Page 4 - SPRING 2024 News and Views

Spirituality Retreat. Park Place, Convent, Wickham. September 22nd— 24th 2023
Kit Pearce

An extract from Kit Pearce’s ‘Morning Pages’ 1

Didn’t sleep well. Mood low. Ditto energy levels. It’s how it is. Is there anything to be grateful for –
without being glib? I think so. (Go on then, what?)

Well, the lift here. The lift home later today. Being amongst Quakers. And ‘attenders’ (like me). Being
able to tell an ancient fable last night without nerves. Unexpected applause. The nuns here; Franciscan
Sisters who came all the way from hot India to cold Wickham, Hants. Their unfussy cooking and caring.
Speaking even less than do Quakers! Their poise, as they watch, listen, do what is needed, unfussily.

Back to the low mood. Does it matter? Don’t know. Want to say, ‘No’.

A deep sigh there… Unsettled headspace. Not so my heart. Now expelled, the sigh pinned onto the
page, I can inhale something better. New energy.

Been listening to Michael Rosen. Following his ‘unfolding’ style of writing. Like it. Surprisingly expressive.
A great man. Great poet. Great father. Great example.

Have I discovered spirituality? Hmm…

“So, do you feel more spiritual now?” The unspoken question came upon me unawares in the corridor,
on my return to one of yesterday’s sessions. I was stumped. Do I? Do I? Need time to think, process.
Examine memories and feelings.

Telling someone in a workshop group, ‘We’re getting off the subject’ (we had lapsed into politics), she
said, ‘No, this is part of spirituality.’ Interesting…

Quakers constantly surprise me. A little thing: not all of them ordered porridge for breakfast on Friday
evening. Hadn’t exactly assumed they would, but even so… And Quakers dancing and singing. (Who
knew?)

Diverse life stories, cultures, faiths and beliefs. In harmony. Stillness. Many threads, not yet patterned.
Discernible later?

1
Morning Pages? Developed by Julia Cameron. See The Artist’s Way

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