background

Celebrating Community


When we first introduced our idea of a wellness retreat to our nearest and dearest, we quickly realised that what we we’re trying to create was far more than a destination, it was a community.

Home / NEWS / Celebrating Community

Celebrating Community

A passionate collective who share our vision for what a sustainable wellness retreat could be. The initial response has been amazing; an outpouring of enthusiasm and creative ideas, skills and solutions coming from people around the world whose hearts have been opened by Aroha and wanting to be part of making it a reality.

Seeing the response made us reflect on the evolving concept of community and what it means to us. No longer restricted by geographical location, affordable travel, digital technology and instant communication has made it possible to connect with people all over the world. Skype lets us have dinner with friends thousands of miles away, while Instagram introduces us to like-minded thinkers and potential business partners. From our base in UK we’ve started working with web designers in France, architects in Greece, tent makers in South Africa, a furniture supplier in the USA and a branding agency whose founders hail from New Zealand. Proof that our community project is global!

We’re making lists of potential suppliers and partners that range from Irish soap-makers to Peruvian hammock weavers … and everywhere in-between! When you open your heart and mind to the possibilities our global community affords, the world becomes an incredibly exciting place.

image

Firm believers that we’ll never stop learning, we’ve recently been enjoying Mark Nepo’s More Connected than Alone. In it, he perfectly captures what community means to us:

“We need each other and our diversity of gifts to make life whole. Trust, courage, and the ability to listen are the agencies of heart that allow us to rejoin. These are the qualities that each soul has waiting within it like golden seeds to be watered by the strength of our kindness. This is the purpose of community: to water these seeds and to join and rejoin.”

His words, and the response to Aroha made us realise how much more powerful we could be by coming together. United, we have the agency to affect change; to implement sustainable new ways of being, that benefit people and planet. We quickly realised that a social enterprise would have greater value, and become a more meaningful experience for all those involve. We're inspired by how our own Believe Community has started to evolve.

Mark Nepro goes on:

“AS ONE DROP of honey can let us know the nature of sweetness, one moment of giving can let us taste the sweetness of living together on Earth. As one moment of loss can open our heart to the pain of others, one moment of breakdown can let community rush in, the way water rushes the break in a wall. And while it’s impossible to portray the entire history or impact of community, I can bear witness to the inspiring and demanding moments of giving, building, and heart. My hope is to lift these emblematic moments and stories up to the light as you would a prism, in an attempt to disclose the many colors at work when we try to live together.”

While our community is currently spread around the world, each adding value through their knowledge, enthusiasm, gifts and skills, we look forward to a time of togetherness, once our tented wellness retreat has taken shape. Where we can welcome you among the olive trees and we’ll celebrate the manifestation of what a community has the power to create. We hope you’ll be there with us!

Leave a Reply

LASTEST NEWS


Taoism: Embracing Simplicity, Patience & Compassion

Find out how we plan to promote simplicity, patience and compassion in everything we do when we invite you to join us on our eco-friendly wellness retreats.

Read more

What is Creativity?

Discover the story behind our desire to inspire your creativity and why we deem the ability to get in touch with our creativeness such an important factor on our retreats.

Read more

Movement for Mind & Body Harmony

Find out how we plan to take care of your wellbeing holistically, drawing inspiration from ancient Greek ideologies.

Read more