“In the silence of writing,
we discover the power
of our own voice.”
~ Nicole Brown

For many years, I’ve had a dream — to take some time away for a writing retreat. I am blessed to have an office in my home where I do much of my writing. I cherish this space and I appreciate the time available to me to focus on writing. As one might imagine, however, the gift of a home office is often accompanied by any number of distractions. While many of these distractions are quite pleasant, they are distractions none the less. It can be a challenge to refocus on writing once the flow has been interrupted.

I eliminated one significant distraction earlier this year when I deleted my Facebook account. For me, logging-in to social media was much like walking into the famous Cheers bar in Boston. It was a familiar place where, at any given time, I could run into any number of family members, friends, and acquaintances who happened to be there. What may have started as a quick 10-minute check-in often turned into a marathon multi-hour adventure. It took awhile, but I finally realized that social media was detrimental to my commitment to writing. 

I have had the privilege of attending a number of weekend retreats in my lifetime. Each retreat focused on a particular theme. I always enjoyed the opportunity to spend a couple of days away from the chaos of everyday life to focus on the theme of the retreat and to allow the experience to nurture my soul. In the fall of 1975, I participated in a 30-day retreat. The month-long adventure offered tremendous potential for spiritual growth. Unfortunately, I lacked the maturity, at that point in my life, to take full advantage of the opportunity.

When I consider the possibility of embarking on a writing retreat, I’m not thinking of just a weekend. I would like to invest more than 48 hours in this endeavor. The thought of devoting thirty distraction-free days to writing appeals to me. I don’t know exactly where I would go, nor do I know how I could justify the cost of such a luxury, but the dream is real. A small house on a tiny island might be nice, but there are more practical options, as well.

The more I write, the more I recognize that time devoted to writing is sacred time. Writing is an act of faith, an act of love, and an act of courage. A 30-day writing retreat would be an act of faith because it would provide more than simply uninterrupted writing time. For me, it would enable me to journey into the sacred space inside myself, to the place where I often discover the power of my own voice — and God’s. It would be an act of love because writing is a gift with which I’ve been blessed, one which I am grateful to be able to share with readers. Writing is an act of courage because putting my thoughts into words, and sharing those words with the world, requires a degree of vulnerability, as I reveal my experiences, thoughts, fears, and emotions with those who read what I have written.  

After seeing the movie The Bucket List in early 2008, I created my own bucket list — twenty things I wanted to do or accomplish before my death. Number one on that list was to write and publish a book. Mission accomplished. Today, the new number one item on my list is to experience a 30-day writing retreat. I’m a firm believer in the encouraging words of Walt Disney, who said, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”