Naramata Centre as a Place of Transformation

Our Founder, Bob McLaren, late 1940’s

Below is a beautiful letter we received from one of our members, who was generous enough to allow us to share it with all of you:

While Naramata has occupied a place in my life since the first of September 1960, seeing the pictures of BM (with the CLTS Sign along with his Vision & Legacy) and Cottage Court in your July News Letter brought back wider memories of not only my time there, but of the many ways that experience has assisted and support me in the subsequent years.

Those six months at CLTS opened a wider world to me and literally changed my life.

Winter Session Cohort 1975-76

Until then, aside from a couple short holidays outside my isolated rural community in northern Alberta I had not lived more the 50 miles from home. At CLTS I became part of a very diverse community of about 100 persons of all ages and a great diversity of backgrounds. The Year Book says I turned Naramata upside down, for me it was the other way around. As the McLaren doctrine indicates, the things the CLTS staff, my fellow students and the wider community passed on to me changed my life.

It all started when Don Frame, the Minister at the UC Church called me at work one afternoon in the Spring of 1961 and said there was someone in his office he’d like me to meet. I was one of the Church Members who was part of a very active UC Young Peoples Group so perhaps the reason he called me. That person was Roy Stobie, in town to promote CLTS, which he did, and with hindsight must have done it well. I said I would think about it.

I don’t recall the sequence but at about that time I had asked myself if I really wanted to be in this job for life, and that may have been the spur to think, ‘why not’ and a month or so later. I sent in an application and being accepted I resigned and joined the Winter CLTS programme.

When I finished High School I didn’t see the need to go on to University as some of my classmate colleagues did, but while at Naramata I began to see the possibilities such would open, and so I started to attain that objective – further widening my horizons. This led to a lifelong involvement in Rural Development in Canada and abroad, and a very satisfying career – more a way of life than a career.

I don’t have any proof that I have managed to pass anything of value on to anyone, so can’t confirm the forever and ever part of the McLaren doctrine, but I’d like to think that I did something that has made life better for at least one person that I have worked with as I wandered the world. I know that I have been richly blessed to have had the opportunity to get to know people from a wide range of cultures in their environments.  

Great to hear you are doing you best to keep up the tradition!

Let Naramata Centre contribute to your transformational experience - you belong here!

It’s All About The Why

By Susan

Dear Friends,

Large sigh of relief and big smile for unanticipated outcomes. That pretty much sums it up for me this month. A sigh of relief because we were able to open and you showed up. A huge smile for unanticipated outcomes because we connected together in ways far beyond our expectations.

I was struggling this month to land on a topic for this newsletter and it was suggested that I just let it rest until I read the rest of the newsletter – well, I’m fortunate to work with such a thoughtful team because that worked. You will see it’s all about the Why……

I read the articles on how we connected during July and I relived many of those moments. We gathered, shared stories, met online, struggled through first time technical jitters and then did it all over again. Many times our gatherings on site consisted of just a few people and other times we were joined by hundreds streaming live from their homes. 

Staying connected – while apart. 

And we focused on our WHY. Simon Sinek - "Start with your Why". Our why hasn’t changed – our How and What adapted to the ebbs and flows of societal changes (COVID-19 as an example hard stop) but our why hasn’t changed. We create space for transformational change, individual and collective. It takes a little more effort to do that in hundreds of different rooms but perhaps that makes it even more meaningful. So….

Talk to us, let’s talk to each other, 

Gather with us, let’s gather together,

Grow with us, let’s grow together,

And then, In mind, body and spirit we will move forward and live our WHY.

Reflections

By Susan

Dear Friends,

As we move into this last week of Lent I have been reflecting on my physical withdrawal from every day society, re-evaluating what it means to be in community with each other and asking how can I live each day with a stronger connection to our earth.

In the Okanagan, we are fortunate that our sky is not darkened by air pollution and our water is clean. Others have not been so fortunate. As the busiest cities around the globe are decreasing activity to protect its citizens the skies are clearing. Yesterday, I heard the phrase “the lungs of the earth are clearing”. 

Will we, “I” come out of this time with a stronger desire to do what I can to keep our earth healthy? I hope so - and perhaps as a community we can hold each other accountable to an even greater degree. Many lessons are being learned right now as we live with less, travel less and appreciate local.

At the Naramata Centre, we want to continue to walk with you through this transformational time and need your feedback to help us understand your needs.

With much gratitude, I wish for you a time of deep meditation and reflection as we move towards a time of hope and renewal.

In Community,

Susan

Embracing Change

By Susan

Dear Friends,

My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Spain where we were fortunate to be able to visit several cities including Madrid, Seville, and Barcelona. The break was a great opportunity to clear my mind, renew my energy and also travel with our daughter and her husband – who currently lives in London, England.

Traveling with your adult child and his or her spouse is an entirely different experience than traveling with just your adult child. Many know that a parent is always a parent and it is easy to slip into familiar roles when you are with your family unit. However, when your child becomes a partner it shifts the relationship. For the very first time, we were four adults traveling together. We chose the places to visit and they chose the restaurants – needless to say, we ate well!

I reflected on this shift many times on the several train trips we took across the country - we are a close family and as we moved into new territory, I believe we became even closer.  In other words, the ties that bonded us together originally became even stronger when we respected and embraced the changes between us. 

