retreating
liz lamoreux
Writing in The Lodge :: Gearhart, OR (photo by Vivienne McMaster)
When I get home from retreats, I always have plans to share photos and stories in this space. But each time it doesn't really happen. I get swept up in being back in the midst of family life and work stuff waiting for me. And I just can't seem to find the words for the few weeks after a retreat. By the time I do, I'm ready to talk about what's happening in this moment.
Photographers at play :: Gearhart, Oregon
Recently, I asked the ladies from the Your Story Retreat if they would share some words about their experience. When Hannah wrote the following in our private Facebook group, it was like a collective sigh of "Yes, just like this" was heard.
This is possibly the biggest and best gift you could give yourself, and actually your family and loved ones as well. You will change on a deep and meaningful level, and begin the transformation into the person you were meant to be.
Forget any little voices telling you that you can't take time for yourself, or it's not your cup of tea, or you don't know anyone and what if they're all weirdos....(all thoughts I had before I went!)
The truths are these: you do deserve it and taking this time to care for yourself will equip you to be present and truly see and love the people in your life when you return.
You already know the other women going, you just haven't met them yet. Within a few hours you will feel so comfortable talking and listening to them that you'll feel as though you've known them for ever. You'll make some deep connections with beautiful souls who will continue to touch and bless your life after you leave.
You will laugh and cry and talk and write and dance and draw and breathe and heal and grow and be nourished and loved.
But the most important truth is this: encircled by this group of women you will catch a glimpse of yourself as the woman they see (instead of the woman your inner critic tells you you are) and you will like her, you will want to see more of her. And when you get home and the laughter has faded, and the sand is shaken out of your shoes, you will make time for her. Maybe not every day, but she will stay with you forever.
-Hannah, Your Story Retreat 2013
So if you've been wondering about what it would be like to come to the Pacific Northwest for a Be Present Retreat, well, it's a lot like that.
Come to the Oregon Coast
We still have a few spots open at the Story Excavation Retreat with Jen Lee, Kelly Barton, and me. The dates are September 11-15 and we'd love you to come along to the Oregon Coast and connect with the kindreds you've been waiting for.