I want to give a brief history today on how the retreats began, and specifically, why they have the underlying model of a writing immersion. A lot of people haven’t yet come to see writing as a part of total wellness. For me, it’s integral.
I have come to believe that when you put something down in writing, something magic happens, whether that thing is an observation, a life goal, a story idea, or the the sketch for a poem. This belief formed during one summer I spent on vacation in Italy. I was devoting the greater portion of my day to writing, and as a result I made a tremendous amount of progress in my work. This may not sound surprising — devote a lot of time to something and surely you’ll experience some improvement, as long as you’re paying attention to the results you get from what you’ve put into the activity, but remember that this was a vacation — something you normally go on to get away from work. And here I was with a project on my hands, and it still felt like a vacation. Now I believe that vacations are best when they are taken to get away with doing the work that you love the most. The outcome of the time I had invested by being immersed in writing was incredible. I had produced hundreds of pages on several different projects, and because I had done them all simultaneously and the rest of my life was taken care of (delicious meals, wonderful social life, rich and inspiring environment great for hiking and photography), I had the head-space to keep all these projects organized. I was able to raise the bar on what I had previously imagined possible.
What were these projects I was working on? Well, they’re the same ones you’ll utilize on the retreat if you make the decision to participate (and I hope so! There’s a very limited number of spots available, since the warm and sustainable nature of the retreat necessitates having a small group. If you decide to join us, it should be soon). I began each day with a good run followed by a few hours of goal setting. After I had thoroughly lit myself up by getting clear just what it was I wanted in both the big and small pictures, I was ready to begin writing on the other projects I had come up with while on vacation. Just as an aside, I should comment on a marvelous thing about writing, which is the fact that you can take it anywhere. I was able to find plenty of spots I could move to besides my writing desk for a change of scenery and nowhere was the concern that I would be interrupted by anything unpleasant. Italy is truly friendly to writers and artists. It is a remarkable country for sowing the seeds of your creative project.
Visit summerwritingretreat.com and writingimmersion.com
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