Page 8 - ReAwaken Ebook 1st Ed

ReAwaken – The Heart of the Matter

For us ReAwaken is not a once off event. It is part of a larger movement and momentum
that is interested in healing what has gone so terribly wrong in our mental health and
addictions spaces and in our society more broadly. Human healing and societal healing
and even environmental healing only occurs in connection.

Our world is caught in a destructive vortex of disconnection. We are disconnected from
ourselves and our hearts and our spirits. We are disconnected from our neighbours. We
are disconnected from the land we live on. We are separated by labels of sick and
well and like me and not like me and the haves and have nots.

Many people attempt to reform and bring change from the top. Attempting to influence
government and policy. Many thousands of hours and many millions of dollars are spent

on this each year. It is my belief that change comes from the ground up. We change
through community. A ground swell of connection that sends a ripple of influence to
those around us.

Social change happens when those who were formerly oppressed are empowered, where
new narratives begin to emerge in our social spaces and only through community.

My motivation in bringing 110 people together for 4.5 days to find spaces of connection
and compassion was not to simply have a love-fest, it was that as we spent time together

things were stirred up in each of us that have allowed us to go back into our communities
and continue the focus on connection. Small and large projects have sprung up.

We have heard stories of transformation as people experienced themselves and others
differently during 4.5 days of not differentiating between 'sick and well', 'service users or
professionals'.... we were all simply humans sharing a space together thinking about what
it might be like to find our way more easily through this journey of life, if we could really

hear ourselves and each other more deeply.

There were tears and laughter and listening and challenge and talk about all manner of
things that are often taboo. What emerged was a deep space of acceptance that allowed
people to consider what might be possible in their own towns or cities, if we sat in spaces
of being together in mutuality.

At the heart of it all was the knowing that healing is a normal part of life when we come
together on the journey.

Stephanie and Matt
HUMANE Clinic

8