Imagine this: you arrive, tuck your phone away in a drawer, and step outside. The air smells different. Time slows. By dusk, you’re sitting with a handful of strangers who already feel like kin, watching the first stars appear. You’re not here to ‘consume’ an experience. You’re here to remember what life feels like when you stop performing it.
The Farmastery is half farm / half monastery; a transitional space for people in recovery from late-stage capitalism. It’s a place to step out of the shackles of modernity and experience what comes next. It’s not therapy, but it is therapeutic. Each day is structured by a morning circle, shared meals, time for work and rest, and collaborative experiments in resilience.
Stepping outside each morning, I was greeted by an orchestra of bird song and the scent of evergreens, soil, and mist. Carrying my container of chicken feed, I slowly made my way towards the lightening sky, unhurriedly walking the path that leads to the coop. I heard excited clucks of 10 hens increase in volume as they registered my approach. This was just one of many daily rituals that felt ‘right.’
Whether you stay for a weekend, a week, or a month, the Farmastery is a place where you can experience tending the land and the land tending you back. From goat walks to egg collecting to watering the gardens, there are ample opportunities to engage in intentional, sacred relationship with land, community and self.
In between the chores were wonderful moments of conversation, learning, reflecting, and growing. The joy of a companiable silence as the fire crackles in the wood stove is like a balm. The other Lifeboat Builders have lived, read, and experienced a lot. I learned so much from them in such a short time. They live what they say – kindness, curiosity, compassion, experimentation. Do not skip circle time!!
Farmastery Retreats are offered on a pay-it-forward basis. Your financial contribution makes it possible for us to keep the lights on and continue offering this unique experience to others. To schedule a retreat, email us at friends@lifeboat.academy.
