These photos are from a recent trip I took to an amazing conference. Rethinking Everything is equal parts Burning Man, SXSW, and TED – with the central theme being children (specifically, most attendees are Unschooling families).
Weird enough for you? It was freaking AWESOME.
Click on the photos to enjoy them full size.
Anyway, enjoy…
This is the Ferncliff labyrinth at the CA Vines 4H Center near Little Rock. You can read the moving story behind its creation here. Suffice it to say that it’s nearly impossible to complete this journey without feeling something powerful.
This is one of my favorite pics–it captures well the reverent feeling that lives in the air here around the labyrinth. (click on it to view full size. Back arrow will bring you back here)
The original (temporary) labyrinth was part of a healing retreat for victims of the 1998 Jonesboro, Arkansas school shootings.
The Columbine H.S. shootings happened the following year.
Students from the first retreat asked Ferncliff if they could reach out to the victims at Columbine to help them heal.
The following summer, students and alumni came together to complete the permanent labyrinth.
Stones were brought from each school, as well as other sites affected by violence, including Bosnia.
The stones are still here. They remain – Physical symbols of the grief the victims left behind them.
Healing begun, the children laid their burdens down and left this place.
The stories, grief, and beautiful healing are still here too. Soft whispers and cool wafts of human spirit and emotion are actually alive in the labyrinth.
You can feel all of this in the air. All you have to do is walk this path…
Quiet. Calm. Serene.
What grief do you carry like a stone?
What difficult path do you walk?
What healing do you need?
This oasis of comfort in the Arkansas woods spoke to me. I left a stone too.
The CA Vines 4H Center waiting for you when you finish…
This looks like a beautiful place, Andy. I would love to walk that labyrinth.
Thanks Jay. It was indeed beautiful. Heavy too.