Dear friends,

About one year ago, the vision of Silence Singing came as a flash of clarity: a circle of devoted friends singing around the crackling fire, surrounded by the silence of night and light of the stars, enjoying the mystery of being! The idea had been floating around for years while attending various meditation retreats, discovering that in the silence and clarification of deep listening, the creative channel opens.

Upon this inspiration, I called my dear friend Satya/Eric (yogi bard that he is). As dharma friends for a number of years, we often snuck off into the forest during meditation retreats to sing with the trees. He, likewise, held this spirited inspiration in his heart, and together we entered into bringing it to life. Since then, this vision has manifested into two magical, musical, meditation retreats, as well as other smaller events. (And much more to come!)

What resulted from these retreats was deep connections, deep growth, and most importantly, a place where gifts could be generously shared and graciously received. From improvised performances to group poetry, from receiving messages from the forest to cooking for one another, it has all been an immense gift.

We learned a lot, and still have so much to learn and to grow into.

For present purposes, a big learning was —aha! It works! So, we are going to keep going.

This year, we are planning five retreats; in addition to a few smaller events such as evening or half-day experiences. And, it’s a lot of work, lots of risk, and done with lots of love. And, well, no pay.

The purpose of this fundraiser is, then, to raise some funds! The dream is to raise $10,000. Whoa! Okay! We'll see about that!

What's that money going to be used for?

$2,500 for scholarship fund, so that each retreat can have 1-2 funded scholarship spots for those who have limited funds.

$2,500 to help cover travel costs. Because usually we have to fly one (or two) facilitators.

$5,000 in administrative and labor costs. This will cover some of amount of the labor of organizing, and will also help us make down payments on rentals, insurance, and ensuring that we can pay our other facilitators. As an organization that's just starting, this aspect of the fundraiser is probably the most important. We can think of last year as our "proof of concept" year, and this year our main question is about sustainability and growth.

If we don't reach our goal, we will just split our funds along the same proportions as above. :)

The best thing about this project is that if it doesn't work out-- if no one else finds themselves desiring to touch into their inner silence, to sing out to the trees, to sit in circle around the fire, doing what humans do -- then Satya and I will just keep doing it anyways. Perhaps with just a little more silence amongst the song.

Thank you for donating if you are able. Any amount is greatly appreciated, and is a good bust for the heart energy! And, sharing this project with your loved ones does just as much. But really, come to a retreat with us <3

On that note-- check-out our website and our Upcoming Retreats ! The next is in May, in North Carolina. In June, we'll be in Western Massachusetts.