Weekend Retreats
A State of Mind
In our fast-paced whirlwind lives of work and home responsibilities, getting away from it all is a wonderful gift. It's one way to achieve balance and to get back into the flurry of life again with renewed energy and a better attitude. On two separate occasions, I borrowed a cedar cottage on 40 acres in rural Carroll County, once with my husband and once with two good friends, and we experienced the beauty of letting things unfold. My writing group hosts a day's retreat each year where all we do is write. Three times a year I lead weekend writing or creativity retreats in Lakeside with people also looking to deepen their writing or stimulate their creativity.
The weekend with friends in Carroll County unfurled like a fern in spring. We started by opening a bottle of wine and toasting the weekend. After catching up on our lives, we brought out thought-provoking question cards to expand our way of looking at things, like "If you could have anything in the world for your birthday, what would it be?" Then we were treated with a gourmet dinner, one friend's gift. After dinner, we had child-like fun coloring mandalas and mazes with markers and watched our idea table grow with words of affirmation, art supplies, magazines, and books. While we colored, we shared what came to mind, things like favorite recipes and childhood memories. Throughout the weekend we enjoyed sitting on the porch or by the fireplace, went for walks with our cameras, journaled, and did yoga. We were three women on an island, in the middle of nowhere. Above us, when we sat outside on the porch at night, the stars were bright and glorious--the last time I saw stars like that was at the Grand Canyon.
It was fun and satisfying. But since a "retreat" is a state of mind, an intentional turning off of the rest of the world, a retreat can take place in your own home, a nearby state park, a B&B, or a retreat center. One can have a retreat by one's self, share it with one other person, or make it a sharing weekend amongst friends. The key to a good retreat is to get away from it all, sometimes with an outside stimulus. Here are some other ideas.
Weekend of creativity
Rent a cabin at Punderson State Park, which has a lake and hiking trails and comfortable cabins and is only 50 minutes southeast of Cleveland. The food is good at the historic English Tudor Punderson Manor with gorgeous views, even in winter. At Punderson, you can swim in the indoor pool or get outside for cross country skiing, ice skating or toboganning. At the cabin, toast the weekend, set up an "idea" table, and settle in for long periods of just being open to possibility. Or check out the Sharing Our Gifts Retreat in Historic Lakeside during the third weekend in October (http://www.ignitingpossibilities.blogspot.com).
Weekend in Solitude
Stock up on simple foods for the weekend and don't forget the chocolate. Read a book, go for a walk, watch travel videos, write letters to old friends, but don't turn on the television or the computer. Make it a no-technology weekend where the world just doesn't exist.
Weekend romance
This escape could be to a cabin in the woods, but a weekend at Civil-War era Emerald Necklace Inn in Fairview Park could be the perfect home away from home. With its location above the Cleveland Metroparks, the outdoors is only a doorway away, but staying indoors for hours together, talking about the past year and planning the year ahead, letting those dreams out become a plan, could be just the thing the relationship needs. Candles and massage oil and paper are essentials.
Weekend for the spiritCheck out the retreat centers in the area. The Jesuit Retreat House on 57 remote acres in Parma and River's Edge in Cleveland's West Park both offer overnight accommodations in places where God feels ever-present and quiet fills the hallways. Chapels, books for the spirit, poetry, and solitary corners are available for contemplative restoration. During Lent, the retreat centers design formal retreats to lead you on The Way.
Weekend of writing
While one can turn off the phones and just write all weekend long in private writing space at home, weekend retreats with other writers can inspire. Find a retreat with speakers that can teach you something about your writing and provides private writing time and critique sessions.
Try the Word Lover's Retreats in Historic Lakeside. Imagine the possibilities for listening to and playing with words, creating poetry, exploring the elements of story, and participating in satisfying conversation with other writers during endless walks on the meandering paths of Lakeside. Pack up your writing materials and immerse yourself in writing, for a weekend you deserve. The porches of the Idlewyld B&B in the heart of Ohio’s Chautauqua on Lake Erie’s Shore, await you for an Igniting Possibilities Word Lovers retreat I host myself. Cleveland Novelist Les Roberts (who has written 24 novels) will be our writer-in-residence and lead a fiction workshop and be available for critique. Stay the entire weekend or just spend the day with us on Sat 5/1. Friday supper, Saturday breakfast and lunch, and Sunday breakfast will be served. Cookies and chocolates available all weekend long! Weekend rates begin at $180 for a shared room with a shared bath. More information is available at 440-554-6406 for information. Additional retreat is scheduled for September 17-19 (http://www.ignitingpossibilities.blogspot.com).
Weekend of art or music or drumming, or anything
Explore the options on the internet. You'll be surprised by all the options you have to expand your sensibilities and become more creative and balanced.
If you do it right, the weekend will rejuvenate and refresh you until the ferns unfurl in the spring. The whirlwind workweek will be easier on the psyche and the weekends may continue to be schedule-less. A retreat gives me permission and the freedom to live another weekend without worries, a retreat of my own creation.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Claudia Taller, whose passion for words has led to creation of the Lakeside Word Lover’s Retreats, an outgrowth of her work with Skyline Writers. Her favorite foods are red wine, salmon, ice cream, and chocolate. She loves to read, write, tour wineries, ride her bike, ease into yoga, and cook gourmet meals for friends. Find her at http://www.claudiatallermusings.blogspot.com.