About Dwelve 2005

Dwelve 2005: The Incubation Retreat

I’ve reached a fork in the road and the way forward is unclear...

At these crossroads, we need to retreat into the small still center of our being and allow ourselves to be gently guided by it.

The projects I have stacked around me have lost their luster. They’re not resolutely calling me.I’m ready for a breakthrough but aren’t quite sure how to proceed...

To arouse our highest Self and astound the world requires sinking into creativity as a heroic act.

Join me for an “incubating” retreat – or what I call an “advance” (because we burst forward) - to be held in the verdant hills of Los Altos abutting miles of open space trails. Contemplative walking meditations into the woods are steps from the parking lot, your cabin or dorm room door.

Advances have helped me so much I want to share the process with friends and their friends. This intimate gathering is limited to 20 per day and the invitation spreads via word-of-mouth.

But I don't have time for vacation...

Rarely have I come away from my vacations – even lounging on the beach for 10 days - with any applicable insights. But within a few days of leaving each "advance" I feel absolutely clear about what to do next - and I'm out of handy waffling excuses. I've conducted previous personal advances in the Grand Canyon and Canyonlands National Park - and this convenient location was one of the most productive - I couldn't believe it was only miles from the heart of Silicon Valley.

Bonus! No temptations. No distractions. Cellphones don't work and there’s no Internet access!

Includes: Breakfast, lunch, and structured facilitator-led retreat materials (plus how-to do your own "advance")

Dates/Options: One day (8 am to 6 pm, no overnight), two day and three day (plus full program) options available between Friday evening, April 8th through noon Tuesday, April 12th. (Friday night thrown in for Saturday attendees, and Tuesday morning thrown in for Monday attendees.)

Cost: $50 one day/ $90 two-day/ $120 entire four-night, three day program. Deduct $15 for each friend that signs up with you at same time – with separate or combined checks in ONE envelope.

Where: Hidden Villa Farm & Wilderness Preserve, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. Founded by Frank and Josephine Duveneck, Hidden Villa is a working organic farm with miles of wilderness trails, creeks and hillsides.

I’M GOING, HOW DO I SIGN UP?

Who Should Attend?

Anyone needing a fresh original approach to their life, business, art, you name it...

entrepreneurs, marketing veeps, CEOs, small business owners, advertising creative directors, inventors, big picture thinkers, visionaries, iconoclasts, filmmakers, screenwriters, writers, poets, sculptors, mavericks, musicians, performers, explorers, pilgrims, philosophers, conductors, yogis, journalists, research directors, designers, developers, activists, ministers, essayists, actors, dancers, synthesist, monks & passionate creators and innovators everywhere

Dwelve 2005: A Participatory, Online Journey

This is your invitation to participate in an online experiment being conducted over the next month.

The success of your next product or service (that includes the product You) doesn’t hinge on simply working harder and longer hours.

Having your manuscript, screenplay, film, better mousetrap, consultancy or whatever hit a striking unmistakable chord in an attention-weary world requires a full journey through the creative process to ensure it's truly remarkable ("remarkable", practically a Seth trademark).

If you are merely following lock-step with your competitors and peers (and certainly don't seek to rise to your potential), you can simply ruminate on a few ideas and then follow best practices. Stop here, do not venture further.

To astound the world, you must sink into creativity as a heroic act.

Over the course of the next month, I invite you to parallel my journey into the creative process (described in more depth in post, "Accelerating Elusive Aha! Moments") to come up with your own breakthrough ideas: whether you desire to flesh out "what's next" in your life path, compose a screenplay, develop the next killer app, hammer out a marketing strategy, or hone a business plan.

I'll be sharing the how-to of the process to keep you humming along in your parallel journey. And I'll be sharing honest in the moment what I'm actually doing myself. No theorizing. And I'll throw in juicy bits (I won't bore you with details) about my personal advances, my slipups, my fears, my story, my outcomes. This is the stuff of (unscripted) reality TV. And I'm the guinea pig. And so are you, if you choose to accept. You'll be in the privacy of your own home, I'm outed in the blog.

