As an EO member, I am used to having once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Recently, my Forum held our annual retreat in Rome, Italy. The eight of us really came together as a group and bonded in a fashion that I’ve never seen before. We went from taking care of ourselves individually to coming together as one by our last evening.
All of us in EO have completed the Lifeline Exercise. But, how many of us can say we performed the exercise while sitting atop a sun-drenched, rooftop veranda, overlooking the Tiber River with the smell of espresso wafting across the warm spring breeze?
Sometimes you have to travel a long distance to see what is right in front of you. Completing the Lifeline Exercise while situated in the heart of ancient Rome, I thought of and discussed things that haven’t entered my consciousness in years. Others in my Forum, some of whom I know as well as anyone in my life, had the same observation. Shifting hemispheres to an environment where everything was new opened our senses and transformed the experience.
During the retreat, we experienced one once-in-a-lifetime event after another. We journeyed through the ancient Jewish Catacombs, a site completely off limits to the public. We grabbed flashlights, bribed the groundskeeper and slipped through a small opening in a stone wall. Our guide, Katie Parla, a specialist in underground Rome, brought to life how an ancient civilization celebrated life and death two thousand years ago.
Our adventures continued with a private after-hours tour of the Vatican Museum, which ended at the Sistine Chapel. The guide, who personified the word “passion”, created a truly amazing experience for us by bringing Michelangelo to life in a fashion that animated the chapel’s ceiling. Through the guide’s enthusiastic narration, I instantly began to appreciate Michelangelo’s personality—from devotion to sarcasm—and watched how it played out in his frescos.
As a result of our Roman retreat, we could see and feel our Forum grow closer. The culture and language barrier forced us to work together and depend on one another. We gained strength and unity. The trip eventually came to a close, and we returned to our normal lives … but not before reflecting on the effects of a Forum retreat that will linger for a lifetime.
Check out Katie's blog entry about this amazing retreat!