Big Stone House

09/20/2026

New-old spiritual practices with like-hearted people, bringing meaning to and growing good in everyday life. A new season of Sittjng on Sundays starts September 20. Curious to know more (or give this kind of thing a try)? Click on the link in our profile for more info.

09/18/2026

A class. A conversation. A chance to connect with things that matter with a group of like-hearted people…all for the purpose of cultivating a bit more human and a lot more good in the day to day things of life. So good.

Read more at: www.bigstonehouse.org

06/24/2026

We snapped pics of Doc Naismith’s statue (a local boy done good), the glorious cupcakes right before they were wolfed down, the landscape around Almonte and a coffee cup from the morning after the event…but no pics of The Courage Experiment proper. Too busy being in it, it seems. So you’ll just have to picture it yourself: the sighs and laughs, the stories that bubbled up and all the times people said, “Good God, I needed this.” We’re doing it again in Almonte this October…stay tuned for that info. For now, though? We’re still basking in the glow if the weekend, paying all that good stuff forward. And it really was good…

06/19/2026

Ready to go.

06/02/2026

https://substack.com//note/p-200175507?r=1lwm7j&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

“Is it possible you could live your whole life and die without ever having met the person that lived your life?” - Thomas Merton

05/27/2026

Three more weeks: part class, part practice, part exploration, all good. Read more about The Courage Experiment on the Big Stone House website. ❤️.

05/13/2026

It’s The Time of the E here right now: Easter, endings, everything, experience, encourage, and e. e. cu***ng have been jump offs for the Sitting on Sundays crowd to explore and experiment with ways to be and bring a bit more human into the day to day. Next month we’re keeping the e’s coming: engaging folks in the new-old teachings of the enneagram as a way to grow good and cultivate connection wherever they are however they can—two things that are oh-so-needed these days, eh? Exciting stuff.

04/10/2026

Maybe you’ve taken an Enneagram assessment. Or read a book. Or listened to a podcast on this new-old system, trying to figure out your number. Or maybe you thought about doing those things, thinking (hoping?) it would help you better understand why, what, and how you react to stress, deal with conflict, communicate with and care for and click with people (or not).

Those are all great reasons to explore your number, study the system…but the Enneagram is so much more than a test, a number, a label, y’all. It’s a reminder of how we are wired for relationship—real, live, up-close-and-personal relationship. And it’s a great resource for growing more “we” in the world: Community. Connection. Belonging. With people who see the world the same way we do. And with people who don’t.

Like so many traditions with religious and spiritual roots, the Enneagram started out as an invitation to slow down, listen close, pay attention and grow good. It wasn’t a checklist of details or a promise for a quick fix. The Enneagram was a prompt to wonder and ponder what it means to be human—a way to see our less-than-life-giving habits with grace and get a glimpse of our true-blue gifts, too…and grow more good in the process.

Angie Arendt and Peter McGaugh have been teaching the Enneagram in this old(er)-school, good-growing, relationship building, “we”-tending kind of way for thirty years, providing all kinds people in all kinds of settings the space and support to wonder and ponder with others to not only find their number (which is a great start, BTW!) but to plant seeds for grace and gratitude and belonging to grow in all kinds of ways, too.

Curious to know more? You can read more on the Big Stone House website (link in comments). And in a few days you can read more about our new project there, too. “The Courage Experiment” is part Enneagram, part practical practice—a way of making these numbers mean something in the day-to-day. We’re rolling out this project this June in Almonte, Ontario…hope you can join us there!

03/10/2026

Sitting on a Sunday. This Sunday. In person. (Yup—in person). Near Ottawa, Ontario (closer to Almonte, but not far from Ottawa). It’s a retreat of sorts. A time for reconnection, remembering what it is to be human, reconsidering how to do so on any given day. Growing good, we are. Growing good is a good thing, you know. ❤️.

02/18/2026

Yup. An experiment in courage. The wholehearted kind of courage, that is. The kind that makes for good community, connection, care. There will be stories. Some studying, too. Some pauses to get still every now and then, too. Maybe some singing? For sure we’ll find ways to grow good. And there will be pie. The Courage Experiment kicks off June 19-21, 2026 in and around Ottawa, Ontario. You might want to be there. It’s going to be oh so good. More info coming to the website soon.