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 …
Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat #1 Read More »
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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
