerous books on spirituality and creativity, including three collections of poetry. She lives on the west coast of Ireland with her husband John and dog Sourney. Find out more about her here.

Registration

This retreat is hosted by St. Placid Priory. They handle all registration and communication. If you have questions or are in need of financial assistance please contact the priory directly. spiritualityctr@stplacid.org

All prices displayed in USD.

$60

Regular fee

If you need a different payment plan or a greater scholarship to make this program accessible, please get in touch St. Placid Priory at spiritualityctr@stplacid.org

Terms and Conditions

Please consider your purchase carefully and review the many free materials we have on our website to make sure the program will be a good fit or get in touch with any questions.

We ask that you honor our work by not sharing the program materials with others who are not enrolled.

Please contact us for permission to quote in settings beyond the program

These videos are made available to registered participants and may also be included in future versions of the program including self-study. If you choose to speak during a recorded gathering, you are giving us your consent to record that contribution. If you prefer not to be seen or heard, you can of course switch off or mute your camera or microphone at any time. Chat sessions are recorded and posted as well. Participation in the chat function is also giving consent to their recording. Breakout groups are never recorded.

If you choose a payment plan and stop payment before fulfilling the commitment without contacting us to make other arrangements, your access to the program will be removed.