The 50,000 foot view of the creative process and rough timeline:

1. Preparation. (I call this stage, Saturation, because I am immersing myself in as much information as I can.) Now until April 8th.
2. Incubation. (Letting the ideas "simmer".) April 9th-April 12th. (If you are able to come to the San Francisco Bay Area, come in person to the Dwelve Live "Advance". I'll also offer tips for a solo incubation wherever you are.
3. Illumination. (The aha! insight.) April 13th-17th.
4. Translation. (Translating your insight into action.) April 18th-24th.

Step One: Commit.

If you ask: Why the heck am I doing this?

I'm stuck. I have a zillion ideas. Some I've shelved since the perspective changing tsunami experience. Others are half-baked. I'm awash in too many ideas. Some are very good. But not necessarily remarkable. And the clarity of where they fit into my life purpose has gotten a bit hazy. This is the only process that works for me to get to remarkable outcomes from my vastly more intelligent and heartfelt essential self. I have no choice.

I thought it would be fun to share tips while in the thick of it. I miss a lot in retrospective reviews. And I once thought I'd write a book about it. But a blog is better format for this and much more fun.

And I want to learn if this creative process works as well for others. I know it works for me. (At least when I'm doing it in private.) Tell me how did you adapt it, where did you struggle, where did you triumph, what were your outcomes...and why. I'd love to hear your experiences (I undoubtedly suspect I won't be able to respond to each piece of email, but I do savor it all.)

Bon Voyage!

(Note: The article above was reposted - original here dated 3/21/05 - from my blog, Crossroads Dispatches. In reverse chronological order from March 21, 2005 through April 24, 2005 on my blog I will be sharing and unfolding all four stages of the creative process.

And trust me you can usually skip the Saturation phase. If you are stuck, it means you've already spent too much time mulling over your problem and are super-saturated. Ripe for an incubating "advance.")

What the Heck is Dwelve!? That's Not A Word...

Yeah, I know it's not a word...yet.

Dwelve?

Yes, dwelve. To delve and to dwell. Or maybe to dwell, then to delve.

Gee. That it works in two directions makes it just about the greatest portmanteau word ever, I think. - via my friend at Communicatrix

Colleen over at Communicatrix originally caught my Freudian slip - er, typo. Since then I've adopted wholeheartedly.

To dwelve defined: The experience of simultaneously deep delving and grounded dwelling.

Here's the full context from her post:

In a recent post, the ever-insightful Zenmistress of Business™ (a.k.a. Evelyn Rodriguez) discusses the role of flexibility—living in the now—in a long and happy life. Jon Kabat-Zinn, whom she quotes extensively in her post, calls it "full catastrophe living": not living your life at the high level of stress we might associate with perilous events, but staying relaxed and in touch enough to take things in stride, no matter what those things are.

As a tsunami survivor, she knows whereof she speaks; as a thoughtful and practiced writer, she speaks it eloquently (as always). At one point, talking about the renewed commitment she wants to make towards fully integrating this skill, she talks about wanting "to dwelve into the book and a face-to-face MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) course."

The Spirit of the Advance

This is not a conference. This is not an event.  The intent is not to schmooze, network, or intellectualize. The intent is to tap into Big Sky Mind and quit censoring the big hairy audacious dreams just behind the dam.

I like how bestselling author Eckhart Tolle opens his second book, Stillness Speaks. This is the spirit of the "advance" as well:

If you come to a spiritual teacher - or this book - looking for stimulating ideas, theories, beliefs, intellectual discussions, then you will be disappointed. In other words, if you are looking for food for thought, you won't find it, and you will miss the very essence of the teaching, the essence of this book, which is not in the words but within yourself. It is good to remember that, to feel that, as you read. The words are no more than signposts. That which they point is not to be found within the realm of thought, but a dimension within yourself that is deeper and infinitely vaster than thought. A vibrantly alive peace is one of the characteristics of that dimension...

What to Bring

Italics indicate item(s) that apply for overnighters only.

