The 2011 Ducking Out is SOLD OUT!
Registration is now open for Thanksgiving, 2012.
Also known as your hahahaha-escaping-Thanksgiving plan.
Or the un-retreat that just so happens to be at the end of November.
But either way, you now have the best ever Get Out of Thanksgiving Free card, if you want one.
What this is.
This goes way beyond running away from awkward meals, uncomfortable subtext, anxiety and the loneliness of either being alone or feeling like it.
We’re going to take Thanksgiving and distill it to its essence.
To distill it to its essence, extract the qualities that support us, and use them to build something new and beautiful and as-yet-not-known-to-the-world.
Just like in Dance of Shiva.
We are going to take JOY, and throw away guilt.
We will extract LOVE, and release externally imposed expectations.
We will siphon off APPRECIATION, and release forcing and pretending.
We will find the FREEDOM, and disperse what does not honor our autonomy.
We will connect to everything good about COMMUNITY and TOGETHERNESS, without having to do things someone else’s way.
We will do it with sovereignty, with playfulness, with laughter, and possibly also while wearing feather boas or ridiculous hats or whatever makes us happy.
And of course, there will be pie.
Run away for a week to the most fun rally ever.
See the rally page if you are not sure what a rally is and why it’s the best thing in the world.
We will begin Monday, November 19th at 5:00 pm and go through the dreaded nightmare that is Black Friday (ending around 3pm on Friday).
On the day itself itself.
On Thursday, November 22nd (American Thanksgiving)… we will have day of Fabulous Avoidance, Wonderful Escapery and lots of fun at the Playground.
There will be:
- Shiva Nata.
- Writing exercises to generate insights and epiphanies.
- Super relaxing Old Turkish Lady yoga.
- Quiet time.
- Inventing new rituals.
- Playing with sovereignty.
- Foods! There will be a lovely, casual, delicious vegetarian dinner. But at a normal time, not a thanksgiving-ey time.
- Joyfulness and hilarity. And apple cider in zombie apocolypse drinking glasses.
Yay!
Who gets to come.
You do.
People who don’t enjoy Thanksgiving. Or don’t have plans.
Or who wish they had plans. Or wish they didn’t have plans. Or who desperately need an excuse to get out of something they don’t want to do. Or who are Canadian and already had Thanksgiving. Well done.
We’ll be a small, cozy group. And it will be fabulous.
It will be HSP-friendly.* It will be hilarious and restorative and you won’t have to do any dishes.
And we will practice our superpowers, including the superpower of giving a clear, loving no to things that don’t support us.
* HSP = Highly Sensitive Person.
Our schedule:
Rally Orientation. Monday 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Rallying! Toozday 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Rallying! Wednesday 9:30 am – 6:00 pm
Ducking Out! Thursday 9:00 am – 8:00 pm (dinner at 6:00pm)
Bonus Rallying time! Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Come join us!
I know, Thanksgiving isn’t for a while yet. But this helps me plan foods and materials. And you’ll have a ducking out plan before you get sucked into making stuffing for your friend’s ex-husband’s Aunt Helen.
Full price: $825
Early brunch : $625 Good through April, 2012, though the Great Ducking Out filled up crazy-fast the last two years so we might not get to April.
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Fine printables!
1. Included: Tuition, ebooklet, snacks, huge realizations, hilarity, bubble-blowing, presents/presence.
2. Not included: Travel, lodging and meals.
3. Before signing up, check in with yourself and make sure this is what you want.
4. Once you register for a Rally, you have up to 60 days prior to the Rally to request a change in dates. A fee of $85 will be charged to your credit card for each rescheduling.
5. No changes, reschedules or cancellations can be accommodated later than 60 days prior to the Rally’s start date. This helps us create a safe and strong container for Rally, and keep tuition affordable.
6. If you can’t make it, we’ll offer tuition paid so far as a stowawayship scholarship so someone else can attend. See our Incredibly Boring Policies page.
How do you tell people you’re not going to Thanksgiving? Like this.
“I can’t believe I’m missing it — just that I have this amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to a workshop that means so much to me, I couldn’t turn it down.”
If people ask why it’s on Thanksgiving, tell them I’m unconventional and obsessed with ritual. Or just shrug and say, “Right? Isn’t that funny?”
Wear your crown. Your life. Your kingdom. Your (conscious, compassionate, loving) call.
Here are four steps that might help with that.
Step One: The Alignment Exercise.
Five different posts where I’ve described this and given examples:
1) On PTSD, 2) the Encroachers, 3) how to have the conversation, 4) a wacky exercise, 5) curing phone call dread. That last one is all the way back from June 2008.
Step Two: Adjust your crown.
Stand in your sovereignty. Own your force field. You remember that practicing autonomy is the way to actually get to feeling okay with it. We will practice these things at Rally, so you’ll come back as the person who can do this.
Step Three: Say it. And then don’t try to explain.
“I wanted to let you know that I’m going to have to miss Thanksgiving this year.” Or: “Listen, I won’t be able to make it to Thanksgiving this year.”
Then you pause. PAUSE.
Step Four: If there’s curiosity, explain simply and clearly.
“An amazing opportunity has come up for me that [I need to take] [is hugely meaningful to me] [could make a huge difference in my life/work/relationship/business], and there’s just no way I can turn it down. I will be in Portland, Oregon that week.”
Step Four: If there’s pushback, find the feeling and acknowledge it.
Find the feeling:
“It sounds like you’re feeling really disappointed.
“I wish I could wave a magic wand and find another solution for this! I’m sorry.”
And then you send them flowers or a gift before the holiday. Ta da!