Summer 2024 Adult Vision Fast
June 28 -July 5 Blue Ridge Mountains | Harpers Ferry, WV
It's been a week since I shared my story with our circle of guides and fasters, in the wilderness of the Blue Ridge Mountains. "The story is not told to lift you up, to make you feel better, or to entertain you, although all those things can be true. The story is meant to take the spirit into a descent to find something that is lost or missing and to bring it back to consciousness again.”― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Indeed, my spirit was taken into a descent, and I found lost and missing pieces of myself. If anyone reading this is seeking the same, I would love to share my experience with you. Maybe it's for you. Maybe it's not. For me, the gifts I was given through this experience are priceless, and inspire me to do the work that I need to do to ensure they are never lost again.
Janette
Adult Vision Fast Participant
Shed those old, frozen thoughts...
Before going on the fast, I was drowning in the past experiences that were preventing me from seeing the beauty of my present. I never thought I would be able to forgive those who had wronged me or even myself for mistakes that I had made. Replaying past experiences in my head endlessly, I could never truly appreciate what was happening in my life without regret, fear, and anxiety.
With the help of the guides and other fasters, I was able to love myself again. I found a strength that I didn’t know I had. For the first time in my life, I was able to believe the things that people have been telling me all along– I am resilient, and I am able to shed those old, frozen thoughts that were holding me hostage to my past.
The fast changed me. Or maybe I changed myself. Either way, I’m not the same as I was before the fast. My heart is full of love and gratitude– for myself, for the group that I shared this experience with, and for the challenges that are yet to come. Not a day has passed when I have not thought about my experience with Sourcing the Fire, and I know that I’ll be carrying it with me, always and forever.
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Hannah
Adult Fast, 2018
Bryan Bieniek
Bryan is a teacher, artist, mentor, and Wilderness Rites of Passage guide. Since 2012 he has led Vision Fasts for youth. The positive success of the youth fasts led to the creation of Sourcing The Fire in 2017. The organization was co-founded with Mike O'Donnell to serve
the greater community and offer Rites of Passage to adults.
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Bryan also facilitates various retreats for both high school and college students, as well as individually mentoring people on Day Walks on the land. Bryan graduated from Prescott College where he earned an M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
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He teaches full time as Department Chair of the Fine Arts at Mt. St. Joseph High School, and adjuncts with the School of Art Education, Maryland Institute College of Art. While he is not teaching or in the woods, he will likely be found reading, or spending time with his wife and young boys.
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Mike O'Donnell
Mike has been guiding Wilderness Rites of Passage since 2014. After experiencing his own vision fast with the School of Lost Borders, he felt called to help facilitate the fast for others. He is committed to the deep personal and spiritual experience the Vision Fast has to offer. Mike's background is in Theology. He has a Master's in Divinity and spent seven years in religious life as a Dominican Friar. He currently teaches classes in Scripture, Church History, Social Justice, and Philosophy at Mt. St. Joseph High School.
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If you are interested in helping us support this amazing work, we would appreciate any and all donations you could make. One thing we hold true is the belief that this work should and must be accessible to all who feel drawn to it, and for some that means they need outside financial help to participate. If you can help support others on their journey, please make a donation via the PayPal button below. Thank you.