“Purpose Retreat” — An immersion with the purpose of life orienting

(Clique aqui para ler esse texto em português)

On the weekend of 18 to 20.02.2022, took place the first official edition of “Purpose Retreat”, an immersion focused on life orientation, in a super enchanted place located in the region of Siebengebirge, near Bonn-Germany, on the street of New Luck :) (Neuglückstraße) also in tune with the magnetic full moon.

In a different way than I had imagined, I found in the “Purpose Retreat” exactly what I was looking for, through this immersion facilitated by the newly graduated students of the Alanus Hochschule — P.h.A.S.E course (Philosophy, Arts and Social Entrepreneurship) Emily and Dominik.

The simple fact of being there, inserted in the atmosphere carefully created in the smallest details, collaborated to make emerge from within me essential aspects that brought me clarity, self-knowledge and greater understanding of possible professional expressions that I can manifest in this world.

It was very interesting to realize the potential that each exercise encompassed, in a complementary way to each other through the guidance of facilitators, it was possible to work on these aspects using tools super powerful as Ikigai, combined with other elements such as artistic expression through painting, in addition to other resources related to the baggage acquired by them in the course P.h.A.S.E Gang.

⚜️ Golden Moment ⚜️

One of the height moments of the retreat for me, emerged from the proposal to express through painting our reflections on the following question:

- What the world need?

And opening my heart, at first I was feeling a little bit discouraged, because I’m much better with words than with a brush, and I felt very challenged to translate my answer through painting.

I was reflecting a little, until I got the inspiration to find a way to combine with the painting other manual skills that I can flow with more property, and then came the following 3D folding, which in its simplicity brings a series of meanings:

People holding hands represent = COLLABORATION
The colors 🌈Rainbow I painted the paper represents = DIVERSITY
The base supporting them standing is a crown= COLLECTIVE DECISIONS
The material used was the cover of an agenda we won = SUSTAINABILITY

🔍Expanded View🔎

In my case, because I’m also walking this same academic path, it was even more relevant to participate in this experience and be able to follow more closely the trajectory of people who have just finished a path that I started walking.

Also had contact with more technical aspects in relation to the conception and planning of the format of the event, through the Blockseminar — Social Entrepreneurship, taught by the Dozent Marcelo da Veiga, was another differential factor in my capacity of perception, being possible from this point to see the proposal more deeply as a whole, and to understand better what were the steps that led to the realization of this retreat.

They were numerous learnings, and going beyond the dimension of the academic trajectory, by the fact that I also work with events, simply experience the structural form such as:

Location; organization of the space; dynamics of meals; support materials & etc.

Also have added experience to my view of event manager, who recognizes the fundamental importance of these basic items in creating a welcoming environment, which enables the realization of the main activities.

From this experience, filled with elaborate individual and group activities, walks in nature and strategic breaks…
They unfolded valuable insights for me, which in the end brought me clarity from where I am in addition to bringing me ownership to concretely create Micro Degrees, making me capable to take next steps more safely and confidently.

I conclude my reflections by bringing a phrase I heard in a professional journey that I also had the opportunity to receive mentoring 2 years ago, one of the objectives was whos to visualize and plan the steps of my great transition from Brazil here to Germany:

“The purpose of the seed of a rose is to bloom and become a beautiful flower, something that it just needs to let sprout naturally, and thus achieve its maximum exuberance”.