I had a thought today while I was scrambling to catch up on forum discussions (I'm trying guys! haha). In the past I (and Chris) have tried a crowdfunding campaign or two to raise funds to promote affordable and accessible spiritual events and centers. The topic of crowdfunding always intrigues me because it is both inspiring and nerve-wracking at the same time. One the one hand, I don't want to be a pest. On the other, it would take such an effort to make these kinds of services and events more accessible to the people who are dedicated. Have you ever checked the prices on some of these retreats? 800 dollars to participate but room and board is not included. Add that retreat, hotel, transport, and flight together and you may have yourself a 2000+ three day weekend.
The mission I've always had while facing this occurrence, is to make intense and dedicated spiritual work accessible to the people who want to do the work. There are people in the world who practice and work and don't approach middle class, much less have the financial or schedule availability to drop over 2000 on a weekend event. But there ARE people who are in the higher income brackets who will make that drop in the bucket to take a casual tour. That is so backwards.
I, and those I know to be true friends and colleagues, are dedicated to spiritual growth and progress, development and empowerment, knowledge and experience. These things shouldn't be out of reach for people who are working their hardest with what they have. Retreats I've put on have been AMAZING. I cannot stress that enough, and they're done with very little (less than 20%) profit on the event (by the way the Collaborative Consciousness retreats include room, board, and food in the cost). And I love it. But there is just not enough to make them happen as frequently as would be nice for people. Wouldn't it be great to know that there was an affordable retreat location that was available 4-6 times a year as opposed to the 2-3 times a year that are permissible at the current cost/time investment? Different retreats for different crowds? Longer retreats?
I've been mulling this over in my mind. If I could somehow fund a place that I could maintain, a center, I could make that happen. From that center, prices could drop considerably and time / flexibility would be dictated by me (the hypothetical landlord). In fact, the more that could be done with less, the more that could also be funded into other services like more classes.
I've been mulling this over in my mind. If I could somehow fund a place that I could maintain, a center, I could make that happen. From that center, prices could drop considerably and time / flexibility would be dictated by me (the hypothetical landlord). In fact, the more that could be done with less, the more that could also be funded into other services like more classes.
Currently, retreats (depending on location and venue) are priced between 300-500 dollars (again, food and lodging included) and that's still a steal. However, this does cost time. After all overhead expenses one could not anticipate being able to just stop working for a week or two with no financial backing. But what if retreats were to cost 150-200 dollars? What if instead of hoping and praying one will become available when you get your time off or one come close enough to your town you could justify the expense, you were able to know "yes, I am planning to go in April" or "shucks, I missed the retreat for Summer Solstice, but I know there's one coming up in September" as opposed to "oh , due to conflict in scheduling and availability this even has been postponed indefinitely".
It's a lofty goal, and an expensive one at that. I am at a point where I must decide if I want this to happen sooner than later. It was ALWAYS in the plan to have a brick and mortar centre for healing and the spiritual arts. Living on-site would route the inevitable discussion of "should I be focusing on this or that?" but it does not make me stop thinking about what it would take to properly set this up. However, I want to.
My plan would be to accrue enough funds to make a sizable enough down-payment on an appropriate property (so that I might be able to afford paying off the mortgage with my own earnings), furnish it, and manicure the land for use. Not only could this be a centre for retreats, but even local recurring events and classes. How long would this take? Or how many attempts I should ask? Would it take 1 year? 5 years? One try? Ten Tries? I think I need to consider this more... seriously :)
~Nico
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