From Seed to Seedling

Hilltop Reflections: Greeting the new year in Legacy Forest

by Marnie Jackson

I welcomed the new year with a day of rest, reflection, and solitude in Hilltop Cabin. The cabin, owned and offered by Whidbey Institute founders Fritz and Vivienne Hull, is nestled in the center of our 106 acre conservation forest near Storyhouse Meadow.  I arrived in the cozy, bright space and had a quick orientation from Fritz, who showed me the amenities—heaters and a wood stove, a little kitchen for making tea and warming up my lunch, and a fantastic library of works from poets, philosophers, naturalists, and eco-theologians. When I asked him if he had any particular advice for me to make the best use of my day, he encouraged me to spend time among the trees. 

My day began simply enough, and I spent my first hour riffing through the notebooks that Fritz and Vivienne have compiled on subjects like Celtic Spirituality, the Life Wheel, and the life and work of Thomas Berry. In that reading, I was struck by a profound sense of continuity. The Chinook Learning Community, founded by Fritz and Vivienne in 1972, didn’t just give way to the Whidbey Institute—it became it. Thomas Berry Hall was not named by accident, but as an entreaty to remember and carry forward the work of this man who wrote, “the natural world is the larger sacred community to which we belong. To be alienated from this community is to become destitute in all that makes us human. To damage this community is to diminish our own existence.” The Hilltop Cabin itself has a clear purpose and its construction and siting was sincerely intentional: it is a place for immersion in nature, for reflection on Self and Earth, and for rediscovering how to be human in these times. 

I had come prepared, with colored ink pens, a blank journal, washi tape, and dozens of year-end journaling prompts. Fritz and Vivienne had provided even more resources, including a wicker basket of art supplies and reams of blank paper. I was ready to sit and reflect, making a fresh start for a new decade with clarity of purpose and power of intention. Then, a funny thing happened. After sitting and doodling for half an hour, I felt complete with my journaling. 

As a professional writer, I spend most of every day putting words to paper. As a mother and partner, I had spent the week between Solstice and Christmas drawing, painting, and creating vision board collages with my family. I was all journaled out, and therein lay another gift of Hilltop Cabin—the freedom to discover what I needed most. I didn’t need a colorful calendar, a cheerful goal list, or a revised personal purpose statement. I needed to be quiet—in body, mind, and heart. I needed to be alone in the woods.

I took my camera and my coat and made my way down the forest path to a stone circle, ringed with trees and lying just a few dozen yards from the Hilltop Cabin. A weed-suppressing barrier had been laid down, and white stones had been placed atop it. I noticed the persistence of new plant life, pushing up between the stones and reaching little green needles toward the light. 

Plants are agents in their own lives. I once read that the compounds released by plants into the atmosphere actually change the quality of the light those plants receive, increasing photosynthesis by diffusing light in the forest. A Guardian author summarizing these findings wrote, “plants have evolved a clever trick to redirect sunlight and bring the weather they want down into the forest understory.” These trees are not inanimate features of my habitat, but co-creators of ours. 

I sat on the Earth in the center of the circle, contemplating the coolness under my seat and the vastness of the forest canopy. I listened for birds, close in and far off, and for the tiptoe of who-knows-who—Doe? Squirrel?—through the underbrush. 

After some time, I stood and continued my walk, eventually finding myself back at the cabin. It was now midday, and I warmed up tea and soup before settling on the couch with a novel I’d been longing to reread for years. I made it through 75% of the book, then dozed off for my first nap in at least a decade. I woke up refreshed, to the sound of a woodpecker knocking nearby. 

By the end of my 9 hour stay in the Hilltop Cabin, I felt like a human BEing—just being. No doing, planning, producing, delivering, or performing. It was not what I’d set out to achieve during this one precious day alone, and yet it felt like the most important possible work.

After a day of solitude in nature, it felt right that I got on my bicycle to return home. I couldn’t imagine climbing into a car, closing the door to the forest, and turning on a gasoline engine at the close of such a day. If my day alone taught me anything, it is that the patterns of human activity that are at odds with nature are at odds with our own being, and that what is healthy for my planet is indistinguishable from what is healthy for me. 

Hilltop Retreats are offered to the public. Visit the website to learn more and book your day-long retreat.

January 9, 2020

Daring to Love Fiercely

I recently had an opportunity to connect with program leaders Plácida Gallegos, Akasha Saunders, Steve Schapiro and Carol Wishcamper (pictured above, left to right). Their program, Dare to Connect WE-LAB, provides a space to explore and support participants’ capacity to embrace differences and to connect with one another across those differences with curiosity and love. The program is coming to the Whidbey Institute in March, 2020 and registration is open to all.

During our conversation, I not only got a feeling for the facilitators (a fantastic team) and the program (a wonderful offering) but I also became convinced that there is little the world needs more than work like this. Supporting people across diverse social identities and circumstances in creating brave, vulnerable, and authentic connections can help us begin to heal the rifts of racism, sexism and other oppressive systems in our bodies, hearts, communities, and societies. Read More →

December 18, 2019

Forever Protected: 106-Acre Conservation Easement Finalized

On November 29, 2018, a longstanding dream came true with the establishment of an expanded, comprehensive conservation easement at the Whidbey Institute. We owe a debt of gratitude to Board Chair Kate Snider, the staff and board of the Whidbey Institute and Whidbey Camano Land Trust, the Island County Commissioners, attorney and neighbor Doug Kelly, and many other neighbors and friends who brought this project to completion. Read More →

December 19, 2018

Enter with intention: Warrior Monk retreats at the threshold of a new year

The Warrior Monk retreat, led by Dan McKee, has been a key offering at the Whidbey Institute for nearly 15 years. While the Warrior Monk retreat itself has been held for over two decades at sites around the world, holding the retreat at the threshold of the new year is a more recent trend, and only takes place at the Whidbey Institute. I reached out to talk with Dan about what makes the new year Warrior Monk retreat unique. Here’s that conversation. —Marnie Jackson

Read More →

October 18, 2018

A Paradigm Shift: Marta Mulholland Reflects on Powers of Leadership

Marta Mulholland is the Whidbey Institute’s Volunteer Coordinator. She also assists in the Westgarden, and is currently co-creating a garden curriculum with Westgarden Steward Jules LeDrew to engage Waldorf students in the space. She participated in the 2017-2018 Powers of Leadership Retreat Cycle, and we recently sat down together to reflect on that experience. Here’s our conversation.  —Marnie Jackson

Read More →

September 26, 2018

Planting Joy: A conversation with volunteer Mara Grey

Volunteer Mara Grey and I met in the Appletree Garden on a dewy morning last month to discuss the garden—which she’s stewarded for about a decade—and the diversity of plants she tends there.  She introduced me to my favorite summer bloomer—Crocosmia Lucifer—and told me how the garden has evolved since last we spoke. Here’s that conversation. —Marnie Jackson

Read More →

August 23, 2018

Exceedingly Good: Spotlight on Larisa

Whidbey Institute Director Larisa Benson spoke with me recently about her board service and background. Larisa is one of the folks behind “Strategies for a More Joyful Government,” and brings a great wealth of leadership, governance, and teaching expertise to her role on our Board of Directors. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation. —Marnie Jackson 

Read More →

August 22, 2018

Summer Program Catalog

July 5, 2018