Vigil for a Clear-cut 

To spend time in an old-growth forest that has been clear-cut is to experience awe, sorrow, compassion, and opportunities both to mourn and to heal nature and self. During the day we'll have solo time in one of the vast clear-cuts on Vancouver Island. Evenings we'll spend in our campground in a beautiful protected ancient forest.

On this special retreat we'll visit one patch of the vast swaths of clear-cut in western Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Each day we’ll have solo time in the clear-cut, focusing on different intentions: welcoming the emotions, crossing the threshold between nature and self, recognizing and giving your gift, and letting go through the creative act. In the evening we’ll share stories of our experiences in our camp in the beautiful old-growth protected forest, Carmanah-Walbran Provincial Park, amidst 800-year-old spruces and pines.

Both these aspects of the forest are vitally alive, and they evoke powerful transformations in those who attend them with openness and a willingness to push old boundaries of what’s beautiful and what’s not, what’s acceptable and what’s not. This experience offers you the opportunity to heal wounded places in yourself, communicate more deeply with nature, discover new sources of creativity and compassion, and receive insight and guidance about your relationship to yourself and your community in times of difficulty.

Vigil for a Clear-cut is a program of Radical Joy for Hard Times.