My Kalikalos Experience

Hello, welcome to my blog. My name is Enid and I've been at Kalikalos for 3 months so I thought it was about time I put my fingers on the keyboard and told you something about my experience here!

I arrived on 12 June to participate on a workshop of non-violent communication with Maria Arpa. The workshop was interesting and I felt it would give me extra insight for my work as a life coach.

The centre was expecting a big group of people to arrive for a permaculture workshop and I volunteered to stay for the weekend to help out. Little did I know I would be spending most of my summer in Kalikalos as a member of staff! I very quickly became engaged with what was happening here and felt I was accepted as part of the project. Over the weeks we have had many interesting workshops and the participants have brought their own special energy. We've also had many living-in community guests who have come for one or two weeks and participated by contributing with their own particular skills.

I've also had opportunity to attend various workshops that have taken place. I attended a couple of sessions with Annabel Aguirre on her Art from Within week - I found working with the paints inspiring and talking through the results, which was guided by Annabel, revealing. Mark Taplin's week of Experiencing Pelion gave me the chance to see more of this amazingly beautiful area as well as learning some of its history. I also attended a day with Victoria on her Creative Works for Health and Wellbeing workshop. We went out for the day to Zagora with pen and paper in hand so we could find a space to be alone and write on a particular theme. The exercise was emotional and meaningful but as our next stop was the beach Victoria guided us back to a balanced state. Each session gave me a deeper understanding of myself and what I need to create the life I want.

However, it hasn't all been plain sailing! I guess whenever you get a group of different people together there will be certain frustrations, irritations and downright anger. We acknowledged these situations and did what we could to work through them. As a person who likes harmony I had difficulty when something wasn't quite right, but, I've learned to accept that this is just the way it is.

I've made some strong connections with some of the people who have passed through our beautiful home in Kissos. I hope they continue to be a part of my life for many years to come.

So, here I am preparing to leave Kalikalos feeling a mixture of emotions for what has gone and what is to come .....

Enid Pinder, London, UK