This last weekend, my spouse Shay and I went on a mini-retreat, just the two of us, to a rental cottage in northern Wisconsin, so rural that at night we could see incredible dark skies full of stars, a sight we miss, living in a city that never truly goes dark.

The main purpose of the retreat was writing—each of us working on individual book projects. While we had work to do, we also built in lots of breaks into our schedule—usually two hours of writing followed by an hour break. We brought novels to read, games to play, and art supplies. We brought food we had cooked ahead of time to make meal prep easy while we were there.

The writing retreat was Shay’s idea, and I’m so glad she suggested it several weeks ago. It’s rare for us to get completely away from our usual responsibilities and routines—and I had honestly forgotten how restorative that kind of getaway can be.

Where do you go to feed your soul? How often do you get away from your normal day-to-day routines? What do you fill your time with when the choice is entirely up to you?

I hope that, whether it involves leaving home or not, you each have ways to offer yourself mini retreats, or maybe even micro retreats, an hour or two spent doing something that brings you great joy or peace. I believe we need that kind of nourishment just as much as we need good food and clean water.

In gratitude,
Rev. Diana