2023 CWP Newsletter Summary
As the year comes to a close, I can look back on many projects, writings, trainings, and conversations I’ve been a part of in the past twelve months. But one of the things that stands out most to me are the periods when I didn’t do any of that. These were times where I instead created space for spiritual reflection.
And what I’m referring to here are ancient traditions within many different cultures of monastic retreat–where people give up all their possessions, and their familiar daily routines, and live the life a monk, following a simplified and disciplined daily routine or “rule,” and spending most of their day in silence and prayer. In Southeast Asia a large portion of the men before marriage do two months in a monastery. I have written about pilgrims, as part of these traditions. In our community, many have experienced this practice through Vipassana meditation retreats as taught by S.N. Goenka, the most popular and accessible meditation retreat in the world, with dozens of centers in the U.S., and over one hundred thousand participants each year. Paul generally spends 20 days a year in a retreat like this, either in a Christian or Buddhist monastery, and his update called “Learning to Drink from the Monastic Waters,” is about how transformative this experience has been for him. Garret also wrote a wonderful personal testimonial of his year working full time at the community, and includes the importance of the monastic retreat and tradition for him.
2023 has been another year full of changes, and it feels like we’re still in the winter of life, for myself and the CWP community, represented by the many transitions within our individual lives as well as our community spaces. Old friends and new friends have come and gone from the community. Many in our community have experienced breakups or left jobs. Social movements have slowed, experiencing protest fatigue, and many leaders have left social movement organizations to focus on other needs. You can read about this in our 2023 House Journal.
But returning from the monastery, there seem to be some signs of spring. Although the “retreat” experience can actually be quite challenging, as the simple lifestyle gives us the time and space we need to care for the pain in our mind and body that we’re usually distracted from, when we emerge, we feel again what it is to live a life outside of the water of the dominant culture, and drink from new waters.
We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary
December 19th, 2022
By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading
Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago
December 19th, 2022
Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading
December 19th, 2022
I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading
2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again
December 15th, 2021
This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading
December 15th, 2021
The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading
The Story of Community Counseling
December 15th, 2021
Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading
2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive
December 17th, 2020
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.” — … Continue reading