The power of connection

I spent last week camping in a field, with around forty family and friends. It’s an annual event that we’ve been hosting for over twenty years now. Ironically referred to as “Rhodestock” in the early years, the name stuck - and Rhodestock has become the most important and non-negotiable fixture in our calendars each year. 

It started as a one-off camping weekend to celebrate the year my husband and I turned thirty. We put up communal spaces (a borrowed tipi and a party tent from Argos), cooked stew for everyone over an open fire, and had a fancy dress party, complete with music and disco lights.

Most of all, it was an excuse to gather all of our favourite people together and hang out with them for a whole weekend - at a time in our lives when the flurry of friends’ weddings had started to slow down, life had got busier, and opportunities to spend quality time with friends and family were becoming scarcer.

One conversation I had with a friend around the fire in that first year of Rhodestock stays with me to this day. We were talking about how rare and special it was, for us all to be together like this, for a whole weekend. And he said, “If you did this every year, I think people would come”.

And that was the start of Rhodestock.

Over the years, our Rhodestock regulars have become like family. My connection with each Rhodestock family member is now life-long and unconditional. We are connected by over two decades of shared experiences and memories. 

We’ve watched Rhodestock babies become adults, who still join us each year. We’ve watched our Rhodestock family grow, as regulars invite their own friends - who then become regulars themselves. We’ve watched strangers meet at Rhodestock, bond over the weekend, and become lifelong friends.

Rhodestock itself has also grown and developed since that first gathering. It is no longer an event that my husband and I provide for others. It is a beautiful co-creation that effortlessly evolves, as each Rhodestocker brings their own unique offering, their own piece of magic, into the mix. 

These days, the tipi (which we now own) is adorned with gorgeous handmade banners and bunting, and is host to yoga and breathwork sessions. Sound baths. Drumming workshops. Live music (from ukuleles to didgeridoos). Not to mention a very special opening ceremony each year. All provided by gifted and creative Rhodestockers.

Gone is the Argos party tent. Instead, my husband heads up a team of industrious Rhodestockers, who put up not only the tipi, but other beautiful communal spaces (new this year was a huge stretch tent bought from a pub garden clear out).

And the food! What started as a pot of stew for dinner and bacon sandwiches in the mornings has evolved, thanks to talented and willing Rhodestockers, into an absolute feast that lasts all weekend - from the Saturday barbecue and Sunday night dinner, to restaurant-worthy lunches, an afternoon pancake stall, and breakfast sandwiches delivered direct to your tent by our younger Rhodestockers.

Rhodestock is my biggest annual reminder of the power of connection. Connection lies at the very heart of the Rhodestock experience. This is no party with small talk and forced social interaction. It is, as one Rhodestocker put it, a heartfelt gathering. It is a whole weekend, in a field, with generous, joyful people. It is an opportunity to genuinely connect with others - whether that’s through conversation, through shared activities, through sitting in comfortable silence together, or simply through being present in the same magical space with others.

I recognise in Rhodestock the same thing I see in every yoga class I teach. In every coaching space I hold. In every retreat I’ve been on. In every circle and ceremony I’ve sat in. Rhodestock is a space where there is no judgement. No expectations. It is a space where you can drop the masks and social identities and simply be your own true, authentic self. And in a space like that, interactions with others become connections - between the deeper, truer parts of each of you.

Rhodestock is proof, borne out over twenty years, of how powerful this kind of collective, authentic connection is. Powerful because we each get to be seen and heard for who we truly are. Powerful because we can each let go of any sense of needing to hold it all together on our own, and instead accept the help, support, and love of those around us. Powerful because we get the opportunity to extend help, support, and love to those around us. Powerful because we are reminded of just how much love, generosity, and joy exists within others and within ourselves.

Just like every circle and ceremony I’ve sat in, Rhodestock is co-created by every single person there. Not just on a practical level - but on every level. Each person brings their own unique self and energy to Rhodestock. And because they are in a space of love and acceptance, they connect with the energies of everyone around them. And by doing so, they help to create and hold the magical space, the energetic field, that we all inhabit for the weekend. 

There have been plenty of times, over the years, when we’ve wished we could just stay, indefinitely, in the Rhodestock idyll. And what we’re really saying, I think, is that we want more “Rhodestock” in our lives. More times when we can take off the masks and connect, authentically. More chances to be in and to hold spaces of love and acceptance. More opportunities to co-create magical spaces that fill us up with love and gratitude. So that we are sustained and supported, as we step back into and navigate our daily lives, as we respond to whatever is happening in the world around us.

And I know it’s not just me and my Rhodestock family that need more of this in our lives. More than ever, we all need these magical spaces of love and acceptance. We all need the chance to co-create heartfelt gatherings.

And that’s exactly what sitting in circle offers: a space where all that is asked of you is your presence. A space that you co-create simply by being there. A space where you can genuinely connect with others - and with yourself.

There's a reason we're witnessing the rise in popularity of circles and intentional gatherings of all kinds right now. Because we could all do with more opportunities, more often, to experience the power of genuine connection 💜