Embracing the Changes Between Us

Every article I have written to date, in some way has been about change – the need to change, embracing change and now the positive effects of change. Too much change? Too little change? Trust me… it’s a balancing act! 

“All great changes are preceded by chaos.” —Deepak Chopra

Well, we certainly aren’t in a state of chaos but we are in the midst of great change. Our physical site -  changing, our summer operating model – changing, our governance structure – changing, my conviction in the value of the work we do and the impact we will continue to make – UNWAVERING.

Transformational change happens so slowly that sometimes it is only in looking back that we realize how much we have accomplished. Do you remember as a child watching a caterpillar spin its cocoon and it just seemed to take forever before anything happened? Then suddenly a butterfly was flying around inside your container. Transformational change - right before your eyes yet it was only truly appreciated when the butterfly appeared. 

I can only begin to imagine your questions, perhaps your excitement or even impatience(?) as we unveil a new Summer community life model and as our land development progresses. I, at least, have the benefit of being a little bit closer to the metamorphosis, even spinning the cocoon.  So, I use this space in our newsletter to continue to share information in the hope it will ignite your excitement and answer at least some of your questions. 

Our Board Chair provided an update on our Land Development process in December and our next newsletter will provide another in-depth report. Our Spring program calendar was received well by our local community. We recognize that travel in the winter months via automobile, for those who don’t live near the Centre, is unpredictable, so a number of our programs in February and March have been directed towards our local Community. While we have seen a pick-up in interest by other charitable organizations and associations using our space for leadership retreat opportunities, marketing and outreach will continue to drive our activities for our personal retreat and Spring program offerings.  Our summer program launch was much anticipated and has been received with great enthusiasm. I base this on the number of positive comments we have received and the fact that we are tracking very well against our expected registration benchmarks. Of course, we have also had follow-up questions and a drop off in our camping reservations. None of this is unexpected. Our business model reflects expected fluctuations but we hold strong to the value of building a stronger community life experience for onsite participants. Therefore, a drop off in guests who only wish to camp was anticipated. 

 Yes, this does segue back to my family vacation in Spain. Let’s look to Europe for great examples of cities or buildings successfully preserving historical monuments and being bold enough to create new masterpieces.  It is inconceivable that when Antoni Gaudi started to build La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona over 140 years ago that he comprehended the methods that would be used to bring it to completion 7 years from now. His vision of a place of inclusive worship did not change over the last hundred years but the actions and methods required to achieve that vision changed as advances were made in engineering, architecture, and technology.  Its continuing success has been dependant on adapting to those and many other external influences.

My family has changed. We have gained a wonderful external influence known as a son-in-law and we have gained new interesting traveling companions. I will undoubtedly have days where I will miss the comfort found in the original three of us, but I now know that our lives are much more enriched by embracing the changes between us.  

My friends, how great it is that the world continues to adapt and evolve – you are our wonderful external influencers and as always…

You Belong Here.

Servant Leadership – The Magic of Naramata

Servant leadership was first coined in the 1970’s by Robert K. Greenleaf in “The Servant as Leader”. In his essay he writes “A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the “top of the pyramid,” servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible”.

Over the course of the summer, I have observed strong to absent servant-leadership and I am beginning to understand that the Naramata magic happens at its best when servant-leadership exists – the power of “co-creating community” as one Board member said. 

However, in moving to a more developed staff model have we in fact lost sight of the importance of that type of leadership?

We experienced just over a 7% drop in our overall program participation this summer over last summer but only ~ a 3.4% decrease in the number of people on site. While we had more people on site this year not participating in programming, we did widen our circle of influence. 

Our trends are reflective of the changing climate and, given the feedback received from participants, the uncertainty which still exists as to the success of our future. This circles back to Servant Leadership. We have employees, members, participants and a Board of Directors. Each group has a different voice of leadership. Our members exercise leadership through their vote at the annual meeting. Each opportunity to vote is an opportunity to ask, are we putting the needs of our future community ahead of our own? Our Board of Directors sets the overall strategic direction for the Centre. I have seen them in action and their decisions are guided by our mission and that question. Our employees are new - we are dedicated to our success, invested in our mission and eager to ensure that our participants leave the Centre wanting to come back. We are finding our balance between guest hospitality and co-partnership experiences. At our Sunday night Welcome Circle we say “we have created the space and it is up to you to create the experience” – you as the weekly participants become the leaders. 

The success of participant leadership changed from week to week. During music week I observed this type of leadership more than any other week during the summer. Our music week participants co-created community within their group. Our staff provided support and guidance where needed. However together we are still searching for consistency in the magic which can be found in leading together. In other words finding space for the Naramata staff and participants to share the responsibility for creating the magic. 

During the month of August, I started “conversations with Susan” on Friday afternoons. I talked about our vision of community, our vision of being a Centre which leaves the definition of seeking spirituality to the seeker, and most importantly how living our mission of Inspiring individual and collective transformation in a safe, inclusive, sacred space can only happen when staff, participants, members and the Board of Directors are Servant Leaders. 

With the summer behind us, we are already beginning our plans for next summer, incorporating lessons learned, advice received and today’s successes. So, my call to action is to ask you to pro-actively participate right now. Read our newsletter, forward our newsletter and find a place that speaks to you - Hearts and Hands volunteer month, Fall programming, Naramata Roots, or simply show your ongoing support through feedback, membership and donations. Where can you lead?