The Garden Calls - What is your Story?
Listening for the invitations that shape our journey. My story…
written by Christine Lines
Do you remember when you first heard about the Findhorn Garden?
Christine living in Byron Bay, holding Ziggy the miniature piglet.
Maybe it is this moment in time? Or maybe it was many moons ago…
I was on the other side of the world, with a friend in Byron Bay, the most easterly point of mainland Australia. She mentioned the Findhorn Garden and a little book of daily meditations by Eileen Caddy. Something stirred in me and I remember a quiet knowing:
I will visit there one day.
It would be many years later.
During a visit to see my family in the UK, there was a week when they all had plans. I remembered that place in the far north of Scotland and discovered something called Experience Week.
I didn’t know what to expect.
Being in the welcome circle with the others in the group, I recall a profoundly healing experience. Simply to feel deeply heard.
That moment has stayed with me ever since.
I sometimes describe Experience Week as a ‘mini United Nations’ where people of different ages, nationalities and backgrounds discover a connection with each other and deeper understanding.
Being in the circle I felt deeply heard.
Christine much later in the Findhorn Dunes.
After Experience Week I walked the Camino de Santiago, one of many pilgrims over hundreds of years. It was a transitional time in my life and I had the sense of ‘walking out of the old and into the new.’
I returned to Australia, to continue my role as Retreats Manager of the Byron Yoga Centre. As much as I loved life in Byron, I felt my soul nudging me into something more. I heard about a gathering of retreat centre leaders taking place in Hawaii and immediately felt called to be there. After encouragement from a friend, I changed my flight back to the UK with a stop there en route. I didn’t realise there were others with a similar vocation! I felt immediately welcomed, as if ‘meeting my tribe’. When one of the participants spoke of focalising Experience Weeks at Findhorn in the '70s I felt another call of recognition. A few weeks later I woke up with the words ‘Findhorn Life Purpose’ on my mind. I discovered a workshop of that name and booked my place. It was the next step on an ever unfolding journey.
These quiet inner promptings sometimes lead us to the unexpected. I eventually made Findhorn home after being nomadic most of my adult life. I’ve now lived in the Ecovillage for over 15 years and describe Findhorn as my ‘University of the Soul.’ Deeply engaged in the educational pathway and life long learning, every day presents wonderful synchronicities, joys, challenges and connections.
Everyone who is touched by Findhorn carries their own story. The people living here and those who take the inspiration out into the world…
Some first hear about the garden through a book, others through a friend, or a quiet inner calling. There are many stories waiting to unfold, of the people who will find their way here.
Each one of us carries a seed of light.
Each one of us carries a seed of light into the world.
If you’ve joined an Experience Week since it began in 1974, you are one of over 30,000 people who have carried the light of Findhorn into the world.
Perhaps you’ve attended a different programme here, connected online, joined the daily meditations or long to visit one day.
Our ongoing educational purpose and contribution in times of profound global change, recognises you are an integral thread in the tapestry we are weaving together.
We would love to hear your Findhorn-Story, either from being here or feeling connected from afar.
Is there a memory that inspires you in life?
You’re welcome to share via connect@findhorn.org
Share with us:
When did you first hear about Findhorn?
What drew you to connect with us?
What is your favourite story about your time here (in person or online)?
How did this experience influence your life?