• A beginner's mind
• Notebook (or journal or sketchpad - whichever you prefer) and pen/pencil to jot down any insights, thoughts, notes and/or doodle and draw.
• Shoes to hike in. The trails are easy to moderate and fairly smooth, but flip-flops probably aren't appropriate. Extra shoes for lounging.
• Layered clothing. The days may be warm - although that varies depending if we are in the shade, while the nights can be chilly. The Hidden Villa hills are on the shady side, but we'll be also heading to open meadows towards the Rancho San Antonio end.
• Jacket. And the porch is really nice to sit in during the evenings.
• Raingear. Ya never know. The forecast looks good, but we'll be hiking rain or shine.
• Dinner. Just bring a simple meal; if you can do most of the prep work at home great (i.e. already cut up, or only needs to be reheated. There are FULL kitchen facilities - fridge, utensils, pots/pans, plates/bowls, glasses/cups, stove, oven, microwave, ample pantry space - more than you have at home as it's a kid's camp kitchen in the summer.
• Snacks (optional). You might want to bring fruits, nuts, or other munchies. (Plenty of storage space in kitchen.) We're providing breakfast and lunch.
• Water bottle and/or water bottle holder.
• Fanny pack and/or daypack to carry snacks, water, notebook, etc. during the hike. We'll spend a lot of the day time away from the main building out in meadows, etc.
• Camp chair (if you have one).
• Soap, shampoo not provided. Bring your own toiletries including these.
• Towel, sheet (linen for dorms). I believe you can rent towel & sheets, let me check.
• Flashlight (optional). Nice to have; could be handy after dark, but there is sufficient light around the buildings.
• Extra $5 for day use fee for one day folks (only if you are not hostel guest).
• Stuff you'd normally bring for spending a night or two away from home.

ADDED (Update 4/6/05):

• Watch or other timepiece. Sometimes you'll be sent out to hike for four hours - and told to come back at 5 p.m. to regroup.
• Mat, tarp, blanket, whatever is comfy for you. Just something to sit, lie down on grassy surfaces.
• Alarm (optional). If getting up and eating breakfast at 8 a.m. is tough unless you are jarred awake, and starting the "advance" by 9 a.m. each morning, you might want to bring one. (Be respectful of other guests.)
• Candle with candle holder (optional). A nice-to-have for the evenings on the porch.

Of dubious value to bring:

• Cell phones, laptops, other communication to/from the real world: You can bring your cell phone, but it won't work once you wind up the road into Hidden Villa. Staying away from telecommunications, Internet, and newspapers is HIGHLY recommended for full incubation "advance" experience and outcomes.
• Books and other reading material. If you bring a book, bring something inspirational in quality. You probably will never crack it open - that's a good thing.
• Valuables. There will be other people in the area. It's nice not to occupy your mind worrying about potential theft.

Starting and Ending Times

Friday night 6 p.m. Intros and Intentions followed by dinner.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday 8-9 a.m. Breakfast (provided).

Each day 9 a.m. Start advance back up.

That's all you need to know about "schedule" now.

Check-out is 11 a.m. You are welcome to use the trails after checkout, but the hostel's shower and kitchen areas are off-limits after check-out time. 

We'll officially end the advance at 11 a.m. Tuesday, but I myself intend to keep sauntering in a walking meditation deep into the hills the rest of Tuesday.

Directions to Hidden Villa

Happy Buddha's Birthday!!

Hidden Villa, 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022, 650-949-8648

From Highway 280, take the El Monte/Moody exit. Follow the signs for El Monte west. When on El Monte, pass through two stoplights (Foothill College is on your right) and this will bring you to a stop sign. **Make a left onto Moody Roaod. It is 1.7 miles from the stop sign to Hidden Villa Ranch. Just before Hidden Villa's gate you will see a sign on the left side of the street: "Hidden Villa Ranch next left 200 feet."

[If you are coming for one day and are NOT a hostel guest, you will have to pay $5 fee at the booth as you drive up the dirt road.]

Drive into the driveway, and stay on the main dirt road. Do not go to the right until you have gone about 3/4 miles. The Hostel is the first building on your left. [You will pass by other buildings and parking lots.] The office is the first building you will see. 10 min. parking for check-in [and to unload your stuff] is next to the office. Please park in the program parking lot after unloading. Flashlights are recommended for after sundown.