From Wednesday To Saturday - A Journey.. or 2!
Wow.. well where to begin?..
On wednesday morning we boarded the bus for retreat, and set off to Valla. My group (Myself, Kieran, Lee, Bec, Emma and Dibbzy) was a solitary group, attatched to no others so i personally had a pretty down attitude to the group we were going with (who i regarded as plastics and dickheads just out of a steriotypical point of view i had). That ended up being not the case at all.
First days activities started with the trust walk, where we were blindfolded and were led by someone we didnt know around the area, and once that was done we became the leader of someone else. I was led by Aimee, who did a remarkable job of keeping my on my feet (a better job than i usually do) and afterwards i had the chance to have a chat with her and get past her quiet, shy exterior. She was a really nice girl, and definetly earned my trust. I then had to lead Pirra on her trust walk, which im sure she will never forget. After running her into 2 people and several poles i took her over a 1 and a half metre drop, doing considerable damage to her leg... it wasn't deliberate im just not cut out to be a leader... and you know after all that she still said 'i wish we had got to know each other earlier in the year'.
We were put into 'animal groups' by being blindfolded and made to go around as the animal we were and finding others of the same 'species' by using sounds. After i found my fellow DOGS =P we began our group activities by building a card castle. After 5 or 6 frustrating attempts, Lauren Preston and Jaymee came up with the idea of just holding the cards and making a single file tower... we won, well kind of cheated, but we won. lol
That afternoon we got a pretty extended free time, and i went and layed on my bed (the double bed) in the room and had a good think, a good relax, and a good 2 and a half hours of thinking about how severly i was missing Danielle already. After the free time we returned to the hall and played My Charada. I was given all the hard words like Access Code, and The Phantom lol... i had no hope!!! We came 2nd in our feeble attempt.
After a rough night (thanx to SOS snoring and talking for half the night) i woke up at 5am and couldnt get back to sleep, so i had a shower and woke the other guys up when it was time to go to breakfast. For our morning activities we had to choose a picture that related to our relationship with God and reflect on it. I chose a picture of a grieving man. When we had to explain our reasons to our animal groups i caused 2 of the girls to cry, which was not cool, but i was being as open and honest as possible. I said that through this year i (and my friends, who i left anonymous) had been through some particularly rough times as far as self-confidence and respect wise. I told them how i had been sick of life and just wanted to throw in the towel and die. The picture related perfectly, for many years i have been somewhat of a non-believer, but its these depressing events that brought my closer to God, and i (embarrasingly) can say now that i am a believer once again. Its that truth and trust that our animal group all placed in each other that created the friendships we gained out of it.
After lunch we had more free time, which i used to retreat to the room again and lay down.. this time for 3 hours and go through the same ritual. I even wrote a song that was quite beautiful, but it got lost or thrown out during cleaning up. Anyway, after free time the retreat coordinators hit the nail on the head.
We all entered the conference call in our animal groups and sat down together. Each chair had a love heart and a candle underneath it. We went around the circle, picking up our heart and infront of the group placing it on the mural and speaking out loud what we needed to be forgiven for. I said 'forgive me for being so overly opinionated as that i dont see the truth in others words'. Some of the kids, like Alex L were idiots about it, but apart from the small minority it was a touching and humbling experience. After that the candle giving ceremony began. We had to give our candle to 3 people that we wished to thank / apologise to etc... I gave mine to Emma C to thank her for befriending me, to Mrs Rosie for putting up with me in pc and Mr Wheatland because of his support in the 3 subjects he teaches me. I recieved candles from Vanessa, Jaymee, Pirra, Lauren, Rachael, Andrew H, Kieran and a few more... but i cant remember them all. (sorry if you were one i got one off and i didn't mention you!!!)
It was a touching ceremony, with a few people reduced to tears and solemn looks all round. It was this hour and half of time together that brought our group to the point it is at now. Old friendships were renewed, and new ones were made.
After this we had our affirmation activity, writing messages to others praising them for who they are. I got some beautiful comments i didn't expect, with 2 of my new friends i wont name telling me 'your sweetness and honesty have changed my view of the world. Thankyou.' I was quite amazed i can have an effect on people like that in 2 days. I also learnt alot about myself in this session, like believing in myself and gaining alot more self-confidence.
After another shocking nights sleep we had our mass, where i had to play guitar. I thought i was crap, but everyone else thought it was ok, unless they were just saying it was to make me feel better lol.
We got back to school 20 mins earlier than the schedule, and it was then that the whole retreat became worthwhile for me because i was met when i got off the bus by my gorgeous girl. Thanks bub.
Since then i havnt done much at all. Kieran stayed over last night, and today i saw Star Wars with my dad. It wasnt as poor as i expected. I'd reccomend it if you are a fan.
Anyway, i think im out of stuff to say... *hears the reader say 'thank god'* =)
I'll probably update again tomorrow night.
