Longing for Something Lost

I found the Life Cycle Living workshop to be as informative as it was deeply emotional. As I listened to one of the stories, I felt a strong resonance and yearning for ‘village life’—for a deeply supportive community.  This story also produced strong emotions in some of the women present, which sparked a lively discussion about gender roles.

In listening to and learning about how each stage of life contains a particular gift for community as well as a job of personal growth, I felt some pain and sadness at how I had moved in my own life, as a father and young man, without proper guidance to navigate that part of my life. This discovery awakened a need to grieve and let go of old sadness and shame, and to claim a deeper sense of purpose in my work and a stronger connection with my children, who are now young adults.

— Shawn Bennett
Norwich, Connecticut
June 24, 2018