2011 Season kick-off!

Agios Ioannis

The workshop season has now officially kicked off here at Kalikalos and was welcomed in with a laughter-filled week of Bowen therapy and Holistic leadership which concluded last thursday with some fond farewells from new-found friends. After two weeks of living and working together some strong and lasting bonds were made and will no doubt continue to be made throughout the summer months.

We now have a new group who are getting to know themselves through art and who are creating some masterpieces with found objects from our blooming and vibrant garden. I cannot think a muse could fail to be inspired by the masses of roses and hydrangeas, not to mention our breathtaking view of the mountains!

There's never a dull day here at the Centre and besides the sheer bliss of basking in the sunshine and dipping into the clear blue Aegean sea each day, we have already enjoyed a most magical full moon women's circle on the night of the lunar eclipse, been treated to some dramatic thunderstorms, spontaneous outbreaks of music and dancing and some truly delicious food!

I, myself am a member of the voluntary staff team, mid-way through a month's stay here. It's been a fascinating learning process to live in this community with such a diverse array of people, all working towards achieving the same goal.

It's taken me a while to adapt to this way of living and I've had my ups and downs, in turns wanting to run away back 'home' to my solitude and the safety of the 'known', and then feeling I could stay forever! A sense of equilibrium has started to return to me now and I'm definitely relaxing and opening up to the experience more and more.

For me, the 'work' we do does not feel like work. As staff members we volunteer our time because we want to and because we gain great satisfaction from doing so. Our rewards are direct...the abundant garden, food, meaningful human interactions. It is so far removed from what most of us typically experience as 'work', feeling obliged to sacrifice huge amounts of time to activities that do not satisfy or nurture us in order to acquire our basic material needs, often in hierarchical institutions where our needs and our desires are not heard and often willfully ignored.

As a Permaculture student, I can particularly see the ethic of People Care in action here, which is inherently interconnected with Earth Care and Fair Shares; the very foundation of Permaculture living.

It is so exciting to be in a place like this at a time like now! Ho!

Sarah Clifton

Full Moon