The story of The Grove.
It all began with an encounter of a wounded snake on a hike in Chautauqua.
Eric, Will and Ronnie (the dog) were on a hike in Chautauqua when they encountered a wounded snake on the path. Both felt deeply moved by this serendipitous occurrence and felt like it was a powerful metaphor given to them by nature. Throughout history and across cultures snakes have served as symbols of healing and medicine, shedding their skins and symbolizing regeneration and rebirth. To Eric and Will, the wounded snake symbolized the “wounded healer” and they felt a powerful connection to the snake, and the idea that we are all “wounded healers” with our unique medicine to offer the world, and we all have wounds in need of healing, regeneration and rebirth.
Will had been dreaming of a center for healing and wholeness where practitioners can come together to offer their gifts to the community and he knew just the location where it could start, 1235 Pine Street. Eric and Mary’s own healing journey and passion for accessibility and affordability led them to help start The Grove as a non-profit with Doug, Rachel, and Will.
We invite you to help write the rest of our story.
We want to hear what the community needs and reimagine healing and wholeness together. Healing and Wholeness are loaded words and their definitions can be as unique as we are. Is healing even a trigger word? We can relate to that too.
As we started to dream, new ideas formed as ways to reimagine healing and wholeness:
Imagination as medicine
Laughter as medicine
Friendship as medicine
Death as medicine
Nature as medicine
Community as medicine
Music as medicine
What is healing and wholeness to you?
When asking around, one person replied “Turning our suffering into meaning”