Feb, March & April Community Weekends, 2025
Community Weekends Are the Heartbeat of Just Love
At Just Love Forest, our Community Weekends are more than just events, they’re the lifeblood that keeps this sacred land alive and thriving. These gatherings are where hands meet soil, laughter meets labor, and shared meals meet shared vision.
Through service days, we tend to the trails, gardens, and spaces that hold our retreats and through low-cost, accessible offerings, we create a space where everyone can belong, regardless of their financial means. It's this blend of sweat, soul, and shared stewardship that sustains our forest sanctuary
If you feel called to be part of the deeper, ongoing community building here, not just visiting, but helping weave what it becomes, we invite you to join us. These weekends are where real relationships form, where the forest speaks back, and where the work becomes devotional service to community.
Come as you are. Come when you can. But if you truly want to be part of the heart of this place, start here. The forest remembers every hand that helps it grow.
Community Reflections | February–April 2025
The Sacred Work of Tools, Earth, and Light
Winter didn’t keep us still. February found us shoulder-to-shoulder in sacred service - laughing, sweeping, and sorting through decades of dust and disarray in our tool sheds (yes, even the old screws no one wanted to throw away.) We did the holy work of organizing chaos, and we even raised a brand new shed, giving our tools a proper home worthy of the labor they support.
In March, the forest welcomed silence. Mitch Poe returned to guide our first meditation overnight retreat of the year, with Bala holding space Saturday morning. Gentle hours stretched out under the stars and in the yurt, reminding us that rest is radical, and stillness is deeply alive.
We turned our attention then to the land transforming what once was the solar garden into our future sustenance garden. With bare hands and strong backs, we hauled felled trees and stumps, clearing space not only for sunlight but for future nourishment.
Later that month, we gathered for a forest therapy day with Bala & the soul-nourishing sweetness of cacao. Natalie Volta and her husband Roberto, recently arrived from Switzerland, led us in ceremony that honored the heart, the land, and the power of presence. The forest held us with tenderness as we drank and shared in communion with one another and the Earth.
And in April, the work turned electric. Quite literally. We dove into Phase 2 of our solar power journey by digging trenches, laying conduit, and wiring up the system with inverters and controllers. Back in November we built the frames and raised the panels. Now, the whole system hums. Just Love Forest’s power is 100% off-grid and 100% renewable. It’s a dream come true.
Massive gratitude to Fred and Z, who carried this project from vision to voltage, gifting us with oversight, expertise, and tireless hours. Their work will now live in every light we switch on, every meal we cook, and every warm shower we take - powered by sun and community love.
itsHere’s to organized tools, solar power, and the garden of life we’re planting together over time. Join us May 9th - 11th and summer solstice weekend in June!
