Letter from Judy January 2023

Happy New Year.

We want to send you New Year Greetings and to wish you all the best for 2023 from ConsciousCafe.

ConsciousCafe was launched eleven years ago to bring people together for conscious conversation and connection. We are a not-for-profit and our aim is to help raise consciousness, one conversation at a time. Over the years we have been told by different people in different places that ‘ConsciousCafe nurtures my soul’ and we love that description of what we provide. We offer a range of events, both online and in person locally where people can meet and connect. All our leaders are volunteers, giving their time very generously to create connection and to help expand your thinking about consciousness, the unseen and the beautiful mystery of the world we all inhabit together.

2022 has been an exciting year for ConsciousCafe. You have all gradually been coming out of lockdown and we have had the opportunity to meet with many of you in person again. We have enjoyed many lively reunion events with people greeting each other with great affection. ConsciousCafe friendships run deep.

At the same time we have continued to offer wonderful interactive presentations from excellent speakers during our online global zoom events. We have welcomed Nick Haines, Jan Day, Joanna Bristow-Watkins, Paul Fenton-Smith, Nick Williams, Dr Dina Glouberman, Dr Sharon Blackie, Christa Mackinnon, Roger Green and Jessica Adams during this year. You have responded to all of our events magnificently and if you missed any of them, all the recordings are on our website, together with many past recordings, for your continuing enjoyment.

At the end of November we held a Retreat for ConsciousCafe leaders. 6 of us were there in person and we were joined by 4 online. It was a fabulous occasion, offering us all the chance to talk about and share our experiences of ConsciousCafe during this remarkable year in human history. We see ConsciousCafe evolving as changes evolve in society. Our astrologer friend Jessica Adams tells us we will soon be moving into a very different energetic time. People will come together much more in groups to help and support one another. Community will become much more important to each one of us. We see ConsciousCafe offering new opportunities for people to develop together and support one another through the changes that are going on all around us. When you have a safe space to discuss and share your feelings, thoughts and ideas with likeminded friends, you are truly blessed. ConsciousCafe is offering you that opportunity with our online events and drop-ins and with our live events where you can greet old friends and make new ones.

During 2023 we launched a new ConsciousCafe group in Edinburgh and Perth which will be continuing next year. Thank you Violet Dalton and Moraig Henderson who are offering a wide range of talks, walks and events in both Edinburgh and Perth. 

We also had to say very fond farewells to three of our lovely colleagues who have been leading groups for several years now, Anne Jones, Hanna Krasnodebska and Karen Brodie. Anne launched the ConsciousCafe New Forest group several years ago and it has been hugely popular bringing so many people together for exciting conversations, connections and events in the Burley area. Anne will be focusing her time and energy on other projects now but we know she will be staying deeply connected with ConsciousCafe and we aren’t saying a real goodbye to her just yet. 

The New Forest group has now become the Totton (near Southampton) group under the leadership of the amazing and dynamic Jackie White and she is continuing to offer a wonderful range of events. Hanna has been leading our friendly Singapore group for several years now and is only discontinuing it because she is emigrating. Maybe she will launch our first Eastern European group. We are waiting to find out where she will eventually land. Massive thanks to Hanna for holding the space for so many wonderful conversations and events in Singapore where we have made many new friends. 

We also very much miss Karen Brodie who took over our Oundle group just before lockdown and offered regular weekly online conversations on a variety of topics throughout the last three years. Karen’s generosity and creativity have become legendary and we really miss her enthusiasm and her wide knowledge.

We would also like to thank Sheila Steptoe and Chrissie Astell along with Simon Buckland all of whom led ConsciousCafe groups during this last twelve months. We are also missing our lovely friend Nadia Menichetti who led our lively group in Rome.

We continue to offer several very popular groups which will be growing during 2023. We offer a massive thank you to all our group leaders – Cora in Canterbury, Gina in Skipton, Ruth, Theresa and Dave in St Albans, Emma in Newbury, Debbie in Geneva and Marianne in Basel. I run the London group which has offered outside events this year and together with Gina, we have put together and hosted all the ConsciousCafe online Global events.

Finally thank you to Charlotte, Tess and Joyce for their administration skills and conscious care for all that we do. You are all shining stars and we are very grateful for your support.

The planet is going through a time of massive change and each one of us has a part to play. We send all of you New Year greetings for a very happy and healthy 2023 and we hope that life will become easier for you in 2023 and that you will find more love and more happiness in the next twelve months than you expect. We look forward to meeting you at our events and to raising your spirits alongside your consciousness at ConsciousCafe in 2023. For a glimpse of what is in store for the world in 2023 and for the opportunity to think about what you would like to create in 2023, do sign up now for our January events listed below. We will be posting more information about future events very soon. If you would like to launch and lead a ConsciousCafe group yourself please contact judy@consciouscafe.org

We hope 2023 will turn out to be one of your best years ever.

With love,

Judy and the ConsciousCafe Team