Fathering Connection
Join us for a 4-day wilderness journey for up to 10 fathers (including non-conforming and non-traditional father identities), using wildness and adventure as a way to tap into deep reserves of compassion and vitality in order to restore care for themselves, their families, and the earth.
DATES: September 17-20
COST: Sliding Scale $1150 – $1500 – includes food and guiding.
Please do not hesitate to reach out if you are interested but the cost is out of reach. This is community and earth-centered work, and cost should not be a barrier to access.
Not included – gear and transportation costs (we will arrange carpools from Boulder)
OVERVIEW
This is an invitation for fathers to retreat to the mountains for 4 days and three nights: to find a focus and clarity within the many elements pulling at us as. This symbolic arete can be found in the high mountain landscapes that inspire and revitalize.
Our mountain journey goes beyond recreation, working to re-create patterns of health, reflection, strength, and balance for fathers. Our inspired group of dads will support each other in remembering the nourishment of the earth’s rivers, and the solidity and definition of her ridges and peaks. The journey will be rugged, yet supportive of participants that have limited experience in the mountains, with an intentional skill progression helping participants to move safely and confidently in the wilderness. There will also be optional climbs, solos, and participant-directed activities. This late summer and early autumn window will afford the opportunity to witness the dramatic changes in season and ecology and to potentially push into more volatile weather and all the vitality that comes with this, while also better ensuring solitude.
Locations may include Indian Peaks or the Gore Range, places that your guide knows well, generally kept quiet and far from popular trails.
DETAILS
- This adventure is intended to reconnect us with ourselves, other dads, and the ecological web.
- We will be inspired, rejuvenated, enriched, and strengthened by this journey.
- Meditation and contemplative practices are woven throughout
- Storytelling & ritual
- Celebration & ceremony
- Includes circles, councils, and focused conversations
- Solo opportunities
- Infused with inspiration from the Spiral of the Work that Reconnect and Bill Plotkin’s soul-centric models.
- Wilderness as teacher: trusting the wisdom and power of wild lands to open internal spaces for growth and connection
- Peak climbs and other physical challenge
- Team building through the mundane and essential elements of self care, group-service, cooking, cleaning, and tending to camp needs
PREREQUISITES
- Self-define as a father
- Interest in self discovery; desire for deepening connection to the earth and emotional intimacy
- Ability to hike up to 7 miles in a day with a 40-50 pound backpack
- No other previous experience or skills required. A secondary outcome of the journey will be to share and develop backcountry skills, especially for those that are looking to expand their knowledge-base and abilities
YOUR GUIDES
Tim Hare
Tim is a guide and facilitator with decades of experience guiding and journeying through the earth’s wild places, including notable mountaineering, rock, and alpine ascents. He works with all ages to create meaningful connections to the natural world and nurture personal growth and transformation. Tim’s approach involves pure adventure, ritual, and other creative forms in order to connect to ourselves, each other, and the earth. He thrives in wild, topographically complex places, and has a way of helping others feel capable and competent in these settings.
He and Shannon, along with their two children, Celia and Mason, have crafted a nomadic family lifestyle in line with this spirit. Tim strives to support the building of regenerative culture using nature connection, changes in risk tolerance, and facilitated spiritual connection to the earth and our latent humanity. He has trained as an Active Hope facilitator within Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, and is motivated by the fact that working with fathers and families is one of the most direct ways to shape a new future.
Tim is also a risk management professional, having worked as Director of Risk Management for an adventurous international education program for 7 years. He is a certified Wilderness First Responder.
Reed Harwood
Reed is the Executive Director at Where There Be Dragons, an experiential education and cross-cultural organization. He is the father of two young boys, ages 10 and 13. In his pursuit to build healthy culture for his children and organization, his intention as a guide is to support an inquiry into how we, as fathers, can create conditions that lead toward nourishment and growth.
Reed’s passion for experiential education formally began in Algonquin Park, Ontario, where he spent his college summers working as a canoe guide. Since then he has worked in a variety of teaching and leadership positions: as a lecturer of comparative religion and ethics at the college level; as a teacher of world history and global studies at the high school level; as a guide in California, Alaska, Tibet, and India; and as a telemark big-mountain ski coach. Being in wild places, in a group, with shared intentions, is a recipe he seeks out for inspiration, connection, and growth.
What does it mean to be a father? Having lost his father as a young adult, adopting two children, solo parenting, and co-parenting, the experience and meaning of fatherhood is complex and rich. Holding no expertise other than raw experience and reflection, Reed views fatherhood as one, of many, disciplines that provides structure and fertile soil for discovery.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
PEDAGOGY, METHODS, AND OPPORTUNITIES
- The four days follows the spiral of Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnect:
- Day 1: Coming from gratitude
- Day 2: Feeling our pain for the world
- Day 3: Seeing with new eyes
- Day 4: Going forth
- Wilderness as teacher: trusting the wisdom and power of wild lands to open internal spaces for growth and connection
- Circles and focused conversations
- Solo opportunities (part-day and overnight)
- Peak climbs and other physical challenge
- Pre-dawn wake-ups, morning sit spots
- Participation in the mundane and essential elements of self care, group-service, cooking, cleaning, and tending to camp needs
- Storytelling
- Celebration & Ceremony
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
- How can this brief mountain expedition bring us towards deeper connection to our innate wildness in order to create a durable vitality in an often deadening modern world?
- How can we, as fathers, step wholly into the important mythical archetypes of protectors and providers, yet expand these roles to include our broader human and non-human communities?
- Can we help each other to be courageous in challenging the status quo (internal and external) and to nurture alternative narratives to the dominant, ecologically destructive paradigm?
- What practices can we cultivate to nourish intimacy and continued connection with our partners?
- How do we create ritual and routine in our lives to keep joy and inspiration flowing through us and into and within our family and our partnerships?
- In what ways do adventure and uncertainty open up new perspectives and possibilities in the routine of our daily lives?
- How can our role as a Father add to the Great Turning, as outlined in Joanna Macy’s work, as opposed to consumerism, hyper-individualism, and ecological deterioration?
STRUCTURES, INSPIRATIONS, AND MOTIFS
- Nature connection and ecological literacy
- Joanna Macy and The Work that Reconnects
- Bill Plotkin’s Eco-Soulcentric Human Development wheel
- Moving through spectrums: music and noise to silence; physical challenge to stillness and rest; playfulness and humor to grief and depth.
- Readings:
- These Wilds Beyond Our Fences, Dr. Bayo Akomolafe
- Active Hope, Chris Johnstone & Joanna Macy
- Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World, Bill Plotkin
Wonder 