Activity & Vigor in the Sea Lion Moon 🦭☀️
Sneak peeks: Flamekeepers & Neighborhood Chaplain! + Reflection Jam on Sunday
01/ This Sunday (Tomorrow) – Sea Lion Moon Reflection Jam (6/1, 5–7pm) ✍️
In the Sea Lion Moon (May), California sea lions are prominently visible here in the SF Bay Area, basking on docks, feeding on seasonally abundant fish, and beginning migrations to breeding grounds to the south. This period of vigor and activity marks the peak of the Season on Flourishing. Join us for a moment of reflection in this busy month.
Join us for our monthly Reflection Jam! Take stock of the past month through guided journaling and sharing, accompanied by cozy lofi beats. Honor your experiences with thoughtful prompts and close with a simple intention ritual. More details here.
“Lovely, beautiful time to be, to pause, to let all of those unfelt things be felt, unnamed moments to be spoken.” —Participant
“Worth the two hours and worth coming back.” —Participant
🗓 Sunday, June 1, 5–7pm, 📍550 Laguna (The Commons) — Register here
02/ Sneak peek: what’s coming soon 👀
We’ve been hard at work preparing an exciting new chapter for the Contemplarium – and we can’t wait to share what we have in store! You’ll be hearing much more about all of this soon, but we’re excited to give you a sneak peek into two things:
🔥 Calling the “Flamekeepers” among us.
Do you...
Find yourself naturally supporting others in through life's challenges?
Volunteer to serve others in your neighborhood through emotional support and human connection?
Have friends who've asked if you've considered being a therapist or life coach, but that's not your career calling (for now at least)?
You might be what we call a "Flamekeeper" — a person who tends the "flame" of the human journey for the people around you.
Flamekeepers like you are the heart and spirit of our local communities — essentially fulfilling the work of our mission at the Contemplarium to honor the human journey in our neighborhoods. So naturally, we want to raise up and honor the work of Flamekeepers — whether you serve as a hospice volunteer, a peer mental health counselor, a teen mentor, or any of the myriad ways Flamekeepers give back to our local communities.
But the hard work of Flamekeeping is often uncelebrated and, paradoxically, lonely. In conversations with Flamekeepers like you, we’re hearing a desire for (1) building skills for emotional support and learning from experienced experts, (2) being in community with other Flamekeepers who share your values, and (3) getting a stronger sense of personal growth through your service to others.
Does this describe you? Let's be in touch. We’re brewing up exciting ways to bring Flamekeepers together and care for the important work you do — so keep your eye out for more on this soon!
💛 Neighborhood Chaplaincy Pilot
Imagine you’re stuck in the hospital. You’re constantly being shuffled around by doctors and nurses and technicians, all focused on treating your body. In this vulnerable moment, when sometimes it can feel like all you amount to is a object to be measured and tested and fixed —
What if there was someone whose sole job was to be a human being to you as a human being? Someone whose sole job was to be there, not to fix or advise or treat, but to be present to — to witness, to honor — your human journey in all its complexity?
It turns out that most hospitals have that special someone: the interfaith chaplain. Over the past half century, this has developed as a professional vocation dedicated to the art of being present to anyone in the hospital, providing emotional and existential support regardless of the careseeker’s religious beliefs or affiliations.
Interfaith chaplains go through rigorous, intensive training — working deeply on themselves — to be truly present to the experience of those they care for without judgment or agenda.
Now — what if we took this professional out of the hospital, and put them into the neighborhood? What if every neighborhood had a professional chaplain whose sole purpose was to be present for the human journey?
We just received a grant to run a neighborhood chaplaincy pilot exploring just this question. Obviously, we’re beyond excited to see where this goes. We’ll update with more details as we get this going!
03/ What else have we been up to? 💫
🪔 Ongoing programming. We’ve wrapped up our Journey Group pilots at The Commons, with much gratitude for the space we created over five sessions the last 11 weeks to reflect and hold each others’ experiences and perspectives. We also had our Heron Moon Reflection Jam last month, which one participant called “a timeboxed moment to think, reflect, share, be vulnerable.”
(We are grateful to partner with The Commons to host this event in their incredible space. The Commons is a modern-day town square for communal meaning-making, personal discovery, and self-expression in the heart of San Francisco. Learn more about The Commons here.)
05/ Get timely updates through WhatsApp 📣
Want to hear about Contemplarium events and opportunities on WhatsApp as they approach? Join our announcement group at this link here. (It's easiest to open the link from your phone.)
That's it for now!
As the sea lions proudly take up space and prepare for their summer journeys, may we be graced with a spirit of vigor and abundance. See you around!
—Seanan, Founding Director of the SF Contemplarium
The San Francisco Contemplarium is a neighborhood institution for honoring our human journey, through contemplative events & programs, installations, and community. Visit sfcontemplarium.org to learn more. See previous newsletters at sfcontemplarium.substack.com.
This all looks so incredible! I love living in the Midwest, but I do miss having opportunities to participate in community-building activities like these.