{"id":726,"date":"2016-06-06T11:11:55","date_gmt":"2016-06-06T15:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/?p=726"},"modified":"2016-06-06T09:09:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-06T13:09:25","slug":"omega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/?p=726","title":{"rendered":"Omega"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"sanctuary\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When a deep tragedy hits, coupled with trauma, time freezes.\u00a0 At times, it feels impossible to think of the next day, not to mention week or month.\u00a0 I recall noticing how in mid-November, I was finally able to start thinking of plans for Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It was actually remarkable to me.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_2873\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This has been a new rhythm of life for Mathew and me in particular.\u00a0 We have always been, \u201cever the planners\u201d, with vacations lined up (often including reservations), over a year in advance.\u00a0 But life has taken a very different pace of late.\u00a0 Plans are often suggested with a caveat of \u201cwe may change our minds\u201d.\u00a0 We never make reservations without a lenient cancellation policy.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_2881\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In January, I applied for a grant on behalf of the Maya Gold Foundation.\u00a0 Each year the Omega Institute of Holistic Studies offers an opportunity in which they gift nonprofits to take retreat on their magical grounds.\u00a0 It\u2019s called, \u201cService Week\u201d, and if awarded, the Board of Directors, staff, volunteers and other stakeholders from nonprofits have a chance to be with one another in a different way than the typical day to day of running an organization.\u00a0 It\u2019s a gift, as all expenses are paid.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_2870\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What was I thinking?\u00a0 The Board of Directors of the Maya Gold Foundation had not even met, yet the deadline to apply was February 1st<\/sup>.\u00a0 And again, what was I thinking?\u00a0 Omega has been a home to me and Maya.\u00a0 Together, we retreated there, first as participants and then as assistants for five long weekends over the past two and a half years.\u00a0 We were living \u201cMothering\/ Daughtering\u201d.\u00a0 The time there together was indeed treasured. \u00a0While there, we didn\u2019t have the other stresses of life to cope with.\u00a0 We were fed on different levels, did adventuring and explored creativity, laughs, depth and honesty with one another.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_5346\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In mid-February, we found out that our organization was one of sixteen to be awarded a grant to spend three days on the beautiful campus.\u00a0 Though Mathew and I created a mission for the organization and we thought we had a clear sense of direction, I knew that it was the entire Board of Directors and guests that needed to be a part of creating the Strategic Plan.\u00a0 What is the purpose behind our mission?\u00a0 What are the core values that we stand by?\u00a0 What are generative questions that will help us move forward?\u00a0 Where do we want to be in twenty years?\u00a0 Ten?\u00a0 Next year?<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2412\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My time at Omega was so mixed.\u00a0 It\u2019s like all of life for me right now.\u00a0 It was just another metaphor.\u00a0 Walking on the paths, through the gardens, peaceful moments at the sanctuary, relaxing by the lake, schmoozing at the caf\u00e9 and enjoying meals on the porch of the dining room all held such profound memories. \u00a0And everything has changed. \u00a0Same footsteps, different journey,<\/p>\n

I had the foresight to request that I didn\u2019t stay in the same cabin as I use to with Maya.\u00a0 And I was relieved that our work space was on a different end of campus than the past.\u00a0 But the air that I breathed there was the same.\u00a0 The purpose of my trips with Maya to Omega in the past had been for Maya (and me), this trip of Strategic Planning for the Maya Gold Foundation was because of Maya.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_2447\"<\/p>\n

Perhaps my most challenging moment was the one in which one of the facilitators suggested that for a moment, we close our eyes and make a wish.\u00a0 Of course, she was talking about a wish for the foundation.\u00a0 But I immediately went to the wish that I really didn\u2019t need to be there at all. \u00a0That Maya was here.\u00a0 That our culture supports youth through a very challenging time in their lives.\u00a0 That we don\u2019t need to do this work.\u00a0 After some breathing and actually pushing through (something I don\u2019t always do), I brought myself back to the reality of working at Omega on our Strategic Plan.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_6211\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Doing this work was hard and intense.\u00a0 With the guidance of extraordinary facilitators (Sunny and Sandy) and the loving wisdom of our board and guests, we co-created a magnificent Strategic Plan.\u00a0 Our vision is big.\u00a0 For someone who had a hard time thinking about planning a holiday that is coming next week, it seems surreal to think about where the foundation will be in ten or twenty years!\u00a0 And my life\u2019s metaphor continues.\u00a0 This experience, this planning process holds it all.\u00a0 Sadness, anger, collaboration, great anticipation, vision, support, creativity, joy, hope and love.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_6205\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sincere gratitude to Omega<\/a>, Sunny, Sandy<\/a>, our incredible Board Members, guests, and Maya. \u00a0Maya, oh, how I love you. \u00a0Always.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a deep tragedy hits, coupled with trauma, time freezes.\u00a0 At times, it feels impossible to think of the next day, not to mention week or month.\u00a0 I recall noticing how in mid-November, I was finally able to start thinking of plans for Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It was actually remarkable to me. This has been a new…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gifts-since"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s720L0-omega","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=726"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":748,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726\/revisions\/748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayasgifts.elisegold.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}