It takes 3 hours to drive to Commonweal from my front door. It’s a beautiful drive really and Evelyn and I alternated between talk and silence on the road heading up here. But every time I turn onto Mesa Road, where a huge row of eucalyptus line the road, I go silent. That last mile […]
Writing as a Pathway: Arriving at Commonweal Read More »
ALL MY BAGS ARE PACKED AND I’M READY TO GO This is what my car looks like all packed up to drive to Commonweal. I’m carrying a case of Writer’s Journey sweatshirts, a Jambox speaker to play music and poetry, a shoe box full of evocative postcard images spanning 40 years to use as writing
Writing as a Pathway: Off to Commonweal Read More »
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, Evelyn and I will have to figure out how to fit our suitcases and all the materials we need to bring to this retreat in my car. I’ll
Writing as a Pathway: The Calm Before the Retreat Read More »
Over the past two weeks, Evelyn and I have sat and talked through the different phases of our upcoming retreat. We’ve reviewed the three sections of the retreat that I first developed with my friend and colleague Nancy London: Grieving, Uncertainty, and Transformation, the rough stages involved in integrating major life changes. During the first
Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat: Overplan, Then Let Go Read More »
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
Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat: Building the Container Read More »
Friday marks the start of my first “Writing as a Pathway Through Grief, Loss, Transition and Change” retreat since before the pandemic. This is a retreat I created with my colleague Nancy London and co-taught with Nancy and David Colin Carr for several years. I was inspired to create it after my mother died in
Behind the Scenes: Getting Ready for a Writing Retreat: Introducing Writing as a Pathway Read More »
It’s the final morning of our retreat. I woke at 5:30 this morning, feeling sluggish from last night’s wine and final feast. I decided I needed to move, to go for a walk. I haven’t had much time to myself this week. My hours have been filled with teaching, eating, going on outings, visiting my
A Writer Goes for a Walk, Take 2 Read More »
This is what I read at our final dinner, the last night of our retreat: Since I’ve come to Tuscany, I’ve been surrounded by birdsong both gentle and soothing, raucous and loud. I’ve drunk more wine in ten days than I do in a year. Eaten foods I never consider eating at home and have
This meal was truly over the top. It began with two salads. Mozzarella buratta was the first: soft and liquid in the inside served with a special tomato from the region called mule’s heart: Cuore di Bue. And with it was panzanella, a bread salad with tomato, a special mild onion that’s only eaten raw,
Lunch at the Villa Read More »
We had a great pasta class with chef Rosanna Passione. The pasta we made ended up being one of the courses for our last supper at the Villa. The tag line on Rosanna’s cooking brochure is “Invitare qualcuno alla propria tavola vuol dire prendersi cura della sua felicita.” Or in English, “to invite someone at
Our Italian Pasta Lesson Read More »
For years as we travel, Karyn Bristol has posed for headstands all over the world. Here’s the latest in the series: Tuscany. If you don’t want to wait for the email digest version of my virtual vacation posts, you can follow me directly on social media where you can also find short posts, videos and
Headstands Around the World Read More »
We had another fascinating tour of the Villa with Gigi’s husband, Rodolfo, the youngest of thirteen children of the Budini-Gattai family. Graseilah translated for him as he showed us private parts of the Villa that we hadn’t had access to before. First, Rodolfo took us into a locked chapel, which he opened with a huge
The Depth of History at the Villa Read More »
At this time last year, I was approving the final audiobook files of The Burning Light of Two Stars and seriously ramping up to promote my soon-to-be released book, ten years in the making, for an October pandemic launch. Now the book is launched and it’s a year later, and here I am, savoring the
What a Year it has Been Read More »
You might think that this whole trip is filled with long leisurely conversations over unbelievable food (check, yes, that’s true), senses drinking in verdant peaceful surroundings (yes, true), shared intimacies between new friends (yes true), and the pleasure of being surrounded by the sensuality of Italian being spoken around us (yes, true), but this Write,
Yes, We Actually Do Write Read More »
Between the hills of Chianti and Valdelsa, a few kilometers from Florence, we went today to visit a family whose business is to harvest and create delicious products from truffles, a wild mushroom that thrives in the region. We began our visit by going out in the woods for a truffle hunt with Giacomo—not the
