Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Goff.
Hi Robin, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
It all began in 1994, with a 100-year-old, messy farm south of Lawrence, Kansas, where some courageous souls joined me to rehab the old horse barn. Several years prior, I had experienced a small voice in meditation saying, “Build The Light Center.” With that directive, I set out over several years searching for a place with acreage, off the beaten path, to create a healing environment. I had been working as a chaplain and Stress Management Consultant for KC Hospice and was teaching in many venues about holistic healing. I yearned for a space that felt more conducive to teaching holistic practices, that wasn’t an interior room with fluorescent lights and away from nature. So I learned to create sacred space that drew a person closer to their inner self and created a sense of peace—starting with 35 land-locked acres and a big creek that could cut off many of those acres when at flood stage, further development was limited. The old barn gradually became more like a lodge with several rooms for overnight stays, and the upstairs loft provided one large meeting room. Many different teachers were offering a wide range of workshops and retreats focusing on personal and spiritual development. Groups of countless traditions and cultures have offered ceremonies and teachings focusing on alternative healing modalities. There have been many programs for grief support, including loss by suicide. People from all walks of life and persuasions have always been welcomed to gather around various facilitators to celebrate, learn, and grow. The farm gradually developed permaculture gardens and alternative construction projects of many kinds. About five years ago, TLC expanded onto an adjacent 60 acres, allowing for more creative expansion. We are currently exploring an addition to the old barn and developing a site plan for the entire space. Big dreams include more space for guests and staff, expansion of our vegetable gardens, and a program to weave animals into our healing methods. We offer retreats and respite for people to come away into the embrace of nature.
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I had never lived in the country when I began and had no idea what I was stepping into. Alone at first, I set about cleaning up the space and old buildings. Gradually, some people with more excellent knowledge joined the magical process of restoring old buildings. There were no deep pockets, so every step involved manifesting whatever was needed. Miraculously, funds would appear when I had no idea how things could continue. As a nurse and hospice chaplain by background, I had no business education or skills and so set about learning by the seat of my pants. I had envisioned creating a nurturing space for healing ourselves. Still, I quickly discovered that I also had to run a business to this day, which is my most considerable growing edge.
Floods, storms, or droughts often presented challenges beyond anything I had ever encountered, and neighbors baled me out as I learned the ropes of managing an old farm. My current husband showed up when I bought the farm and has been a fantastic help and teacher. There has been a great deal to learn about heating with wood, watering plants with rain water, and learning a lifestyle closer to the earth. Growing food is an ongoing learning process as the climate changes rapidly—various helpers through Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, a work-exchange program. To date, all of our Care-keepers, including me, are volunteers as we all learn alternative ways to live in a world less focused on money as the bottom line. It is our overarching goal to have Love as our bottom line.
I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My education at Duke University School of Nursing was highly science and research-based. When I was newly employed, running a surgical unit, my mom was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Fifty years ago, there was no hospice or palliative care available. Cancer treatment and pain management were not like they are today, and so my mom suffered through some brutal years. Terminally ill, physically wasted, and suffering from acute pain, she ended her own life by jumping out of the window of her hospital room. That one act changed the trajectory of my life. I never went back into hospital nursing and set out on a quest to discover how to manage terminal illness better. I can tell this story now, after decades, as the most significant learning experience of my life. Yes, it was devastating at the time, and for many, many years to follow, but from where I sit now, I can see that her death catapulted me into a tremendous learning curve. I think of my work in between nursing and hospice chaplaincy, exploring with people how to heal through the path of grief, which is part of every healing journey. Grief is pervasive in our world now, with countless people dying in wars, storms, and famine. The grief we carry now for our planet resonates with the grief from the loss of close friends and family members. TLC offers a wide range of alternative ways of addressing grief and loss. My master’s degree is in Values from San Francisco Theological Seminary, which had the stated purpose of creating Change Agents.
That is an apt description of my role in today’s world. TLC functions under the umbrella of Unity Worldwide Ministries, and as such, we hold the perspective that our thoughts are creative. The most significant changes needed at this point in our evolution are at the level of consciousness. The American lifestyle needs to be creating happiness or fulfillment for many people. Striving for material abundance as our measure of success can leave a person empty. Our work is to regain a sense of wholeness and connection to ourselves, others, and the spirit. This time is an opportunity to discover and recover ways to live in tremendous respect and harmony with the Earth. My intention for 2024 is to offer many different facilitators to assist with that deep sense of conscious connection to the voice within each of us and the voices of the plants, animals, and Mother Earth herself. Therein lies the great hope for assisting one another to thrive through the years ahead.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I liquidated everything from my divorce settlement to buy the TLC property outright. The bank was not interested in lending to a Hospice Chaplain/Stress Management Consultant, so I bought the farm with every penny I could squeeze out of every investment, even my IRA. I bought the farm with cash and then was able to go back to the bank to borrow the land as collateral. So I was on a broken-down old farm with many big dreams but no money. Two days after I signed the papers at closing, my father called and asked if I had received my check. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said my brothers and sisters had already received their checks. He was referring to an unexpected inheritance from my Uncle Ted. Because I was in the middle of moving to the farm, I received my check after I had signed my life away to buy this old farm alone. That was the first angel who stepped into my life to help me take the following steps along my journey. It was my first lesson, of many, many lessons, to trust fully in the abundance provided when we step out with clear intentions to serve the good of our world.
Pricing:
- Pricing for lodging can be found on Airbnb or Hipcamp.
- Pricing for workshops and retreats are offered with a suggested range
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lightcenter.info
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_light_center/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightcenter.info/
Image Credits
Robin Goff
