Thanksgiving at MEA: Gratitude & Awe in the High Desert
Nov 24 - Nov 29, 2025 in Santa Fe, USA
Led by: Mary Hofstedt, Darby Rose
Is a partial scholarship for you?
We believe in making personal growth and education accessible to everyone, which is why we offer partial scholarships on a needs-aware basis for many of our programs.
These scholarships support individuals facing financial challenges, including — but not limited to — members of underrepresented communities. If financial stress might prevent you from attending a workshop, we encourage you to apply.
Partial scholarships, provided through the Association for Growth and Education, are limited to 2–3 seats per workshop and reviewed in the order received. We recommend applying as soon as possible, as scholarship decisions are typically confirmed 90–120 days before the workshop date.
Thanksgiving Reimagined: A New Tradition Rooted in Gratitude, Wonder, and Connection
This Thanksgiving, celebrate what truly matters most with gratitude and intention, in the awe-inspiring beauty of Santa Fe’s high desert.
Here’s your chance to join other inspired community seekers for a five-day gathering that offers space to pause, reflect, and celebrate everything you have to be thankful for.
(Which is always more than you may imagine.)
Whether a traditional Thanksgiving celebration with family or family isn’t in the cards this year – or you’re looking for a new tradition to enjoy with people who make you feel seen and appreciated – this is your invitation to mark the season in a way that feeds your body, mind, heart, and soul.
Across five days of perspective-shifting experiences such as morning circles, desert awe walks, creative rituals, shared feasts, and heartfelt conversations, you'll find a community that understands that family can be chosen – and the most meaningful celebrations are built on presence, not performance.
This is Thanksgiving reimagined: no expectations or obligations. No pressure or stress. Just space to feel, reflect, and celebrate what’s real.
Savor a Thanksgiving feast that feeds more than your appetite. During this five-day retreat, you’ll discover what happens when like-minded souls gather to celebrate abundance, trace life's meaningful moments, and plant seeds for what's next. Experience five days of gratitude and awe that will change how you see Thanksgiving forever.
What you’ll gain
Through a blend of intentional practices, a light curriculum, and immersive ranch experiences, you’ll come away sated and transformed in all the right ways.
Come prepared to be warmly welcomed whether you arrive solo, with a friend, or partner – the MEA community awaits.
Meet your faculty
Mary Hofstedt
MEA's Content Facilitator
Mary Hofstedt is an experienced non profit leader and educator who strives to advance a more hopeful, caring, and connected world.
Her passion for youth and community development led her to work with Challenge Success, spearhead a coalition of youth and adult partners to develop a community arts center, and serve for over a decade within Stanford University’s John W. Gardner Center.
She recently wrapped up a mid-career break to reflect on purpose, study Spanish, travel, and volunteer with whale shark research and conservation. She serves as a Senior Associate with Heartwise Learning and is thrilled to be based back in Santa Fe after a 22 year stint in the Bay Area!
This workshop is for you if...
You're ready for a new Thanksgiving tradition that feeds your soul instead of draining your energy
You're craving meaningful connection that goes deeper than polite pleasantries
You're seeking a reset to reconnect with nature, your body, your purpose, and relationships that truly matter
You're curious about gratitude as a living practice – not just something you're supposed to feel once a year
You're drawn to the grace of midlife and ready to celebrate who you're becoming rather than who you've always been
You're excited to explore your "glimmers" – those sparks of possibility that hint at what wants to emerge next
Meet your MEA facilitators
Our trailblazing facilitators guide transformative journeys across our Santa Fe high desert sanctuary and Baja beach haven. From sunrise mountain hikes and meditations to collaborative experiences – each experience is designed to inspire growth, connection, and lasting change.
Darby Rose
Experience Facilitator
Darby Rose is a multidisciplinary artist, arts administrator, cook, actor and animal lover, currently living in Santa Fe, NM. Born into a family of travelers in Austin, TX, she’s lived more places than she can count — all over Texas, Boston, Jackson WY, Baltimore and Los Angeles, to name a few; and outside the US in Peru and Italy. After a long stint in Marfa, TX, the vast, mountainous horizons and monsoons of New Mexico captured her. This travelers life has built in Darby a deep curiosity and compassion for others, and a gratitude for the beautiful complexities of the human condition, with its myriad expressions of love, humor, struggle and strength.
Santa Fe, USA
Rising Circle Ranch
An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
Your new Thanksgiving story starts here.
At Rising Circle Ranch, kindred spirits gather beneath the vast desert sky to share meaningful moments, witness each other’s transformations, and celebrate all that life offers. Here, community becomes a sacred space where appreciation grows and a sense of wonder is rekindled.
The circle is already forming – and there's a place with your name on it.
