Word Lover's Retreats

Being at a retreat is a leave-taking that can be disorienting. But because it is a leave-taking, it SHOULD be disorienting. It gets us out of our ruts. We become more vulnerable, yet more open to opportunities.

That openness to experience allows us to make connections with people. The bouquet of dahlias Mike brought into the Idlewyld conjured up memories of his wife Suzie looking at me intently to understand what I was saying at dinner during the Sharing Our Gifts, Artist’s Way retreat. I also recall a neighbor who plants dahlias every summer and digs them up each fall. Like constant gardeners, writers make prepare the soil by throwing life into the middle of things and making meaningful connections to their personal experiences.

That’s what good essay writing is: making connections and using anecdotal material, telling stories that will help the reader make the same connections. The word Ben Yagoda uses for it in The Sound on the Page is solicitousness. We look the reader in the eye and tell them about it. That was what we did at the Word Lover's Retreat in October 2008--we told our stories and we layered more stories on top of the stories we came with. My personal essay about reuniting with a college professor may prompt someone else to write a letter to someone and enrich some lives, not just the two people in relationship but the people that hear the story re-told, as I re-told mine.

Want to be vulnerable? Want to make connections? Come retreat with us in Lakeside on either the first weekend in May or the first weekend in November 2009.