Years ago, I was asked by a good friend (not a writer or artist)
if I had a writing retreat I go to in order to, what else, write.
I laughed because this was not in the budget and in no way
part of my lifestyle. I was a mother of young children who were never in
daycare or even had a babysitter. There was no place for sequestering on a retreat,
period.
There still isn’t. I write where I live. I write from my
real life. My creative life is part of my daily life. The very notion of
retreats is to separate from one’s life/work/dear ones, and to dis-connect.
Un-connect. It’s about disrupting connectivity.
I don’t get it, and likely never will.
I chuck it to romantic notions emanating from another age.
Today, these so-called retreats are commercial enterprises and, frankly, an
abuse of true creative reality. There’s a whole industry of these retreats and
it’s booming.
If you want to take a break from the hustle-bustle, by all
means do. Call it a vacation. Call it a break. Let’s not
wrap breaking from real life a “creative retreat.”
I’d love a nice vacation. If I go, I will not be writing but
reclining and sipping a delicious beverage with my feet up.
Writing is real work.
6 comments:
When I need to buckle down and finish a book, I go to Mexico for a lengthy stay. In January, I go for 9 months and among other things, I plan to finish the next book in my travel series. But as for an official, paid for retreat with other writers, never done that.
I've not been on a writing retreat. I did go to a half day writing workshop one time. The person in charge had us do a writing assignment for 10 or 15 minutes. What I wrote caused me to start crying, and I ended up leaving the room and going to the restroom to clean up my tears. I decided from that experience that writing around other people really wasn't "my thing."
I've gone on many long silent meditation retreats. It's a boon to creativity for some of us, though it's not been my intention for attending. Because of the stillness and lack of home/work responsibilities during the time on retreat, ideas (titles, paragraphs) arise unbidden and I welcome them. I jot things down when I go back to my room. I had such an experience recently and was gratified by all I experienced while sitting and walking quietly. I have never attended a writer's retreat, per se, but I used to go to places where I could write with ease while away from the distractions at home. I highly recommend taking the time to disconnect from daily life and going off in seclusion or semi-seclusion. I've reaped countless benefits from doing so.
I've never gone to a writers' retreat, but I understand the appeal to writers (overwhelmingly women) who want some time away from family responsibilities to write. They could be sole caregivers or mothers of young children.
When I could travel, I found that a change of scenery was inspiring and I did a lot of writing then.
Barbara Etlin: I, too, found that travel and vacation EXPERIENCES brings new inspiration for later work, but the writing itself is for after, when I digest. I don't travel or sequester to do the writing itself.
MirkaK: I appreciate your experience and take. I never had the means to pay for these getaways, often many hundreds of $$, and have always found the greatest inner calm to sit down and *do the work* to be at my trusted desk in the corner of my personally designed-for-it room, which has given me the right ambience for working. Touch wood, may it continue. Because these for-profit sojourns to writerly retreats are not in the economic cards in the foreseeable horizon. The idea of writing in the presence of others also doesn't appeal in the least.
I actually consider myself lucky in this regard. 😉
Mirka, I hear you. Writing is part of my life but what a gift it is when I've been able to retreat from the hurly-burly of life and focus on just one thing. For instance, Michael and I make an annual spiritual retreat for a weekend even though we lead a liturgical life. Even with my barbershop chorus, we'll spend a weekend with a coach, working really hard on our unit sound. It's the same with writing. I've appreciated the scholarships I won for writing retreats, especially when the kids were little. Now that they are grown and on their own, I've not felt the need, though sometimes I think it'd be a good idea. So grateful for a creative life at home.
Post a Comment