SL Retreat Patterns

Container

A retreat is a somewhat special time, place, intention, and community. The container is created by the participants, to hold the community of participants, and it takes various forms.

Time: a definite beginning, at which all are present, and a definite end, at which all are present. In between, a number of meetings that all attend.

Space: a special place, currently the retreat area created by SophiaSharon. It is somewhat separate, geographically bounded. It holds the meetings, circles, get-togethers, and casual times.

Intention: this is a commitment by participants to be there for the time of the retreat, in a special atmosphere. Since during this time RL, and time in RL, continue, the retreat includes RL in that time. The intention is the participants' own, re their own journey, but it is also to and with the other participants.

Community: PaB sessions and retreats combine pauses, open space/time, with reflection and discussion among a community of participants. There is a commitment to be with each other, to listen, to dialogue.

Trust: there may be personal things that happen and are expressed during a retreat. They stay there. The trust is that what is being shared is shared within that circle only. Pause before you IM!

Process

It's good to have two people organize a retreat. We are just at the beginning of playing with how to do SL retreats. Please share suggestions, ideas, and schedules.

Once the dates for a retreat are set (this can involve some polling of the guardian community) an announcement can be made to the general list. There is also a google group for SL retreatants (Eos and Eliza are admins for that).

SophiaSharon built the retreat space, and can adjust it as needed.

In terms of numbers of people, it seems to take about an hour for 9 people to go through a "talking circle" process. This seems to be about the most that a 1 1/2 hour session can accommodate. If more than 9 people want to do the retreat, it may be best to either break it into two sections, or have more retreats, more often, so everyone can take part.

In some ways an SL retreat is like an RL "urban retreat": retreat meetings take place within the space and time of ongoing city life. In the case of an SL retreat you are in SL for 3 or more meetings per day, but otherwise in ongoing RL. The retreat intention includes that RL time. It's an interesting intersection: the retreat is not just inworld.

It's good to have a theme meeting afterward for retreatants to share with the rest of the community.

Who Can Attend

Currently SL retreats are for PaB Guardians. This allows for some period of time for a participant to become acquainted with Play as Being and its practices and sessions and community. RL retreats have a similar requirement.

Partial attendance at a retreat is not a good option (for the participant or the retreat community) - better to schedule another retreat when one can attend fully.

Note

The ALIA Little Book of Practice (PDF) is a great resource on patterns of group practice for individual and group being and becoming: especially recommended if you're going to host or organize a retreat.