From all across the world they came! Slight exaggeration! But from North America, around Europe, the UK and one intrepid traveller from Australia… a whole group of a hundred or so friends, whose connection was burnished through many hours of meditation and spiritual enquiry came together for the first time, for many, in at least eleven years.
Such was the nature of a reunion event over a long weekend in June which we at EF helped arrange. If any of you know Pembrokeshire in West Wales you will know that, even in June, the weather can be a little crisp and bracing as well as quick to change, all of which was true of our weekend.
As you may well imagine, meeting again after so many years was the occasion for plenty of happiness, some tears, and lots of conversation, catching up on one another’s lives. No-one was expected to do anything; walking trips were offered along the gritty, nearby coastline as well as the chance to visit the magnificent and ancient St David’s cathedral, which, unlike most such edifices, towers not above its tiny town but hides away in the vale beneath.
Entertainment was on hand, too! Professional mentalist Gerard Senehi, a member of the group, deftly wowed and perplexed his audience in equal measure. Information, too, in the form of a showing of our short film, covering the history of Emergence Foundation as well as featuring several of our prominent grant giving successes.
The most profound event, though, was a dance performance by Kirstie Simpson. Kirstie is in recovery from cancer and, through dance accompanied by some narrative, vividly expressed her relationship to all she has been through and to life itself in a way that was both intensely real and moving.
Even though a weekend is a short time it felt very full. Members of the group have already taken on themselves to organise a follow-up event for 2026; a very good sign of how much it meant to them!
