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Greetings!
Blessings for this new year, 2026!
How wonderful that we are constantly given opportunities to begin again! We can use holidays (like New Year's Day) to mark the start of something new. We can also use seasonal changes, time markers (week, day, month), or even the next breath (for the meditators among us).
I've been smitten in recent months with how John O'Donohue discusses new beginnings. In my worn and much-beloved copy of his To Bless the Space Between Us, he says:
"In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge."
And a few stanzas later:
"Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground...
A path of plenitude opening before you."
How will you begin again this year, this day, this hour? How will you step more firmly onto the deep ground of your being? What shape might this new beginning take for you? Whatever it is to which you commit a new beginning, I hope you see the sources of courage and compassion that hold you as you do so.
Join us in a few weeks:
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Feb. 2nd (Mon.) Compassionate Spiritual Ecology: A Virtual Gathering via Zoom Free (register to get access) 7:00 – 8:30 AM Pacific
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Feb. 4th (Wed.) Harvesting the Natural Beauty of Interfaith Engagement via Zoom Free (register to get access) Offered in collaboration with World Interfaith Harmony Week – A United Nations Official Observance 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
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Feb. 6th (Fri.) Web of Life Event: Reverence for Air Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island Free Hosted by the Bainbridge Island North Kitsap Interfaith Climate Circle 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
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Feb. 7th (Sat.) Wild Church Suquamish United Church of Christ Free 10:00 – 11:15 AM
May you spend this wintertime finding, receiving, and then giving out of the "plenitude opening before you."
Blessings,
Jennifer Wilhoit
Founder, TEALarbor stories
Important Dates
Learn more about all of these here.
Registration for most paid events closes one week prior to start date.
TEALarbor stories' new Spiritual Ecology Training is available with rolling admissions and one-on-one mentorship. Join us now!
Feb. 2nd (Mon.) Compassionate Spiritual Ecology: A Virtual Gathering via Zoom Free (register to get access) 7:00 – 8:30 AM Pacific / 9:00 - 10:30 AM Central
Hosted by Jennifer Wilhoit (TEALarbor stories Spiritual Ecology Training Founder/Mentor) and Brooke Gilley (Naturalist, Spiritual Ecology Training Graduate, Forest Bathing Guide)
Come gather with us for ninety nourishing minutes every first Monday of the month for an exploration of Compassionate Spiritual Ecology. Together we will engage the many ways of embodying Spiritual Ecology values, practices, and rituals to enhance our everyday connections with the sacred in the Earthy wild within and outside of us. Please bring a journal, pens, and a sacred-to-you item to each gathering.
Feb. 4th (Wed.) Harvesting the Natural Beauty of Interfaith Engagement via Zoom Free (register to get access) Offered in collaboration with World Interfaith Harmony Week – A United Nations Official Observance 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific
Gather with us to explore the rich terrain of interfaith unity and collaboration through guided creative and nature-based practices consistent with your own spiritual or faith path. This is not a sectarian offering; it is intended to support people of all faiths (or none) in finding and deepening their relationships with others through peaceable, interdisciplinary practices that they create consistent with their specific beliefs. Participants are requested to bring: paper, colored writing pens, photos of nature, objects from nature (leaves, cones, flowers, shells, rocks, soil, water, etc.). Everyone is welcome. Limited to 100 participants. Register in advance for this meeting.
Feb. 6th (Fri.) Web of Life Event: Reverence for Air Bethany Lutheran Church, Bainbridge Island Free Hosted by the Bainbridge Island North Kitsap Interfaith Climate Circle 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM Pacific
Feb. 7th (Sat.) Wild Church Suquamish United Church of Christ Free 10:00 – 11:15 AM
News
Read more about all of these here (or click the teal fonts below).
Throughout the month of October 2025, I was delighted to have four of my handmade artist books on display at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts (BAC), a collaboration between Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) and BAC. We displayed our work there in celebration of the Bainbridge Book Festival.
I'm so happy to tell you that my third book, Writing on the Landscape, is now being sold at Bloedel, our lovely local nature reserve.
The Spiritual Ecology Training has rolling admissions and one-on-one mentorship. You can join in anytime. Join us now!
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TEALarbor stories' newsletters offer inspiration, encouragement, beauty; inform about the connection between story, the natural world, and all things writerly; and promote professional writing, guiding, and peacemaking services.
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