is the theme of the Whidbey Institute's "First Monday" retreat, to which I will be going in an hour or so. (I know, it's not really the first Monday, but you can probably figure out the reason.) It's a day of rest with spiritual direction available, a room with a bed and desk for naps and for journaling; there are wooded trails to walk, lunch and snacks are provided, and there will be a session of Qi Gong for those interested.
My friend Amanda and I are going and may make it a regular thing. We are both in places in our lives that need some reflection time and it's often not easy to take that time away from daily activities. Amanda is a UU minister/spiritual director/playwright/entrepreneur, funny and thoughtful and honest and I dearly love her. We have been friends since she told me at my first UUMA retreat, "I like you, Kit, you're a troublemaker too!" or some such words. I knew instantly what she meant---not a bad girl troublemaker, but a good girl troublemaker like she is, asking questions, being honest, being real. It was quite a compliment.
There are a lot of things I want to reflect on: my growing delight in making music, my relationship with this beloved congregation, my growing affection for a male friend, what it means to be the age I am with the interests I have, where I want to be in ten years. I am taking my journal, the book "Stiff", and my wellworn bird book.
I'll let you know how it goes.
2 comments:
This sounds like MY kind of retreat. I'd love to be there for a week. Is that available? Any retreats like that in the Southeast?
Yes, they let people come and stay for days in a row. I don't know if they do organized week-long retreats, but they certainly let people come and stay for awhile. I don't know about the Southeast, but there probably are. You could Google the Whidbey Institute and make contact with their staff and ask them about other retreat sites.
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