Get refreshed and resourced as we explore the stories, tools, and practices
that re-connect us to God, ourselves, each other, and creation.
Find your tribe at Wisdom Camp.
Regenerate and Resist: How to Embody Contemplative Freedom in Transitional Times
“Often, to be free means the ability to deal with the realities of one’s own situation so as not to be overcome by them. Freedom is the manifestation of a quality of being and living that results not only from understanding of one’s situation, but also from wisdom in dealing with it.” ― Howard Thurman
The chains of constraint seem everywhere these days: political restriction, ecological devastation, racial oppression, social disintegration, spiritual despair… For many, these chains are robbing our energy, momentum, and sense of well-being.
But we believe a deeper wisdom can help us break free and live free from these chains!
Join us as we immerse ourselves in:
- Divine communion
- Genuine play
- Seeing and being seen
- Healing silence
- Resting in our bodies
- Telling better stories
Come to this one-day exploration of contemplative wisdom rooted in Jesus’ primal orientation to life, and branching into the insights of several world faiths. Discover the stories, tools, and practices that re-connect us to God, ourselves, each other, and creation.
Our Guides
Mike Morrell: Primal Prayer (talk)
Jasmin Morrell: (practice)
Mona Haydar: (talk)
Aline Defiglia and David Bollt: Practicing the Presence of Us (practice)
Alexander Shaia: (talk)
Bushi Yamato Damashii: (practice)
David Bollt
“Whatever I’m seeking in life, I realize I’m not going to find it alone. I believe our greatest opportunities for fulfillment and a sense of true connection can be found in relationship with others. I love creating spaces where we put aside all other distractions and dive into what really matters … being with people.”
Through years of personal transformation and relational training, David has cultivated a remarkable capacity to help people illuminate unconscious behavior patterns that cause them to suffer. Along with events in Asheville, North Carolina, he leads weekend workshops and retreats around the country, including the Servant Leadership School and the world famous Authentic Man Program. With his fluency in transformational work, David sees group facilitation and personal growth as an art form. He has developed his own highly articulate style of helping people realize authenticity and freedom.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
319 Practicing the Presence of People
Aline Defiglia
Aline Defiglia is a licensed psychotherapist adventuring at the intersection of health, healing, and the restoration of connection with self, others, and the sacred. Her practice specializes in mind and body healing modalities, life coaching, hypnotherapy, and team performance consulting. Aline is also a Certified Senior Advisor and serves as a foundational partner and facilitator with the Life Compass Living Community. She and her husband are currently in the process of moving from Chicago, IL to Chattanooga, TN. Discover more at ABWellness.life.
https://lifecompassliving.com/
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
114 Life Compass Living
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
Mona Haydar
Mona Haydar is a Syrian American rapper, poet, activist, practitioner of Permaculture, meditator, composting devotee, mountain girl, solar power lover, and a tireless God-enthusiast.
Her single, “Hijabi”, was a groundbreaking debut with millions of views. Billboard critics named it one of 2017’s top protest songs and one of the 25 top feminist anthems of all time. Her work as an artist and activist has been featured on BBC, CNN, BuzzFeed, AJ+, NPR, Mic, Psychology Today, Refinery 29, The Huffington Post, Ms Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Boston Globe, New York Times, and many others. Her first EP is set to drop in 2018.
Mona practices a life of sacred activism, poetry, contemplation, and advocacy for living gently upon the Earth. She is currently working towards her Masters in Theology and lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband and their two sons.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
316 Mona Haydar – TBD
Jasmin Morrell
Media Support
Jasmin Pittman Morrell is a writer and a collaborating editor for The Porch Magazine: a slow conversation about beautiful and difficult things. She is also the producer of the Movies and Meaning Experience, a conference, festival, and community gathering held in Asheville, North Carolina.
She’s been an editorial consultant for numerous authors and publishers, and Communications Director for Love Wins Ministries and the Wild Goose Festival.
Jasmin lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her family and believes in beauty, radical hospitality, and deep laughter.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Mike Morrell
Curator, Wisdom Camp
Mike Morrell is the Communications Director for the Integral Theology think-tank Presence International, co-founder of The Buzz Seminar, and a founding organizer of the Wild Goose Festival. Mike curates contemplative and community experiences via Relational Yoga, the ManKind Project, (H) Opp and Authentic North Carolina, taking joy in holding space for the extraordinary transformation that can take place at the intersection of anticipation, imagination, and radical acceptance. Mike is also an avid writer, publishing consultant, author coach, futurist, and curator of the book-reviewing community at TheSpeakeasy.info. He lives with his wife and two daughters in North Carolina. You can read Mike’s ongoing exploration of Spirit, Culture, and Permaculture – and receive free exclusive updates – right here: mikemorrell.org
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
319 Practicing the Presence of People
414 A Conversation with Mike Morrell
Bushi Yamato Damashii
Bushi Yamato Damashii, born Torrence Marquis Ramsey, is an authorized Dharma teacher, mystic, and Abbot at Daishin Buddhist Temple Monastery in Thomasville, North Carolina. He is a student of Lama Rod Owen, and Lama Justin von Bujdoss (Repa Dorje Odzer) under whom Bushi practices Vajrayana Buddhism in the Repa tradition. Bushi is a former Christian minister who has studied and teaches what he calls The Wisdom and Practical Parallels of Christianity and Buddhism as a method for healing human suffering for twenty five years. Now as a Buddhist teacher, he returns to the Goose with Wisdom of both Jesus and the Buddha that may enhance your depth of what it means to be human in the body of Christ.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
303 Jesus and the Buddha
Check In for pre-festival events will be available on Wednesday from 1 pm to 5 pm, and Thursday from 7am to 9 am.
If you’re tent camping, there’s no additional campsite charge for Wednesday night.
Some campsite locations are restricted due to large venue tent construction in several areas.
RVr’s will need to purchase an additional night.