Laura Davis

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Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat #1

October 2, 2015 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

Next week is my first ever "Writing as a Pathway Through Grief, Loss, Transition and Change" retreat. I was inspired to create it after my mom died in July of 2014, when I was awash in grief over her death and the launching of our last child from home. They say that teachers always teach what they need to learn and that seems to be the case for me--I write about what I need to write about and I teach what I need to learn. In a couple of days, one of my co-teachers, Nancy London will be flying in from Santa Fe, and I'm working through my long list of logistical pre-retreat preparations before she arrives--making nametags, figuring our roommates, finalizing the schedule, getting back in touch with Commonweal for final arrangement, starting to pile my personal gear in a stack in the living ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat #2

October 5, 2015 By Laura Davis 2 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

BUILDING THE CONTAINER One of the most important things about creating a powerful, transformative retreat is building a safe environment in which the work of the retreat can unfold. That's why for an intensive writing retreat--one whose goal is deep writing and internal work--the setting is so important. It's one of the reasons I love teaching at the Commonweal Retreat Center in Bolinas so much--it's the perfect container. The most critical aspect of building a safe container is confidentiality. I have a very specific confidentiality policy that goes beyond, "What happens at Commonweal stays at Commonweal." Writers need to feel that their words will be respected, that they won't be judged or given unasked for advice, feedback, praise or critique, and that they have complete control ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat #3

October 6, 2015 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

OVERPLAN, THEN LET GO Over the past two days, Nancy and I have sat and talked through the different phases of our upcoming retreat. We've divided the retreat into three sections: Grieving, Uncertainty, and Transformation, since these are the rough stages involved in integrating major life changes. During the first two days, we'll do everything we can to normalize grief and loss as natural parts of life. The middle days will be devoted to the dark night of the soul--the time our lives come undone and we feel adrift, lost and uncertain. And the final days will focus on integration and the birthing of something new out of what has been lost. We will stress to our participants in the opening ceremony that things are never that tidy in real life. People coming to this retreat are ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: The Calm Before the Retreat

October 7, 2015 By Laura Davis 1 Comment - Read & Respond

Today is a day to do last minute errands, to put a vacation message on my email and to do the same on my phone. This afternoon, Nancy and I will have to figure out how to fit our suitcases and all the materials I like to bring to retreats in a car far smaller than the big old Mommy van Karyn and I finally unloaded this fall. I'll be getting a necklace repaired, my car washed, paying a few last bills. So I do have some things to check off my list--not of them essential, all optional--and we already had a magnificent walk to the beach this morning. After dinner, we'll probably kick back and watch a movie at home tonight. I like to have a day of rest before I teach a big retreat so I come into the space feeling refreshed and grounded. Now the preparatory phase is over and I eagerly ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: Arrival

October 8, 2015 By Laura Davis 4 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

It takes 3 hours to drive to Commonweal from my front door. It’s a beautiful drive really and Nancy and I alternated between talk and silence on the road heading up here. But every time I turn onto Mesa Road, where a huge bow of eucalyptus line the road, I go silent. That last mile to Commonweal means we are entering sacred turf and I can feel it in the air. There is something wild and vast and embracing about the land and the wind and the ocean here and just as the workshop participants go through a change as they approach the start of the retreat, so do I.

David and Nancy and I went through all the tasks of setting up—putting up name tags on bedrooms, posting schedules, rearranging furniture, hanging signs reminding people to remove their shoes ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: Diving Into The River Of Grief

October 9, 2015 By Laura Davis 3 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

Much of today was spent writing stories of grief and bearing witness to each other. In the morning, Nancy talked about the difference between grieving and mourning, a distinction I hadn't really understood myself. I've always considered them synonyms. Grieving is our own private experience of loss, the way we experience it in our own bodies and minds and spirits. Mourning is the experience of sharing that grief in a public way with the larger community. Having your grief held, witnessed and met in a public way is a critical part of healing and moving through grief, though in our culture there is little of that public sharing of grief beyond the initial rituals of the funeral or memorial service. After that people grieving are left to founder on their own or to "get over it."

[Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: The Story Underneath The Story

October 10, 2015 By Laura Davis 2 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

This morning at 7 AM, I asked Nancy and David to meet me in my room. The question on the table, "What do people need this morning? What do they need today?" We looked over the plan Nancy and I had made last week and threw most of it away. It was too much. It had become irrelevant. Our original plan no longer met the group where they were or would take them where they needed to go. And so we regrouped. We simplified--vastly simplified our original plan. We pulled things from other parts of our agenda. We tossed around some new ideas. David came up with an idea for a movement exercise. Twenty-five minutes after we sat down together, we had the skeleton of a new plan. I felt so grateful to them for being part of this team--for helping me evaluate, assess, feel into what is needed. Above ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: Sitting In Uncertainty

October 11, 2015 By Laura Davis 4 Comments · · · · · · Read & Respond

We are at the heart of this retreat--the time when the writing gets real and down to the bone, when true words are spoken, when risks are taken, bonds formed, when we become a living, breathing creative community. We are tracking each other hour by hour. Laughing and crying and hiking and eating and writing together. Every day, I see breakthroughs and breakdowns. Everywhere I walk, people are writing and reading, engaged and connected. And when they're not writing and reading, they're outdoors, savoring the glorious sunny/windy majesty of Bolinas, nature absorbing the intensity of the words that have been written and spoken. At this point in the retreat we are ending our focus on uncertainty. Every transformation includes a time of uncertainty, limbo, unsteady ground. We leave behind ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: Transformation

