Tag: Recharge

Sabătica “Unplugged” at The New York Botanical Garden {4.7.18}

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There is something rather soothing and reviving with being surrounded by beauty and vibrant colors, especially after months of Winter. I don’t know about you but I’m excited about Spring and everything it brings along — warmer weather, flowers, time outside — and can’t think of a better way to kickstart the season and slow down then with a day at the New York Botanical Garden.
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NYBG Cuban Orchid Show

Please join us Saturday, April 7th as we do just that. We will hop on the train in Stamford and head to the NYBG for a day of fun adventure and beautiful time of rest, including:

– Private Guided Tour of this year’s Orchid Show
– All-garden pass
– Lunch

– Meditation & Reflection

All for $80, excluding transportation

Our private tour starts at 11:00 am and we’ll need to arrive at the garden no later than 10:45am. Please consider and plan your departure time accordingly! For your convenience, we are also working on providing transportation options; please check back in for any update.

There is still time — reserve your spot TODAY!

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Thank you for slowing down and pursuing beauty with us. We look forward to seeing you at the NYBG. Remember to wear your comfortable shoes, invite a friend and bring your camera!

Selah,
Christine

Photo Credit: C. Dorvil

“Beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them.
The least we can do is try to be there.”
— Annie Dillard

Gather me to be with you…

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O GOD, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.

Soothe my tiredness;
quiet my fretfulness;
curb my aimlessness;
receive my compulsiveness;
let me be easy for a moment.

O LORD, release me from the fears and guilts which grip me so tightly;
from the expectations and opinions which I so tightly grip,
that I may be open to receiving,
to learn something refreshingly different.

O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
Forgive me for claiming so much for myself
that I leave no room for gratitude;
for confusing exercises in self-importance
with acceptance of self-worth;
for complaining so much of my burdens that I become a burden;
for competing against others so insidiously
that I stifle celebrating them and receiving your blessing
through their gifts.

O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.
Keep me in touch with myself,
with my needs,
my anxieties,
my angers,
my pains,
my corruptions,
that I may claim them as my own
rather than blame them on someone else.

O LORD, deepen my wounds into wisdom;
shape my weakness into compassion;
gentle my envy into enjoyment,
my fear into trust,
my guilt into honesty,
my accusing finger into tickling ones.

O GOD, gather me to be with you as you are with me.

– Ted Loder

Nature’s Healing Touch…

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Yesterday was the culmination of a rather heavy week — one marked by disbelief, tears and sadness. There were some moments of relief  through the recounting of sweet memories, communal support and eternal hope; and yet there were a myriad of persistent internal questions. After gathering as a community to bid farewell to a sweet little boy who left us too soon, I felt the warning tug to disconnect  and quiet down. So, I grabbed my camera and headed down to the Bartlett arboretum for some nature therapy. The sun was a bit timid but somehow that was  just perfect as I sought to lose myself on the trails and around the property; staying outside of my head and allowing the birds’ songs, whistling creek, the colors and fragrances to feed my soul. Following are some of those moments that brought me to a halt and which I attempted to capture…

I did stop to smell these babies…so fragrant!
My favorite flowers – Lily of the Valley

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. … There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
—Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

All photos are taken by Christine Dorvil and cannot be reproduced without permission.