creative transition retreats

---

Almost 4 years ago, after connecting for just one 60 Minute Welding Class, I lead our first long awaited creative executive retreat, with our first student, Steve Pinetti. A high achieving, energetic, passionate, collaborative, culture loving guy, who was about to transition out of a life long, highly successful corporate career. Reaching for an intense hobby to provide the scaffolding for such a tremendous, life changing move, is a very smart way to keep your energy charged and moving as it changes and adapts into the next phase of life! After intentionally hanging up my own corporate suite, 7 years earlier, in authentic & creative, service driven pursuit, this placed me in an exciting and pivotal position to help make Steve's transition, not just a smooth tangible shift but a creatively grounded and powerful elevation into the legacy phase of his life.

Fast forward...Over the past 3 years, Steve has traveled from California on a monthly basis, for a week at a time, to my studio, The Collaboratory, here in Arizona. We've been immersed for up to 10 to 12 hours a day for 5 days straight, Making ideas Tangible. Creating monumental Working Art, from the combination of my own practice and the deep well of my late Husband Khabir's, phenomenal Legacy of cultural, ancestral skill and mastery. Steve brings a wonderful confidence to go big or go home, brimming with ideas that have inspired him throughout his travels, whilst utilizing and building off many of my own, as The Collaboratory has been making the way tangible,  assimilating it all, The Whole Way. 

Through the creative process of making ideas tangible, in steel, by dreaming, designing, engineering, welding, bending, cutting, collaborating, shaping and painting. One gets to participate in an awareness of life at a molecular level. The organic construction process that relates to everything and then being able to apply those same formulas to every part of life, is uniquely rich and powerful. We become aware and then intentional of our actual part in the cosmic process. The cause and effect!  Becoming more specifically effective and productive in participating and growing within the human tapestry. 

Life is a series of encounters, with equal and opposite opportunities of exchange. Whether we acknowledge it or not, determines the level of divine interaction we receive.

Hey Ceri
I have now had a day to digest this past weeks experience with you.

When I signed up I just thought it would be very cool to learn more about what it meant to weld and maybe even perfect my abilities and never thought much more about what I was getting myself  into.

My time with you was one of the most profound experiences I have had in my life.

Welding is art - art is soul -  soul is life.

I loved how we navigate through our initial designs and thoughts for each piece and then ending up with something different because as we went along our thinking which was so fluid it could change course at any time - nothing to get in our way except ourselves right - and our ideas and openness let us to the right place each time.

Everything we did was so unrestricted and free flowing - so natural.

I also loved how you opened me to the heart and soul for that would now live in each piece - no matter how big or small - every creation had meaning , purpose and told a wondrous story.

How you included family and roots into the heart of each piece which provided the grounding yet at the same time each piece celebrated the future and the unknown experiences in life still to be experienced was such a powerful way to get me to really think about my future and all the moving parts I needed to think about.

The vision piece for my life - well - you got me to blow my own mind with that piece. I don’t know if I let it come though how important - no how mind bending that was for me to verbalize all that we put into that small but powerful piece of life art. I feel even greater weight ( good weight) to really think through what we did and what it stands for - my direction and life going forward. It will be mounted where I will see it every day.

I know people will love the works when they see and can touch them but they will never really truly understand their meaning and purpose in how they came alive through the words we shared that led to their completion.

It was also fun to begin each day with a conversation on what was still going on in our heads about the day before and what our ideas for the coming day were.

I thought that process was so fun fluid and very collaborative.

Actually - turns out Everything we all do every day is collaboration - either within ourselves or with those around us. 

Steve

https://www.pinettiway.com