Water is sacred. We all have a responsibility to love and protect water.

This Season of Creation retreat will explore our relationship with water through creative writing, ritual, and deep reflection. We will also explore what threatens water while recommitting ourselves to water-protecting actions in our local communities.

Date & Time:
Saturday, September 19, 2026, 10am- 3pm

Cost/Sliding Scale:
$40 - $60 - $80

Schedule:
10am to 11:15: Arrival, Introduction & Workshop 1: Writing our Water Stories
11:15am to 12pm: Workshop 2: Carrying the Water Ritual & Labyrinth Walk
12pm to 1: Lunch
1pm to 1:45: Contemplation: Observing the Waters Around Us
1:45pm to 2: Break
2pm to 3:30: Workshop 3: Becompming Water Protectors: Meaningful Actions
3:30pm to 4: Closing Reflections

Presenter Blair A. R. Nelsen has served as Executive Director of Waterspirit since our founder retired in 2019. Blair received her Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School and her BA with honors in Environmental Studies from Brown University. She brings a multi-faith, international perspective to this work after living in Venezuela and Brazil for many years. She currently represents our sponsors, the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, at the United Nations in addition to her Waterspirit ministry duties in New Jersey. In 2022, Blair co-authored the Climate Pastoral Care Course, available on Waterspirit’s website. She is a Good Grief Network Community FLOW Facilitator who has also been trained in climate café facilitation by the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America. Additionally, she also holds a certificate in Climate Psychology from the California Institute for Integral Studies. Blair is a frequent writer and speaker about water, climate change, climate anxiety, spirituality, mindfulness, and contemplative practices. She is fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Waterspirit is a spiritual ecology nonprofit that informs, inspires, and empowers people of all beliefs to deepen their consciousness of the sacredness of water and the interdependence of all Earth’s systems. Waterspirit educates, advocates, and collaborates in order to promote the individual transformations and systemic changes needed to sustain water and all life on Earth. Waterspirit, rooted in principles of integral ecology and environmental justice, stresses the importance of the right to clean, safe water for everyone. Waterspirit’s activities are animated by active hope. Waterspirit was founded in 1998 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Learn more at http://www.waterspirit.org.