From Memory to Meaning Margaret Silf (NEW)
From Memory to Meaning:
Spiritual Storytelling in a Context of Global Upheaval
A six‑week online retreat with Kardia and Margaret Silf
Wednesdays beginning 7th October to 11th November at 7pm AEDT
Cost : $595
This brand‑new retreat with renowned author Margaret Silf offers a space to pause and reflect. In a time of profound global change and uncertainty, many of us sense the need to listen more deeply—to our own lives, to the stories that have shaped us, and to the larger story unfolding in our world. From Memory to Meaning is a six‑week contemplative retreat inviting participants to explore their personal stories as sources of wisdom, resilience, and hope for these unsettled times.
Through weekly gatherings and small‑group conversations, we will reflect on the stories we carry—those shaped by family, culture, nation, and faith—and how they continue to influence the way we live, love, and respond to the world. Together we will explore how story can both bind and divide, heal and harm, and how we might consciously choose to live into more truthful, life‑giving narratives. Along the way, we will engage questions of global upheaval, cultural change, religious transformation, and the human longing for both certainty and mystery.
Six‑Week Retreat Journey
Week 1 – Our Stories of Wisdom
Exploring the life stories that have shaped us and the legacy they are forming.
Week 2 – The Power of Story
How stories influence who we become—and how they can be reshaped.
Week 3 – Cultural and Global Narratives
Reflecting on the stories we inherit from culture, nation, and community.
Week 4 – Questioning the Stories We Are Told
Noticing distorted, manipulative, or harmful narratives—and imagining change.
Week 5 – Religious Story and Mystery
Exploring faith, doubt, certainty, and mystery in our spiritual journeys.
Week 6 – Living Forward with Integrity
Finding solid ground in changing times and discerning the legacy we wish to leave.
This retreat is especially oriented toward those in their ‘wisdom years’, or anyone who feels drawn to reflect on legacy, meaning, and the spiritual inheritance they are shaping for future generations. Using reflection, storytelling, prayerful listening, and creative expression, participants will be supported to discern what offers solid ground in a shifting world—and how their own lived stories might become a quiet but powerful antidote to the more harmful narratives of our time.
Comprehensive handouts and reflection materials will accompany each session, with space for personal prayer and integration between gatherings. This is an invitation to listen deeply, speak truthfully, and discover how memory can become meaning—for ourselves, and for the world we are helping to shape.
Download a booking form From Memory to Meaning Retreat Application
Margaret Silf has travelled widely in her work as a retreat director and speaker on Ignatian spirituality and is especially interested in the power of story and how stories shape us and our world. Her latest book ‘The Wisdom Years’ was published in 2025 and she is now working on a more personal book reflecting on own life story. Her other books include Landmarks (published under licence in the US with the title Inner Compass), The Other Side of Chaos, Simple Faith, Sacred Spaces,100 Wisdom Stories and Soul Journey. Margaret is a mother and grandmother and now lives in Scotland close to her family.
Photo of book by Hannah Olinger on Unsplash