When Debi and Bob Kolb started dating, their Friday dates always ended with meditations at the Gainesville Retreat Center.
The couple planned to get married at the center in January after being engaged for two years until the COVID-19 pandemic changed their plans.
Rather than a ceremony outdoors amid burning incense and candles, the two married at Bo Diddley Plaza. They didn’t want the elegance of fine china, but the elegance of simple clarity, Bob Kolb said.
“Let us vow to remember that all that appears, will disappear in the midst of uncertainty,” their vows read.
Despite the shifts in their circumstances, the two said Zen Buddhism offered them solace.
Through the pandemic and political strife, many have discovered sitting and existing in stillness soothes their occupied minds. Gainesville’s meditation centers Karuna Cottage, ChayVeda Integrative Ayurvedic Healing Arts and Gainesville Retreat Center have similarly seen a pique in interest.
Nancy