Soul Writing Daylong Retreat
A day of connection and creative flow
in the San Francisco Bay Area
“The only thing louder than destruction is creation.” —Andrea Gibson
Saturday, November 1, 2025
9:30am-4:30pm
Skyline Community Church
Oakland, CA
$199 $175 through October 1
Remember to click on the wee shopping cart at the top of your screen to complete the process!
This daylong retreat in a seriously breathtaking setting will help you:
Form lasting connections with other creative, soulful humans
Listen to and express yourself in profound, life-changing ways
Trust your voice and the importance of its message (nope, you are not crazy!)
Give and receive the medicine of kindness and generosity
Express your grief, your gratitude, your longing, your love… whatever wants to make its way through
Take a day off from your inner critic
What is your medicine?
This moment in history finds us in something of a paradox: it is abundantly clear that old ways are falling apart, and there’s very little we can do to stop the destruction.
Have you noticed, though, that in the midst of all this, how so many of us are starting to ask how we can bring light to our corner of the world?
What are the kinds of messages, love, and support that only you can deliver?
Soul Writing is a means to discover this, or deepen your understanding of what you are starting to see.
“Not only did I reconnect with the writer in me, I connected to a more essential part of myself. Soul Writing sessions are potent gateways that have helped me remember the truth of who I am and why my voice matters.”
—Sujata Narayan
We’ll gather at Skyline Community Church…
… a place high in the Oakland hills, photos of which do it no justice whatsoever.
You’ll be encouraged to make use of the grounds—the labyrinth, gazebo, and other cozy outdoor and indoor spaces—to aid your reflection and bonding.
The plan
We will write, and we will share.
We’ll do several sessions of timed writing in response to prompts that invite you to explore your inner and outer landscapes, then we’ll share our work with each other.
We’ll do some of this in a big group, and break into smaller ones for more intimate sessions. You’ll get to know the other hearts in the space in different contexts and varying depths.
With each round we’ll become more trusting of ourselves and our fellow writers. It is truly amazing how quickly this happens.
This is not a ‘writing workshop’ in the traditional sense.
We’re not working on our writing, not trying to improve it. Instead, we’re responding to what is most alive and powerful in us—and having that witnessed and reflected by our friends. Writing is merely the vehicle for this powerful work.
Bring pen, paper, your lunch and some snackie-poos.
Beyond that there is nothing to prepare. You’ll be guided the whole way.
*Though the venue is a church, this is not a religious event. Spiritual, obv., but not religious.
The benefits
Soul Writing groups come to love and trust one another very quickly. (You’ll see.)
It is into this space of genuine kindness that you will bring your voice, your expression.
Before long, you may find yourself wanting to go deeper into your soul, mining for the truth that is there. The courage you find to do this is a genuine, heart-sourced longing to be known, and to know others.
You get the space to connect with your medicine and let it spill forth, and—the really powerful part—be witnessed by others who love you. (You’ll see!)
This is also a chance to form community.
Depending on where folks are coming from, some of our smaller groups may be geographically based so that you can start writing with folks in your neighborhood and maybe set up an ongoing practice of this.
Saturday, November 1, 2025
9:30am-4:30pm
Skyline Community Church
Oakland, CA
$199 $175 through October 1
Remember to click on the wee shopping cart at the top of your screen to complete the process!
Directions, parking and other specifics will be included in your confirmation, but please email joy@soulwriting.org if you have any questions before you register.