- we were given a lot of time for reflection and then small group discussion..we reflected on our happiest, funniest, surprising, frustrating moments ...
- thoughts of hanging out with the polk street house on weekend nights, our quote wall, going camping, when we pushed the couches together when it was cold to stay warm, all our inside jokes, our email thread chains, our slip and slide community night, the many meals we shared, the time i made terrible fettuccine alfredo, wichita jeopardy, alex putting cara on strange mailing lists, our trip to mobile, the adventures in our backyard, all our kittens, drinksgiving... the list could go on for a long time.
- we did the obligatory affirmation activity (i say obligatory because i feel like this is done on every retreat)... but it was actually very nice to sit with my community. remembering how far we have come.
- to me it felt like we did a LOT of closing activities... sign of peace multiple times, group reflection, mass, saying what we were doing next year etc... but in the end it was good. it made it a bit easier to drive away from the retreat site... i was honestly sick of saying good-bye (but not in a bad way)
- we talked about moving from two different social worlds.. the places from where we come and where we return etc... our speaker at one point told a story that someone said "you will never come back fully again." This has stuck with me a bit... especially since i remember this feeling from my first international service trip... I came back so "aware" yet so empty and unfulfilled... I think overtime, and doing these types of things (service trips,adventures) i've come to know, cope and deal with these transitions better (hmmm... that statement makes me feel like I have a grasp on this transition.... which is something I certainly do NOT have)
- we received an "FJV" button... standing for "Former Jesuit Volunteer"... cara and maggie, who both live in my house but are continuing to do Jesuit Volunteer Corps are in JV/FJV limbo (jajajaja)
- Amongst the plethora of handouts we received... one was form the priest who had facilitated many of our discussions (he was AWESOME) about his rules for spirituality and social justice (there are 17 rules on his list)... the ones that stood out to me were:
- pay attention
- be honest
- enlarge the context- cultivate a sense of solidarity
- imagine reality differently
- connect with people
- create community
- tell stories, laugh, appreciate and celebrate- a lot
- survive
- the other things on his list were all pretty grand but these have been popping out to me recently.
- we did one neat activity that they had gathered a whole list of quotes from former Jesuit volunteers. they asked them to respond to what their transition was like/how they felt in leaving... these things ranged from "i was so relived to get out of there" to "this was the best year of my life, i didn't think life could get any better" or " when i went back to my home town, i thought everyone had changed, but then realized it was me who had changed"... it was so interesting to hear a plethora of thoughts and ideas of what the transition was like. i stood under a quote that said "i was just so busy and then it hit me like a ton of bricks" I feel like with the start of a new school year.. I will be so swamped and come september I'll be like "WOWSERS... what happened?!!?"
Ok well that is all the ramblings I am going to share with you for now. As cara would say... "Dis-oriented... Mission Accomplished?!"
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