Joanie Peters
The Guest House – Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
SHe may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
I bring to the practice of spiritual formation and spiritual direction a deep longing to evolve into being a better lover by practicing radical hospitality with myself and others, welcoming home all my bits, touching everything and letting it touch me. The inward loving of ourselves is an odyssey and for this we often need help to orient and see our golden self that is hidden from us. Spiritual direction is a commitment to inner clearing and self-observation, showing up curious and quiet to experience a sacred holding to reflect and open to the world of spirit, to expand and grow the holy spark that we came here with and to Share it. We are a part of something more than we are observing or believing something.
I have come to recognize the essentialness of living an unhurried life and to have a reverence for g radual growth – slow is a speed, and cultivating patience is a gold mine for peace in eternal proportions. Spiritual direction is an encounter with mystery, hidden and revealed in millimetres and glimpses through imagination, metaphor, story, art and questions.
… May you find what you are looking for and what’s looking for you find you.
A basic teaching of the Enneagram is that the human person is a self-developing organism; that is to say that we come into this world with our potential unrealized, and it is our work to continue growing through choice all through our lives. We are capable of undergoing a very real transformation, thereby realizing our true selves. — – Carol Ann Gotch and David Walsh
Traditions; Christianity, Buddhism, open to and learns and grows from other faiths, wisdom teachers, artists, poets, history, fiction novels.
Ongoing Learnings; Enneagram. Archetype and Spiritual Direction study and Work.
Formal Education; Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Manitoba and Graduate of the Prairie Jubilee Program for spiritual directors.