For anyone who has ever wondered whether anything is still happening beneath the surface
Some things need winter
A POCKET GUIDE TO HIDDEN GROWTH
PAUSE
About This Guide
This little guide is an invitation.
Not to have all the answers.
Not to think positively.
Not to hurry through winter.
Simply to notice.
To pay attention to the quiet work that often goes unseen.
To wonder whether perhaps more is growing beneath the surface than we realise.
Take your time.
There's no rush.
WONDER
Winter is often treated as something to endure until the real living can begin again. We rush through it. Distract ourselves from it. Wish it away. But what if winter has something to teach us? What if some of the most important things happening in our lives are currently invisible? What if growth isn't always obvious? What if uncertainty, waiting and becoming have value of their own?
NOTICE
Not everything that is growing looks like growth. Sometimes it looks like waiting. Or resting. Sometimes it looks like starting over when you thought you'd be further along by now. It can look like changing direction. Letting go. Asking better questions instead of finding quick answers. Sometimes growth takes longer than we expected. Sometimes it even feels like we've been buried. But perhaps that isn't the end of the story. Perhaps some of the most important things happening in your life are simply taking place beneath the surface.
AND YOU?
As you read this, which of these feels closest today?
â—‹ I'm waiting for something.
â—‹ I'm learning to trust the unseen.
â—‹ I'm beginning again.
â—‹ I'm growing in ways I don't yet understand.
â—‹ Something in me feels quietly alive.
â—‹ I'm putting down new roots.
â—‹ I'm not sure yet.
GATHER
If any of this felt familiar or resonated with you, I'd love to continue the conversation.
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Some questions are simply better explored together.
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You're warmly invited to The Winter Gathering
THE WINTER GATHERING
WHAT GROWS IN THE DARK?
SAT 18 JULY
5pm - 8:30pm
Together we'll explore hidden growth through stories, music, creativity, conversation and community.
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Expect an artist's reflection, a live chat show featuring special guests, performances, creative participation, shared food and meaningful conversation.
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Part gathering. Part conversation. Part creative adventure.
3 Ellingworth Pde, Box Hill
(Box Hill Baptist Church Building)
This is not a religious event, BHBC has generously offered us their home
FIELD NOTES
I have begun to suspect that growth is a terrible show-off.
We celebrate blossoms because they're easy to see.
But roots have been doing the hard work all along.
Perhaps your roots deserve a little more credit.
FIELD NOTE #1
Hidden does not mean absent.
Slow does not mean stuck.
Quiet does not mean empty.
Winter does not mean dead.
Some of the most important work in our lives happens long before there is anything to see.
Trust the underground.
FIELD NOTE #2
If you cannot yet see the flowers,
look for the roots.
If you cannot find the roots,
trust that they are still growing.
Not everything that matters announces itself.
Some things simply keep becoming.
FIELD NOTE #3
The world celebrates blossoms.
Roots rarely receive applause.
And yet one would never exist without the other.
Don't mistake invisibility for insignificance.
FIELD NOTE #4
Perhaps you are not behind.
Perhaps you are underground.
There is a difference.
The first is something to fear.
The second is where new life begins.
Before you go ...
When you leave here today, notice one thing.
A tiny beginning.
An unexpected reminder.
Something quietly alive.
A sign that growth isn't always obvious.
You might be surprised by what you find.