Sometimes on retreats there is something of a ‘push’ on the final day – and yesterday was a case in point: a full book of 1-2-1s, chairing two workshops, plus the ‘read around’ in the evening. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Yesterday, one ‘newbie’ asked a seasoned ‘Retreater’ which had been their favourite retreat. It’s an interesting – if slightly unfair – question.
In my own experience – as someone who has attended eight retreats, five as a mentor – each one could stake a claim for that accolade: because of the people you met; something remarkable that happened; something you produced (then or later) thanks to your attendance. Retreats tend to be supremely safe for writers; there’s nothing like being in the same environment as a group of like-minded people all of whom are struggling – one way or another – with exactly the same things as you.
If you haven’t tried a retreat, you should… Perhaps here or here.
Today will be a transition day with the journey home and settling back into a routine where you’re not presented with a hot breakfast first thing nor cream cakes mid-afternoon, and where you have a responsibility for ‘chores’ and the general flotsam and jetsam of life. In consequence, I’m not expecting to get that much done today, which is fine – given how much I have garnered from the last four days.
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Ian Gouge - Writer & Publisher 