Healing Stories and Songs-Wisdom Keeper Week

Week of March 1, 2025

Wisdom Keeper Week

Healing Stories and Practices

During Wisdom Keeper Week we celebrate my father’s birthday by exploring one of his core teachings. To enliven and enrich our week-long community, it is my honor to invite presenters who embody these teachings.

My father ‘s life was anchored in ancient wisdom traditions and he found ways to connect these teachings to everyday life.  He often taught through stories and believed that our connection to nature was essential to a healthy, happy life.  This week we flow from Apache to Ayurveda, a great circle of wisdom teachings to help us be discerning in what we harvest, how to care for the land and our bodies, how to embody a spiritual life that gives us purpose and peace.  Indigenous elders will share their traditions and stories with us.  We will forage together and learn how to take only what we need.  We will create beauty and thank the mountain for her protection.  We will sing our sorrow and our joy and live in the paradox of celebrating life in the midst of grief and uncertainty.

More Information About The Week

 

Sarah Livia Brightwood Szekely is President and CEO of Rancho La Puerta. For forty years she has designed the gardens and cared for the wildlands around Rancho La Puerta. As the keeper of the vision and long-range planner she has preserved the soul and culture of Rancho La Puerta while bringing new programs and reviving the earth honoring traditions that inspired the early years at Rancho La Puerta. She is also President of Fundación La Puerta through which she guides Rancho La Puerta’s non-profit work in the region. In 1984 Sarah established Agricola Tres Estrellas, a diverse organic farm that provides food to Ranch La Puerta’s guests year-round and in 2007 she designed and opened La Cocina Que Canta, a culinary center and cooking school to teach commitment to healthy eating and to embrace the joy of harvesting and cooking in community. She is the daughter of philosopher and visionary Edmond Bordeaux Szekely and community organizer and philanthropist Deborah Szekely, the founders of Rancho La Puerta.