By Emily King-Nobles ’25

About a month ago, I returned from a 23-day intensive experience at Holden Village, in the North Cascade Mountains. If you haven’t heard of Holden (https://www.holdenvillage.org/), I highly recommend checking it out and experiencing it for yourself. In living with the goal of “welcoming all to the wilderness,” Holden focuses on creating a deeply intentional and inclusive community. For my group of sixteen from St Olaf, it was a time to unplug, reconnect with nature and reflect on what it means to have a “living faith.”

Holden changed me. It changes everyone who steps off the boat and journeys up the mountain. While it is impossible to express the full experience, here are some insights I returned home with.

1. Put the phone away. There is peace waiting on the other side of that screen. Within the 23 days being phone free, the spinning of my brain slowed. I was able to sit in silence longer and be present. Conversations were easier. I was happier. I no longer felt rushed or that I was missing something every second. I fear that phones were introduced without many boundaries in place. Our generation will face those consequences. I left Holden feeling angry over the experiences my phone has taken from me and with a yearning to truly live again. That feeling is addicting. If you have ever thought, “shouldn’t there be more to life than this,” trust that feeling. It might just be on the other side of the screen. Upon returning home, I was immediately tempted to reconnect to technology. Those algorithms are good y’all. While being a college student in 2025, I have not found a way to rid technology from my life, so my focus has been on boundaries. Sabbatical from social media. No phones in bed. “Do not disturb” in class, at meal times and on walks. I can’t say I am perfectly living into these, but they are what is working right now. It’s hard to break up with the screen y’all. But I do think it’s time. Time to return to the land of the living. 
2. Multitasking doesn’t exist. This is a hard one for the girl who walks around the house brushing her teeth to save two minutes of time. Yet, the reality is our brains cannot focus completely on two things at the same time. We’re losing part of an experience. I am challenging myself to break the habit of multitasking with food (besides sharing a meal with friends, of course). For when I sit in front of a movie or write a paper with a snack beside me, I am not intentionally engaging in the act of eating. I believe we’re called to live into the holiness of simple acts such as eating, and mindfulness is a great way to start. 
3. A walk is always a good idea. Alone, with friends, strangers or non-human kin. Our bodies are born to move and desire time to just be in nature.
4. Practices are crucial in a faith life. While the relationship with Jesus is crucial, it requires intentional practices. This moves beyond 10 am on Sunday mornings. At Holden, I found meditation, walks, slow mornings, communion, knitting and stargazing to all be practices that encouraged my faith life. We cannot live our whole faith in mountain top moments, and practices are what can keep us grounded.
5. Where our food comes from matters. The food philosophy of Holden is incredible, and I encourage you to read more about it: https://www.holdenvillage.org/food/. As Christians, we are called to care about the hunger and climate crises in the world and to acknowledge that the way we eat can contribute greatly to both of those. The next time you buy something at the grocery store, I encourage you to think of the journey that item took to get to your fridge. Who worked to grow the food? Are they being treated fairly? What carbon footprint did transporting the food leave behind? Did a living thing die for it? Are the ingredients ones I can pronounce? Am I being ethical in my waste? Here’s a few practical ideas to try: composting, gardening and farmers markets, plant-based diets, ordering, preparing and eating food intentionally and with others. 
6. Move slower. Have transition space throughout the day to think and be still. When possible, arrive at the appointment a little earlier. Have time for boredom and creativity. 
7. There is joy in new skills like knitting and games. There is something invigorating about learning new skills and having time for play. Partaking in things that are intentionally not for productivity or success, but for joy. Do you have space in your life for these? 
8. Meditation takes time to practice, but is good for the soul. I was so not prepared the first time I walked into the meditation room at Holden and engaged in straight silence for an hour. No guided prompts. No lazy-boy couches. Just a pillow, the ground and the people beside me. My mind was a roller-coaster. But slowly over time, it became more natural. It began to feel like a warm hug and a practice I noticed the absence of when I missed a day. 
9. Take time to be child-like. When was the last time you twirled down a hill? Or fed your partner ice cream? Or danced to 2000s hits. Let your inner child come out from time to time! Find the whimsy again.
10. It’s about the people. Always has been. Always will be. 
11. God is always there. We just don’t have time in our schedules for Him to show up. I have spent many nights being angry with God, feeling as though He was so far away. What I realized in slowing down my life at Holden is that it is hard to hear God when we make no time to listen. The burning bush is unfortunately not the preferred method of communication these days. Practically for me, this looks like making time in my day to pray, but also making time in my day to listen. That is easiest for me in the mornings over a cup of coffee or on a nice, long walk. 
12. Christianity is my native language. The pastor at Holden used this metaphor and it resonated with me. I believe strongly in the power of interfaith dialogue and gain a lot from practices in other religions. I have struggled understanding why I continue to come back to Christianity if I believe in the beauty of spiritual diversity. Yet, Christianity was the backbone I grew up with, a practice I share with my family and a way I have engaged with the world for 23 years. I can learn other practices just as I can learn other languages, and the language of Christianity can be my roots.
13. Find a partner with similar values. It is ok if the language is a little different, but those values will be the foundation. 
14. Nature and animals are our kin. We were created to be in community with the natural world, not to rule over it. Allow awe and wonder of creation to fill your soul as you interact outside. 
15. Letters are an underrated form of communication. Some of my favorite memories from Holden were writing letters and then running to the mail room every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to see what letters had come. There is something in the delayed gratification that makes it all more beautiful. 
16. Ritualize hellos and goodbyes. Everyone in Holden gathers when a bus arrives or leaves the village. There is laughter and tears. It is a beautiful part of life to feel the pure joy of a friend arriving or the deep sadness of one departing. That is truly living.  
17. Genesis 2 is a response to the scarcity mindset of the world. Much of our anxiety comes from feeling like we will never have enough: enough time, enough money, enough friends, enough success, enough followers, enough purpose. In Genesis 2, we see God create a world of enoughness. In His creation, there is enough for us all to thrive. To live into this, we need to build a better community with the nature, plants and animals around us. 
18. Make time to be interrupted. I love a good plan for the day, but whimsy comes when those plans can change. May we live, expecting plans to change and having time for the people around us.  
19. Rest is Holy. I’m sure this isn’t news to anyone, but how often do we live it? For the past year, I have been looking into travel gap programs and searching for the next great adventure. What I realized in my time at Holden is that I was not truly excited about any of those. Rather, I have an adventurous spirit and thought it would make the most sense for the next step. I wouldn’t be “wasting my 20’s” if I was out on some great adventure across the world. Yet, as I slowed down enough at Holden to truly listen to my soul, I heard her say that she was tired. Emotionally, physically. It has been a heck of a four years, but it’s time to land for a bit. Not forever. There is much to do in this world. But for a bit. Find a job. Live with some friends. Take in the simplicity. It’s ok to rest. 
20. Jesus went down from the mountaintop and so must I. As we journeyed across the country on a multi-day train trip to return to the midwest, I felt an ache for the life I was returning to. Holden is an oasis. Many of the anxieties and dangers of normal life do not exist there. It can be addicting. Jesus had his time away, too. But, He sets an example in never staying on that mountain top. There is work to do. Lives to change. Beauty to create. The mountain is beautiful, but the call of our lives is to bring parts of the mountain home with us to a deeply hurting world.

This list nowhere near encompasses all that Holden is, but is a start. If you have experienced the village, I would love to know your takeaways. Until then, may you find time to rest and live in whimsy this week. 

The views in the post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lutheran Center or St. Olaf College.