Welcome to friends of wine women and philosophy (wwp)

Friday, August 28, 2009

Getting to know Lao-Tzu

With Pimms in hand and Lao-Tzu in mind, the 3rd members salon took place last night, August 27th, in Montreal West. Bernice Lamb Senechal was our guest salonniere, and she began the evening by situating Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu amidst his circa 600 BCE contemporaries, Confucius and Buddha. After hinting at how he differed from these two, and giving us a small taste of his approach to life - going with the flow and seeing the world in its many shades of grey - we broke into small groups and took to our activity stations. A tempting excerpt from Lao-Tzu's writings awaited us at each station, and our task was to engage with his controversial ideas around "suppleness," "actionless action," and "living without artifice." We then reconvened for a wrap-up, and mused over suggestions that Lao-Tzu was in fact a woman.

Thank you to Bernice for animating the evening and making it a thoroughly lively, entertaining and enlightening salon. Thank you too to our wonderful members, who never fail to turn up in scintillating form, and always amaze us with their insights and intellect - not to mention their great sense of humour.

The next members salon will be held on Thursday, October 29th - 7:30 to 9pm - and will be animated by Janice Poltrick Donato. Janice will explore the notion of transcendence, particularly in relation to how we see the world and strive to represent it in art.

Make sure, also, to pencil in our special holiday season salon on Thursday, December 10th - same time, same place - and keep watching this space for more details.

We always welcome new members, and encourage existing members to bring along a friend to these events.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

What's going on this Fall...

  • October 2-3, Painting Autumn Colours Weekend
  • October 16-18, Slow Food Experience Cookery Weekend
  • October 23-25, Collective Writing Weekend
  • November 6-8, Self-Promotion from the Inside-Out : Strategies to Promote Your Own Business Weekend
  • November 14, "Making Sense of the Senses" Away Day
  • November 20-22, Belly Dancing Weekend
  • November 27-29, Nurtury Book and Film Club Weekend
  • December 4-6, Tuning-up for the Caroling Season choral weekend
To find out more about these away days and weekends please visit our website: www.winewomenandphilosophy.com

Come and Visit Our Stand at the National Women's Show in Ottawa
  • September 26th and 27th at Lansdowne Park
For more information visit www.NationalWomenShow.com

Design your own Retreat at The Nurtury
  • Stay at the Nurtury from $50 a night...Check out our website to find out more
Looking ahead to 2010...We'll be offering the following activities at The Nurtury
  • discover your inner designer - February 2010
  • digital photography and photoshop - April 2010
  • vegetarian cookery
  • yoga - March 2010
  • soundwalking - April 2010
  • funny girls : who makes us laugh and why - April 2010
  • soap-making - Autumn 2010
  • ...and more!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Open House at The Nurtury on Sunday 13th September and Sunday 4th October, 2009

You are invited to attend wine women and philosophy's Open House which is being held at The Nurtury, in Lakefield, Gore - between 2pm and 5pm - on Sunday September 13th and Sunday October 4th, 2009. An easy drive from Montreal, the day is free and all are welcome to come along to find out more about our beautiful premises and location, as well as about our exciting wwp weekend and Away Day line-up for Autumn 2009. This is an opportunity to see first hand whether The Nurtury would be a suitable place to go on one of our artist or writer retreats, or to host your own retreats, meetings or events. It will also give you the chance to meet some of our salonnières, and to find out if wine women and philosophy is for you. As with all wine women and philosophy occasions, a welcoming glass awaits you.

Please email us for directions to The Nurtury. Make sure to spread the word to your friends and colleagues. We look forward to seeing you there.