Creative Family Experience Week II

Last night at our fireside sharing, reflecting on our last week together I realized that Pelion and Kalikalos have truly become my summer home. My three children feel the same way, and this year--my fifth here--I also had the pleasure of brother Adam joining us from Krakow. Adam brought his incandescent colleague and friend Olga who was so impressed that she hopes to return next summer with a group, as do many other of the mothers and fathers of this family experience week.


I had the sense of winning the workshop lottery this week, as our participants brought us their skills, talents and amazing beauty in fascinating sessions they themselves led. They brought us enriching insights into the worlds of transactional analysis, empathic listening,  restorative justice and radical honesty. This summer I became a true “focaliser”: able to step back, simply focus the energies of this creative group, and let my participants run the week.

Mind you, this week wasn’t all food for the mind. We experienced the catharsis of a Laughter Yoga session led by Priya, which created such commotion that Dimitri, our octogenarian Greek neighbor, could not resist coming to see what was going on. Once here, and despite not speaking a word of English, Dimitri sat down and soon found himself caught up in our infectious laughter! Such spontaneous connections increase our public profile in Kissos village where from the first year here, Kalikalos has been a source of imaginative gossip.


Our family weeks experienced the delights of a soothing body massage session with oils infused with herbs from the garden, which left us blessed out. Thank you Caroline!


More art, songs, dances and games punctuated our week, culminating in a hilarious Cabaret show on Wednesday night. Our talented group produced skits satirizing the week’s events alternated with variety acts leading up to a raucous sing-along disco, ‘Mama Mia!’ style. Our teenagers sang energetically to Katy Perry’s latest hits as the younger children (and the adults!) looked on in fascination.

Special thanks to Yakiz from Athens who brought his 22 yr old daughter Vasia for a week to experience community and care for the under-six year olds.


My co-facilitator Emil’s wisdom, wit and patience was evident throughout the fortnight, and reached a pinacle in his production of our participatory family video, screened in our last evening. The video, which captures memories of  the whole fortnight, provoked peals of laughter as we were all caught on camera. Emile’s video will provide us with a lasting record of the 2011 Kalikalos Family Experience weeks.  Any of you reading this post who want to get a taste of Kalikalos can see Emile's video on youTube very soon.


I feel nourished, blessed, rested and ready for the long journey home!


Dorota Owen, Forres, Scotland