If we are connected on Facebook, then you might already know this by now, but just in case you haven't heard, I want to tell you about Gatherhaus.
My dear friend Katrina Hannemann and I started an online community called Gatherhaus just over a year ago. I am honored to work with this incredibly talented photographer and call her my friend. (She wrote beautiful words about Gatherhaus from her own perspective on her blog over at Studio Laguna that you should absolutely go read. Right now. It's lovely.)
For me I find it difficult to put into words what Gatherhaus means to me. Mostly what I experience is phrases that capture emotion. Phrases such as:
Wild Imagination
Creativity
Simplicity in life and soul and spirit
Intentional choices
Stories
Homesteading
Back to basics
Inspiring
Community
Gatherhaus has been and is a place where all these things have the opportunity to live. Katrina is widely known as an award winning wedding and family photographer. It's her grove and her and her husband are really good at it. But she is more than her business allows.
I am mostly known as a writer and international speaker on faith, life and expectations and urban adventures. But there is more to me that my brand has created.
Gatherhaus is our creative community that can hold all these dear things that we love and value that don't fit into our individual businesses. We longed for this space, but it didn't exist and our need for this unique voice wasn't being met.
So we set out to create a platform where this fluid idea could be birthed and grow into what it is supposed to be. We knew that if we were faithful to the artistic process and listened to our hearts and passions for life, Gatherhaus would reveal itself to us. We don't have a business plan for her. We don't have a strategic map for what does or doesn't fit her. It was birthed out of our hearts and thirst for beauty and community and stories that inspire. So we are letting her grow into what she will be, and we are simply the vessels that get to explore how unique and lovely she is.
For me, the best part is that the one of Gatherhaus' goal is to live out your dreams to inspire others into the same. So its inception and creation is in actually its purpose.
So with her purpose in growing motion, instead of telling you what Gatherhaus is, let me tell you what I love about her and the things she makes me feel.
For me, Gatherhaus has a way of stripping off all the unnecessary excess and it brings it back to the heart of who we are. People. Community. Learning. Creativity. Inspiration.
Our soul and being connected. To each other and to the earth.
I feel as a culture we have lost much understanding of the world and ourselves to convenience. With Gatherhaus we try to find our back to those time honored skills and traditions where the knowledge you gain and the lessons you learn come more from the journey than the finished product. The last piece
The articles we write focus on these priorities through story telling.
The folks we interview are people who have stopped to reflect on their life and found their own rhythm in how to do life. They get off empty hamster wheel and in their own way, carve out the life that they dreamed of living. They are inspiring in their courage and by finding them and telling their story, we want to affirm their bravery and let people know what they are doing.
The gatherings we host are intended to build real connections between people who might not otherwise have known each other. We desire to be bridge builders, creating insightful, fun and artistic communities.
The farm. Oh the farm makes me swoon. The place where all of Gatherhaus can come to life. A labyrinth orchard. A studio to host classes. Acres and acres of land for kids to explore. A blank slate to recharge your batteries. A wood where fairy adventures can happen. Farm to table dinners. Traditional life skills can be acquired and people can be together. Retreat. Explore. Reset. Be at peace. Laugh deep. Learn well. Oh the farmstead.
Articles. Gatherings. Inspirational people. Primitive education. Simplicity for depth of life. Purpose for meaning in all things.
it's Gatherhaus.
I would be honored if you went and checked it out. It would make me happier than a star on a cloudless night if you subscribed. Gatherhaus is my greatest adventure and achievement of 2015.
Thank you for listening!