achtergrond conveners working silence

A silent advent calendar

  • A silent advent calendar

    We are nearing the end of another year. And like last year around this time, I am starting to feel a deep desire for marking these darkening days, for falling into a rhythm that will help me notice more deeply, to move towards the solstice and Christmas consciously, to be with the turning of the light as a constant factor in these odd times. Last year's rhythm helped me and those who joined to notice what was present, it nurtured and grounded us. And so here is another invitation to join the Silent Advent Calendar.


    Daily rhythm

    The Silent Advent Calendar happens each day from 08.00 to 08.50 CET on instagram live via @workingsilence.  To hold space for our silence through the month I will share with you daily via email before our hour starts:

    • a picture and a short reflection on what this season is giving us, mostly from here on our small farm; 
    • the daily text or poem that is shared during the Silent Hour; 
    • a few journaling questions for you to use as you want – and spoken towards the end of the hour

    After the hour a video link (youtube or other) is sent for you to playback, so you can join the live hour if you want, or replay it at a later time. The beauty of instagram live is that you do not have to worry about how you appear on camera. All we'll see is the landscape I point the camera at, and my face occasionally.


    Maybe

    Maybe it doesn’t work for a full hour at first. Maybe you start and listen to the poem and then stop. Some days the silence may feel like a bath. Other days it may be impossible to get beyond an intention. And yet, you can know that some people will be silent that day, for you also. And maybe after 24 days you have found what it gives you and what it doesn’t. Maybe you have noticed things you otherwise wouldn’t have. About yourself, about where you are.


    The invitation

    From 1 to 24 December we create a Silent Advent Calendar together. Each day from 0800 to 0850 CET I will guide a brief grounding practice, hold space for our hour of silence, share some poetry and offer journaling questions. It is a time to notice, to use the darkening days to turn inward, to let winter do what winter does best: withdrawal and silent transformation, stirring under the surface, noticing quietly. In this advent calendar you can open a small inner window each day, in your own space, at our daily shared moment or when it suits you. And you can bring your own chocolate. 

    If  you are in the Southern Hemisphere, your days will gently lengthen, and you are invited to breathe in the light before it turns, to notice what it shines on in the days towards the solstice and Christmas.


    Practicalities

    It will be €150,00 including VAT/BTW to join. For 24 hours together or apart. Like last year, 10% of that will go to Warchild – to offer children in war torn areas psychosocial support, so they can at least sleep better. For those who cannot afford to pay for this, please drop me a line and we can work out an exchange that you can afford.

    If this journey calls you and you want to create this Silent Advent Calendar for yourself, please contact me on anjet@studiostilte.nl – and include that email address in your address book. I will then make sure to send you payment details, and details you need to join from 1 December.

    I hope you will join in,
    Warmly, Anjet