October 12, 2015 By Laura Davis 1 Comment - Read & Respond

This morning I led everyone on a long guided meditation where they went on a journey and received a gift they needed to move forward in their lives. The writings that emerged were powerful and strong. I told everyone in the workshop how proud I was of where they started on Day 1 and where they are today. Faces that arrived guarded and tight have grown relaxed and open. The power of mourning--sharing our losses, pain and uncertainty--in the midst of a loving, accepting community has worked magic. As facilitators, we see a direct relationship between everyone's willingness to risk and their degree of vulnerability--and the change emerging as we enter the final days of the retreat. It is a deep honor to watch a room full of people come to terms with grief, wrestle with difficult ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

Commonweal: Celebration

October 13, 2015 By Laura Davis No Comments - Read & Respond

In our last full morning of the retreat today, we started what would be a day of integration and celebration. We wrote about where we were heading--and how--and we expressed our gratitude. Tonight we are having a party and sharing the culmination of our week's work together. The was the poem I read for one of this morning's prompts:

The New Story of Your Life Say you finally invented a new story of your life. It is not the story of your defeat or of your impotence and powerlessness before the large forces of wind and accident. It is not the sad story of your mother’s death or of your abandoned childhood. It is not even a story that will win you the deep initial sympathies of the benevolent gods or the care of the generous, but it is a ... [Continue Reading]

Filed Under: Blog, Commonweal, Retreats, The Virtual Vacation Tagged With: Commonweal, teaching, writing retreat

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More Featured Students?

For years, I’ve been showcasing the work of one of my students in my monthly newsletter and here on my site. If you’d like to see a complete list of the students I’ve published, with links to their work, you can find it in the Featured Student Archives. Just click the link below.

Featured Students

What is the The Writer’s Journey Roadmap?

I send out inspiring quotes and provocative writing prompts via email Tuesday. You can collect them for their own use—or you can post your writing online and enter into dialogue and conversation with a very supportive group of writers who have made this part of their weekly writing practice.

I invite you to become part of my brilliant, supportive, intimate, honest, inspiring free online community.

I hope to see you up on the Roadmap soon!

First time visitor? Click here to learn about our community.

Like this Virtual Vacation?

You can also read about Laura’s travels to:

Peru 2017

In which Laura and Karyn and 18 writers explore Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Serbia 2017

In which Laura leads a workshop at the Incest Trauma Center.

Greece 2016

In which Laura explores the wonders of Crete and Santorini with a wide-eyed group of Write, Travel, Transform adventurers.

Vietnam 2015/16

In which Laura, who grew up during the Vietnam War, goes to Southeast Asia and finds out what Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are really like today.

Commonweal 2015

A journey toward healing loss and grief in a magnificent Northern California setting.

Scotland 2015

In which Laura returns to Scotland with a new group for another jaunt through the wonders of the Scottish Highlands.

Scotland 2013

In which Laura attends the Edinburgh theatre festival and leads 14 writers to a magical retreat in the highlands of Northern Scotland.

Bali 2013

In which Laura visits Australia, and spends three weeks diving, exploring, and teaching in three regions of Bali.

Florida 2014

A journey into old age in America in which Laura brings her 86-year-old mother to Florida so she can see her last surviving sister one final time.

Mexico 2014

In which Laura attends the San Miguel Writer’s Conference and explores the artistic towns around Patzcuaro.

About Laura Davis

In the course of my career as a communicator, I have also worked as a columnist, talk show host, radio reporter, radio producer, blogger, editor, and speaker. Words have always been at the core of my work and my self-expression. Read More . . .

Photo taken by Jason Ritchey

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What People Are Saying About Laura Davis:

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Retreating with Laura: Julie Sheehan

Julie Sheehan

For many years I put off my dream of writing and traveling. I told myself the kids were too little, my husband could never survive without me, that I couldn't possibly be so selfish. I couldn't imagine realistically stepping out of all of my responsibilities and roles. Then I started attending Laura’s summer retreat at Commonweal in northern California and that became an annual gift to myself for the next three years.

When the opportunity to travel with Laura internationally came up, my Land of Later mentality said I could never pull it off. But when my friend got cancer at age 39, I decided to stop taking life and it's endless opportunities to grow, live, nurture and explore myself for granted.

My children were 6 and 9 when I began allowing myself the luxurious pleasure of taking 10 days to two weeks each year to travel abroad with Laura, to spend time with like minded, soul searching people who share a passion for living and writing, to have all my meals prepared for me, to have the space and freedom to stretch out of my cage and check in with who I am, what I want, and how best to get there.

Laura is a skilled and nurturing teacher who encourages her students to take risks, to grow as human beings, and to be vulnerable. She has provided me with a forum where I can gain all my CEUs and learn techniques on how to become a more engaging writer, all while completing yearly emotional rehab.

I return home from each of Laura’s trip a little wiser, a little more open, and a lot more compassionate. I greet my family, friends and daily life with sparkly, clean energy and a renewed patience, brought about by way of re-writing old stories that I needed to let go of. I come home ready to move forward in my life.

A retreat with Laura Davis is one of the best gifts I ever received and gave myself. It took many years to realize that I was worth the time and financial investment, but now there is no looking back.

Julie Sheehan, Livermore California

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Writing Retreats

Whether you are a beginner, an established writer, a published author, or are looking for a creative vacation with your spouse…I have a retreat for you.

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