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September/October2008: Great Camp Restoration |
Great Camp Restoration
A Healing Retreat at Sagamore
By Randy Lewis
Nestled four miles down an unpaved road deep in the central Adirondacks is Great Camp Sagamore, a historic landmark with beautiful log buildings on Sagamore Lake. For a decade this tourist destination has become a home away from home for women who meet to celebrate life despite chronic, debilitating health issues.
Hospitals, medications, surgeries, radiation and chemotherapies, second opinions, bills–all are part of the daily lives of those with cancer, fibromyalgia, heart disease, multiple sclerosis or severe arthritis. When people coping with these illnesses go to work, shuttle their kids to and from school, or prepare meals for their families, they must function despite disease and uncomfortable side effects. Loneliness and depression are common. For many, there is no emotional outlet; nobody really understands. Or do they?
After supporting several female friends battling cancer, arts advocate Naj Wikoff, of Keene Valley, developed an idea for a retreat for women living with chronic health problems. The retreat would provide camaraderie with others living with similar stresses and invite participation in the creative arts. Wikoff discussed his idea with storyteller Fran Yardley, from Bartlett Carry on Middle Saranac Lake, and songwriter-historian Peggy Lynn, from Red Creek. Both agreed that this plan could only succeed and were willing to help make it happen. Yardley said, "When Naj called … it took me about three seconds to say yes. "
Wikoff's vision became the Adirondack Arts and Healing Retreat, a gathering held one weekend in July and one weekend in September at Sagamore, in Raquette Lake. Since the program's inception in 1999, it has grown from seven participants to 50 last year.
Cancer and chronic ailments strike at any time, so the women's ages vary. But what they have in common is a hunger that needs fulfilling, a primal urge to be in a healing community. "This is a time to share in a loving and caring atmosphere of women who have medical problems and who bring out an awakening of courage and hope for ourselves, " said Tina Beck, who came for the retreat from New Hartford, near Utica.
The accommodations aren't posh: visitors stay in rustic rooms without telephones or televisions in various Great Camp buildings, each sharing space with another attendee.
The weekend consists of full-group sessions held in a comfortable lodge where the women sit in a circle and talk with one another and listen to songs and stories. Nothing in their healing process compares to the trust that their words are being heard by those who understand. During one gathering Joan Hermann, of Prospect, told about her decision to finally buy new deodorant. She laughed, and said she talked out loud to the deodorant she took off the store's shelf, saying, "I will outlast you! " Everyone nodded and grinned in understanding.
The women share details of their conditions–or they don't. There's no pressure to do anything that makes them uncomfortable. Each is able to choose a workshop taught by a compassionate staff member, some who are themselves cancer survivors. Yardley teaches storytelling; Lynn offers songwriting. "It is a joy to watch women create a synergy with writing and making music in a group, " she explained. "We gain momentum as each woman musters the courage to share an idea, to add her own voice. "
Dream work instructor Wanda Burch, from Fultonville, shows how to use dreams for self-diagnosis and self-healing. She believes dreams help us draw on energy and guidance from deeper sources than the everyday mind. Artists Carol Vossler, of Saranac Lake, and Karen Glass, of Keene Valley, teach mixed-media workshops; massage therapy is offered by Lori Phoebe Benton, of Indian River; and Kathleen McPhillips, from Tupper Lake, instructs yoga.
Of course, if someone just wants to rest and gaze out Sagamore's historic windows or sit in a lakeside Adirondack chair, she is welcome to enjoy those options too.
Delicious buffet meals are served in the dining lodge. The women sit at long tables with new friends, or join comrades from past sessions. Sometimes songs are sung after meals, and laughter is ever-present. The caring in the lodge is as palpable as crackling fire in the fireplace.
During nonstructured time the women wander Sagamore's grounds, paddle a canoe or hike nearby trails. In fall the leaves are a cornucopia of color, reflected in the lake. As the morning mist lifts, early-risers can be seen standing quietly near the shore with a cup of coffee, full of appreciation for the call of a loon, or the sun peeking over the foggy surface. Peace is obvious on their faces.
On Saturday evening women in down vests tromp with flashlights on wooded paths or meet for a pajama party in the main hall to paint toenails, dance, eat snacks, sing or play with Syracuse musician Lisa Davis's collection of hand drums. Regardless of age, these women have a camp experience, a chance to explore whom they really are without the expectations placed on them back home. And they learn from each other.
"I have learned that we all need healing in one form or another, " said Peggy Lynn. "We overcome the isolation of illness by sharing our stories. When I faced my own surgery, I gathered the courage of the women I've come to know at the retreat, and I never felt alone. "
Catherine Westlake, of Deansboro, realized, "I am not alone. We are a community affirming spiritual health in face of physical challenge. "
"I've learned to listen to my dreams, to reach out to a circle of women, to transcend my pain and save my energy for that which is really important, " said Leslie Beth Neustadt, of Niskayuna. "Here I can let go of what weighs me down, have fun and be silly. The strong, vibrant, creative women of the Adirondacks opened their hearts, shared their talent and wisdom, and created a space for us to find ourselves and return home full of light, love and courage. "
Neustadt is on the board of Creative Healing Connections, Inc., a nonprofit organization born from the success of the Adirondack Arts and Healing Retreat and directed by Yardley. The organization, focused on the healing arts, has allowed its founders to dream bigger dreams. Generous support from the Adirondack Medical Center, in Saranac Lake, has helped the program from the beginning; Adirondack Community Trust has also been instrumental.
"Our goal is to provide healing retreats not just for women, but for men, caregivers, professionals and really anyone in need of healing, " explained Yardley. "That pretty much opens up the whole world. "
"We know when we leave [retreat weekends] that anyone could be gone soon, " said Lynn. "We've lost 16 participants that we know of over the years. But we also know that prognosis is not prediction. Some are women who, according to their doctors, should have been dead years ago, and here they are, full of life, encouraging everyone else. What we've learned is that we have no idea, so we'd all better be present in this moment, now. "
For these women, the gifts of a spiritual weekend in the Adirondacks cannot be measured. "What would I do without this infusion of hope and love and courage and appreciation? " asked Hedy Taylor, from Carthage. "My soul doth expand. "
Adirondack Arts and Healing Retreat's next gathering will take place September 19–21 at Great Camp Sagamore, in Raquette Lake. The cost is $299 per person; scholarships are available. To register, call (518) 359-9324 or visit www.creativehealingconnections.org.
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