As part of my 40/40 Challenge I did a 3 day silent meditation retreat at Wattle Hollow with Joy Fox. It was given to me by my friend Kath (who I realized after this weekend she prefers to be called instead of Kathy - and I have known her 4 years.) She went with me and like me had never done anything like this before.
We arrived in the evening and it was quite dark - it is a 1.5 hour drive from our house. After going down the dark road we promised each other that if at anytime we want to escape we would just grab each other and go. When we got there Joy wasn't there - she was running her helper back to town. Ken, a nice man from De Queen tried to show us where we were staying, but he wasn't familiar with the surroundings either. We finally found our spot, dragged our crap to our rooms, and went to the main hall to wait.
Because it was dark we didn't really see where we were or what the surroundings looked like. It was the smell that hit me first. It smelled exactly like East Wind. For those who know me, I lived in an intentional community in 1999 and there is a distinct smell to communal, organic, hippie living - and Wattle Hollow captures that essence. It isn't a bad thing - it is a mix of Nag Champa incense, tea, brown rice, and the earth. All good things - but distinctive.
As we waited others who were going to spend the next three days in silence with us arrived. Joy came in as we were sitting on the deck overlooking a very black pond. She introduced herself and we gathered to eat and chat with the group. A beautiful organic vegetarian meal was provided - Joy did all of the cooking. It was the last meal we spent talking.
After we had cleaned up we signed up to do a bit of shared work over the weekend - I signed up for kitchen help Saturday night. Then Joy led us through what to expect over the weekend. These were brief instructions that would be expanded upon over the course of the weekend. We then took vows of silence as we sat on cushions on the floor. After a brief sitting session (30min), we did a brief walking mediation, and then we were off to bed.
The teachings were primarily Vipassna in the school of Jack Kornfield. All familiar to me and I was grateful for this moment to be able to practice them with a teacher who had been doing this 30+ years. Joy, like her name, is a complete joy to be with. Gracious, kind, funny, energetic, sensing, and rich with experiences. Not only did I feel completely at ease, but I looked forward to the next day. A day that would come quite early when the gong rang at 5:45am.
More tomorrow.
