Category: Conferences

Annual Gay Spirit Visions conferences.

GSV 2024 Spring Retreat Post 2

Spring Retreat

Spring 2024

On The Precipice

May 10-12, 2024

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC

3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


Bunk House (shared room up to 4 people): $200.00


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy): $230.00


Single Occupancy (private room): $370.00


For All Rooms add Mandatory GSV program fee: $35.00

Register Now!

Hello Siblings,

I am getting very excited about the 2024 Gay Spirit Visions Spring Retreat. I am looking forward to seeing you back home at The Mountain. My hope is we will experience a collective connection and become energized and empowered.

The questions we often ask when finding ourselves on a precipice are often:

• I feel like I am only reaching half of my potential. What am I missing?
• Why does it seem to be so difficult for me to understand this challenge?
• Am I afraid that I may fail and/or get hurt again?
• Does my fear of the unknown keep me from taking the leap?

I want us to talk about these questions, and other questions that you may have, so we can face some of our fears and learn from one another.

What you can expect during our time together:

• Workshops that include ways to manage precipice moments and challenges
• Full group and small group discussions
• Pop-up theme groups, workshops, and activities
• Unstructured “free” time for yourself. Self-care is key!
• And more!

If you are interested in leading a workshop, discussion group, or activity that is connected with the Spring Retreat theme, please reach out to me via email, and let’s talk about what you would like to offer. My email address is [email protected].

Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is April 26. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is April 26.

Please note that GSV currently plans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the gathering.

Let’s gather together and listen to one another, share ideas and experiences, and support each other. I hope to see you at The Mountain.

Sending love and light,
Darin Topham
GSV 2024 Spring Retreat Convener

Register Now!

GSV 2024 Spring Retreat Post 1

Spring Retreat

Spring 2024

On The Precipice

May 10-12, 2024

The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC

3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


Bunk House (shared room up to 4 people): $200.00


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy): $230.00


Single Occupancy (private room): $370.00


For All Rooms add Mandatory GSV program fee: $35.00

Register Now!

Dear Siblings,

This spring we look at that pivotal point where we could be facing great change. What are the possibilities? Do I have to do this alone? What is my potential? What do I deserve? You deserve it all …

Our Winter Meditation gathering reminded us that our life journey has taken us on many paths. Sometimes those paths have been amazing and other times those paths may have taken us to challenging situations. Often those times may find us on a precipice. This can be very scary and feel very lonely. We may not know what to do or how to move forward.

You may have recently faced your own precipice, or maybe you are on a precipice right now. It is indeed a time of tremendous growth and definite change. One reason it may feel so difficult is because we feel we are facing this alone. However, remember this – you are not alone! You have found your tribe, and we can negotiate the precipice together.

This spring let’s discover together how we can find strength, love, and support. These precipice moments are critical and set us up for positive growth. We will talk about what we see as we stand on our precipice, how we can stand together, and what we have learned from those experiences. All of this can be so much easier when we realize we are not alone. WE can do this. If you are interested in providing a workshop that is connected with this theme, please reach out to me via email and let’s talk about what you would like to offer. My email address is [email protected].

Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is April 26. Our hope is that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is April 26.

Please note that GSV currently plans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the gathering.

I am so looking forward to seeing you at The Mountain for our Spring Retreat.

Sincerely,
Darin Topham
GSV 2024 Spring Retreat Convener

Register Now!

GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Post 3

Winter Meditation

Winter Meditation 2024
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation: Celebrating the Journey
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation

Celebrating the Journey


January 12-14, 2024


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $210.00


Single Occupancy (private room) $350.00


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00

Register Now!

Dear Lovely Folks,

This is my last letter to you before the Winter Meditation gathering. We are in the final stages of planning the weekend and we have a good weekend ahead of us. I am hoping that those of you who are feeling called to be there will register soon. I know that if you choose to join us, there will be an entire community waiting to welcome you.

As you may recall, the theme for the weekend is Celebrating the Journey. As I have been fleshing out this idea, I’ve been able to bring together a group of fellow GSV siblings to offer their services around this theme. The following people will be taking you on workshop journeys.

Pete Cossaboon – Journey of the mind. Pete will be offering a meditation time with a bit of a twist.

Mahan Kalpa Khalsa – Journey of body and touch. Mahan Kalpa will help you dance through your chakras.

