Choosing a Path

In May I graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, which means I have to do something else now besides read really hard books with people I love.  I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life - but everybody's got to do something.  In the fall, I made a decision that I wanted to live in a completely different place than where I've ever lived before (i.e. New Jersey for 18 years and Maryland for 4) while also serving others.  After researching my options, thinking about what was important to me and praying for direction, I stumbled upon the Camphill Movement.  I was sort of familiar with the name because I had done some reading about Waldorf Schools and Camphill is heavily influenced by Rudolf Steiner who is the founder of the Waldorf schools.

Camphill communities aim to provide village-inspired living situations for individuals with special needs.  In the communities, which vary in size, the special needs villagers live and work alongside volunteer co-workers in order develop their own unique personalities, tend to the earth, and make beautiful things.  There is a strong emphasis on handiwork which appealed greatly to me immediately.  The idea of treating every human with respect for their individuality while learning to rely on those around us is a model for living that could benefit anyone!  

There are Camphill communities all over the world and while reading about the movement I realized I could be involved in something I truly saw as important while getting to live somewhere new.  Back in the fall, I started to send out some emails to different communities and by early December, I had settled on the community I would be joining.  

The Mount is a community specially tailored for young adults.  It is a three year college that teaches craft based programs to its students located in Wadhurst, East Sussex over there in the United Kingdom.  I will be living in a residential setting with the students and working alongside them as they work through their education.  Hopefully, we'll get to do a lot of growing up together. Making the decision to move to another country seemed like a lot of fun 8 months ago but it hasn't started to feel so real (read: frightening ) until very recently.  Finally the time of my departure draws near - I leave one week from today to return next July.     

If my description of this new adventure seems vague, it is to me too!  So much of what I'll be doing is as of yet unknown to me.  All I can tell you for now is that I am so, so, so excited to start this new journey in my life and also very scared.  My goal in blogging is to be able to document my process of adjusting to living in a new country while also sharing some of the great things that are going on in the Camphill Community.       

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.  

Psalm 139: 9-10