Join Naomi Westwater, artist and educator, on a virtual pilgrimage as we explore A. A. Milne’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh together as a sacred text.
For 4 days, we will gather from 11AM-12PM EST and then again from 4-5PM EST to read this text in community. We’ll explore the wisdom, kindness, and philosophy in Milne’s iconic characters and find meaning in the text through Lectio Divina and Florilegium, as well as pull from experts of The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.
Although traditionally Winnie-the-Pooh is a children’s text, it offers a richness in thought and a deep sense of compassion that is often missing from our everyday lives. In focusing on this book, our hope is that you will find peace, meaning, and wonder in a world that often feels stressful and overwhelming.
During the hours that we aren’t meeting each day, Naomi will offer you a reflection assignment and a question to walk with/meditate on as you walk around your own neighborhoods. You will be accompanied through recorded walking prompts, which will guide your reflections. So rain or shine, we ask that you walk for an hour if you are physically able to, or sit quietly in meditation/reflection.
This virtual pilgrimage will be offered to only 40 people. We will facilitate small group time between pilgrims throughout your days together, in order to encourage connection, trust, and empathetic reading of both the story and each other.
What’s included:
Two hours of class daily with Naomi Westwater
Daily audio walking guides by Naomi Westwater
Sacred reading, writing and reflection practices
Please email commonground@notsorryproductions.com with any questions about the course.
About Naomi Westwater
Naomi Westwater (she/they) is a multimedia artist and educator from Massachusetts. Their work combines music and music production with creative writing, visual art, intuition, and spirituality.
Naomi has her B.A. in The Practice and Theory of Storymaking from Goucher College, and holds a Master of Music in Contemporary Performance and Production from Berklee College of Music. Her work has been featured in WBUR’s The Artery, Vanyaland, WGBH, Under The Radar, Atwoods Magazine, and The Bluegrass Situation, and she was nominated for a 2021 Boston Music Award for best singer-songwriter.
Common Ground is a pilgrimage project of Not Sorry. Common Ground pilgrimages integrate reading, writing, walking, and chaplaincy so participants can make space for wisdom and meaning in their lives. We plan these trips with the explicit goal of addressing the spiritual needs of our participants. Through community, rigor, and ritual, we treat traditionally secular things as if they were sacred. In this commitment, we practice empathy, hope, and courage and move closer to treating one another as sacred. Read more at: readingandwalkingwith.com