Greg Fields – Journey of movement. Greg will lead you in yoga.

Jonny Gray – Journey of creation. Jonny will help you create elder beads for the 2024 Fall Conference.

Before we get to those workshops, I will lead the group in a workshop delving into our individual journeys to reflect on where we have been, where we are, and where we might want to go. To wrap everything up, Chaser Robinson will lead us in a Rumi workshop that will hopefully send us on our way in contemplation, peace, and love.

At the end of Saturday, I invite you to celebrate your journey and yourself by attending a Celebratory Mocktail Party. Mocktails will be served. I ask that you show up in your version of mocktail attire whatever that means to you. I’ve got myself a fabulous frock for the occasion. Music will be provided by our own DJ Mackie Mack.

I ask that in addition to what you need to pack for your comfort and for navigating The Mountain and the climate, you also bring something to write with and in which you will use in the workshop that I am preparing for you.

Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29.

Please note that GSV currently plans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the gathering.

Registration is now open via the GSV website, so please join us. Private rooms may be available on a limited basis. Please note that the registration deadline for this gathering is January 6, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

I look forward to seeing all of you who choose to come. I await your arrival.

Love,
Rev. Dr. Pork Chop
Scott Dillard
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Convener

Register Now!

GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Post 2

Winter Meditation

Winter Meditation 2024
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation: Celebrating the Journey
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation

Celebrating the Journey


January 12-14, 2024


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $210.00


Single Occupancy (private room) $350.00


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00

Register Now!

Dear Fellow Travelers,

I hope that you are all doing well after the Thanksgiving Day festivities and are looking forward to the upcoming holidays. Each year we travel through this same journey. It can seem like a familiar thing year after year. However, if we look over the course of our lives, we realize that even these familiar yearly touchstones have meant different things to us at different times. That is what I am proposing we explore at our upcoming Winter Meditation gathering at The Mountain, January 12-14, 2024.

During our time together, we will celebrate the journey that is our life. We will look at the past, the present, and a proposed future. Participants will be guided through an examination of the good and the bad of their lives, the joyful and the sorrowful, the comic and the tragic. We do this as a journey of appreciation and acceptance of our individual journeys and that may help us see ourselves as unique and valuable beings in this world.

In addition to the workshop celebrating our journey, we will move toward integration through work on the mind, the body, and through action. You will have the opportunity to participate in meditation, touch, yoga, and craft-making. At the end of the journey, you are all invited to a Mocktail Party. We will be serving mocktails and socializing. I ask that you dress for the event. Whatever says “Mocktail Party Attire” to you will be appropriate, wonderful, and appreciated.

Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29. Our hope is that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29.

Please note that GSV currently plans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the gathering.

Registration is now open via the GSV website, so please join us. Private rooms are available on a limited basis. Please note that the registration deadline for this gathering is January 6, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. ET.

I do hope that you will be coming to join us in exploring your journey, hearing about the journeys of others, and celebrating those journeys as a community.

I look forward to welcoming all who feel called to take the journey.

Love,
Rev. Dr. Pork Chop
Scott Dillard
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Convener

Register Now!

GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Post 1

Winter Meditation

Winter Meditation 2024

Celebrating the Journey


January 12-14, 2024


The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC


3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)


Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy) $210.00


Single Occupancy (private room) $350.00


For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00

Register Now!

Dear Siblings,

I am pleased to invite you to come to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center for the Gay Spirit Visions 2024 Winter Meditation. I am looking forward to seeing those of you who are called to this gathering. The Mountain is a magical place, and each season holds its own charms. Winter at The Mountain for me is about cozying up in The Lodge or in a cabin with my tribe and contemplating the stillness of the season.  

This year the theme for the gathering is “Celebrating the Journey.” You will be asked to come ready to contemplate your life journey, the good, the bad, and the indifferent.

An added treat this year will be a Mocktail Party on Saturday evening. Participants will have their choice of several mocktails. There will be music, schmoozing, and sparkling conversation. I envision each of you showing up in your version of fashionable mocktail attire.

Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29. Our hope is that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is December 29.

Please note that GSV currently plans to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 guidelines in effect at the time of the gathering.

Registration is now open via the GSV website, so please join us. Register early so that The Mountain will know how many cabins to heat up! Private rooms are available on a limited basis.

Scott Dillard
GSV 2024 Winter Meditation Convener

Register Now!