Coming home from a retreat is always a bit of a shock to the system.
I just spent five days immersed in creative play at my 4th annual Create & Incubate Retreat, wrapped in the most loving, supportive community of creatives a person could ask for.
How does one even start trying to describe something like this?
Here’s what I’d like to share about it.
You know how I say if you do something enough it becomes normal? Well, the first time I ran my retreat, I carried an undercurrent of tension and anxiety the whole time.
How would it go? Would people like it? I was super anxious about making sure everyone was happy.
It was my first time leading a group in what I call “catalyzing sessions,” but what are essentially improv games, and I was anxious about that. Would they participate? Would they roll their eyes?
The whole thing was a big experiment. I wanted to create the retreat that I wanted for myself — creativity, community, courage, compassion (which, btw, are the official theme words of Life is a Verb Camp, which you should totally come to in November! I’ll be speaking this year, and it’s happening over my 50th birthday, so I’m treating it in my own mind as a big birthday and life celebration!)
Anyway, I wanted to create the retreat I wanted, because I knew it would be wonderful… but would other people feel the same way?
Would people even come to something that wasn’t a structured workshop or conference? Would they even get how valuable it is?
I understood, because I’d been going to creative retreats for years. I knew how special it is to gather with other creators simply to create.
I knew how energizing it is to be in a room together, each working on our own thing.
I knew how inspiring it is to see what everyone else is up to.
How amazing it feels simply to be in the company of other people who get you, and who will encourage, support, and champion you.
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