Peace people,
Andrew
On wednesday morning we boarded the bus for retreat, and set off to Valla. My group (Myself, Kieran, Lee, Bec, Emma and Dibbzy) was a solitary group, attatched to no others so i personally had a pretty down attitude to the group we were going with (who i regarded as plastics and dickheads just out of a steriotypical point of view i had). That ended up being not the case at all.
First days activities started with the trust walk, where we were blindfolded and were led by someone we didnt know around the area, and once that was done we became the leader of someone else. I was led by Aimee, who did a remarkable job of keeping my on my feet (a better job than i usually do) and afterwards i had the chance to have a chat with her and get past her quiet, shy exterior. She was a really nice girl, and definetly earned my trust. I then had to lead Pirra on her trust walk, which im sure she will never forget. After running her into 2 people and several poles i took her over a 1 and a half metre drop, doing considerable damage to her leg... it wasn't deliberate im just not cut out to be a leader... and you know after all that she still said 'i wish we had got to know each other earlier in the year'.
We were put into 'animal groups' by being blindfolded and made to go around as the animal we were and finding others of the same 'species' by using sounds. After i found my fellow DOGS =P we began our group activities by building a card castle. After 5 or 6 frustrating attempts, Lauren Preston and Jaymee came up with the idea of just holding the cards and making a single file tower... we won, well kind of cheated, but we won. lol
That afternoon we got a pretty extended free time, and i went and layed on my bed (the double bed) in the room and had a good think, a good relax, and a good 2 and a half hours of thinking about how severly i was missing Danielle already. After the free time we returned to the hall and played My Charada. I was given all the hard words like Access Code, and The Phantom lol... i had no hope!!! We came 2nd in our feeble attempt.
After a rough night (thanx to SOS snoring and talking for half the night) i woke up at 5am and couldnt get back to sleep, so i had a shower and woke the other guys up when it was time to go to breakfast. For our morning activities we had to choose a picture that related to our relationship with God and reflect on it. I chose a picture of a grieving man. When we had to explain our reasons to our animal groups i caused 2 of the girls to cry, which was not cool, but i was being as open and honest as possible. I said that through this year i (and my friends, who i left anonymous) had been through some particularly rough times as far as self-confidence and respect wise. I told them how i had been sick of life and just wanted to throw in the towel and die. The picture related perfectly, for many years i have been somewhat of a non-believer, but its these depressing events that brought my closer to God, and i (embarrasingly) can say now that i am a believer once again. Its that truth and trust that our animal group all placed in each other that created the friendships we gained out of it.
After lunch we had more free time, which i used to retreat to the room again and lay down.. this time for 3 hours and go through the same ritual. I even wrote a song that was quite beautiful, but it got lost or thrown out during cleaning up. Anyway, after free time the retreat coordinators hit the nail on the head.
We all entered the conference call in our animal groups and sat down together. Each chair had a love heart and a candle underneath it. We went around the circle, picking up our heart and infront of the group placing it on the mural and speaking out loud what we needed to be forgiven for. I said 'forgive me for being so overly opinionated as that i dont see the truth in others words'. Some of the kids, like Alex L were idiots about it, but apart from the small minority it was a touching and humbling experience. After that the candle giving ceremony began. We had to give our candle to 3 people that we wished to thank / apologise to etc... I gave mine to Emma C to thank her for befriending me, to Mrs Rosie for putting up with me in pc and Mr Wheatland because of his support in the 3 subjects he teaches me. I recieved candles from Vanessa, Jaymee, Pirra, Lauren, Rachael, Andrew H, Kieran and a few more... but i cant remember them all. (sorry if you were one i got one off and i didn't mention you!!!)
It was a touching ceremony, with a few people reduced to tears and solemn looks all round. It was this hour and half of time together that brought our group to the point it is at now. Old friendships were renewed, and new ones were made.
After this we had our affirmation activity, writing messages to others praising them for who they are. I got some beautiful comments i didn't expect, with 2 of my new friends i wont name telling me 'your sweetness and honesty have changed my view of the world. Thankyou.' I was quite amazed i can have an effect on people like that in 2 days. I also learnt alot about myself in this session, like believing in myself and gaining alot more self-confidence.
After another shocking nights sleep we had our mass, where i had to play guitar. I thought i was crap, but everyone else thought it was ok, unless they were just saying it was to make me feel better lol.
We got back to school 20 mins earlier than the schedule, and it was then that the whole retreat became worthwhile for me because i was met when i got off the bus by my gorgeous girl. Thanks bub.
Since then i havnt done much at all. Kieran stayed over last night, and today i saw Star Wars with my dad. It wasnt as poor as i expected. I'd reccomend it if you are a fan.
Anyway, i think im out of stuff to say... *hears the reader say 'thank god'* =)
I'll probably update again tomorrow night.
Peace people,
Andrew