Finally Friday Week 7: Retreating from the World

I feel most at home in silence.—Katherine Jenkins

I'm gearing up to head off on a writing retreat. I took a walk and ate lunch with a good friend today, changed the wiper blades on my car, bought groceries and now I'm slowly packing.

I'm heading off on a week-long writing retreat to my family's lake cabin. My goal is to work on my next book without any distractions. No wifi, Facebook, traffic, crowds and the fast pace of city life.

I am looking forward to getting into a slow rhythm again. I look forward to walks, cooking and of course WRITING. My next book has been neglected and put aside in the corner of my office and every time I walk in there it seems to scream for my attention.

Well, it will finally get my attention.

Finally.....

As much as my life is surrounded by people, I am wondering if, in fact, I'm an introvert. I crave long stretches of writing in silence and love to go on meditation retreats where I'm silent for 10 or more days. I feel most at home in silence. I can feel myself there and I'm able to tune into deeper callings within me. Without the silence, I could not navigate my way through this world. I look to nature, dreams and meditations for direction. In fact, I depend on them.

Retreat, according to the dictionary, means:

1. the act of moving back or withdrawing from the world.
2. a secluded place where one can rest or relax

Life seems to move at such a pace these days, especially in the city. It's good to go on a retreat and rejuvenate the body, mind and soul and tune into those inner impulses that are hard to hear with all the commotion that we are faced with on a day to day basis.

Do you ever go on retreats? What is your experience on retreats?

365 Inspirations—173: Cabin Fever and a Book Winner

Sunset at cabin tonight!

"A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul and that I am sure is why he does it.”—Roald Dahl

Day 4 of my solo retreat. I may have cabin fever.

What are the symptoms exactly? An insatiable desire to go out for sushi and to the movies?

Tofu and broccoli are getting a little boring. I was determined to only eat what I brought, which are mostly fruits and vegetables and those are starting to run low. I do have eggs and my juicer. Doing lots of juicing and feel quite healthy, but I'm salivating thinking of all the food I can't wait to eat when I get back to the big city.

In Korea Town in NYC while on book tour. Delish!

At the same time, there's a deep peace I feel out here.

Today I went swimming. How could I hunker down in the dining room when it was 72 degrees and sunny outside? That's a rarity in these parts.

I opened up the storage and took out an air mattress, got my suit on, slathered on the suntan lotion, got my book, towel and a drink and headed to the end of the dock.

Within minutes I was out on open waters on my air mattress with my drink and suntan lotion in the cup holder. I paddled out to the center of the lake, let my feet hang over the edge and my arms fall loosely at my sides and just closed my eyes.

The cool water on my feet and hands felt so relaxing and the sun on my face and body was soothing. I let the wind decide where I would go. The gentle movement of my mattress on the water practically put me to sleep. I woke up and saw sparrows glide across the surface of the lake. Frogs croaked in the distance. I heard the laughter of children and the talk of grown-ups enjoying the weekend along the shore, yet I was in my own little paradise connected and protected by the natural world out there in the middle—part of the deep blue below and above. I could have stayed there forever.

Back at the house, I threw my air mattress up on the dock and sank down into the cool water. It was buoyant and I could see the bottom clearly. The sun on the water made it sparkle like diamonds. I swam and swam with broad breast strokes. I was nearly in the middle of the lake by the time I decided to turn back. I kept even strokes and an even breath and swam calmly back.

I sat up on the dock and read my book. I did NOT want to go back inside to write. I sat out there until nearly 4pm. Perhaps I needed a break.

My mother suggested I turn on the TV and watch a few episodes of HGTV or a movie on Netflix. I think she could sense my cabin fever. She said, "Why don't you go into town and get yourself some real food." It was tempting. I haven't gone out or watched anything besides the sunset and the moon since I got here.

By the way, the sunset was absolutely amazing tonight. I sat at the end of the dock and watched it until there was nothing left of it.


I'm keeping my plans loose, but I may leave on Wednesday. Three more full days to work on things should be enough. That will be one entire week out here.  Let's see how my cabin fever goes.....

Okay, and on another note, I have a winner for Torre De Roche's book Love with a Chance of Drowning. I know I said I'd announce it on my blog a few Fridays ago, but life caught up with me and I got off track on many things I thought I'd do. Now I'm finally catching up! Phew!

I sat down at the dining room table with all the names of people who had left a comment on this post that they were interested in a book and I pulled Karen Cafarella's name out of the bag!

Karen, you are the winner of Love with a Chance of Drowning. I'll be contacting you soon!

Now a question for you all.....

Have you ever had cabin fever?

365 Inspirations—16: Solitude

"It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts."—K.T. Jong

Solitude is my inspiration for day 16. Well, at least I found inspiration in my time alone. We all need time to ourselves to ponder, dream and scheme about life. I spend quite a deal of time with my husband because he's my best male friend and companion and we enjoy similar activities, but every now and then it's good to do something on my own.

I had a break between classes at the college where I teach. This morning, before my earlier class, I packed my car with gloves, a hat, a scarf and boots just in case I felt like going for a walk after class.

The sun was shining bright and I hopped on the freeway and drove directly to Greenlake. I slipped off my work shoes and put on my walking boots, hat, scarf and gloves and began walking the three-mile loop around the lake.

I tried to feel my feet in my shoes and the cold wind on my face. I stopped to take a picture of many ducks on a log sunning themselves.

I wanted to be aware of all the sights and sounds around me. I walked close to the edge of the lake and could hear the waves lapping against the shore. I saw a man writing in his journal on a bench, some people were running around the lake, others were speed walking and some were meandering like me. There were lots of moms and strollers and most people were walking in pairs or groups, but there were also a few people walking alone like me.

I stopped to take a picture of my shadow. It followed me half-way around the lake and it sort of felt like I was walking with a friend. When I took out my cell phone to take a photo, I noticed that my husband had called me. I decided to call him back.

"Where are you?" he asked.
"Well, I'm more than halfway around Greenlake," I replied.

He was on his way to Greenlake to do the very same thing I was doing. He decided to walk the opposite direction than he usually does and we ran into each other near the end of the walk.

It was the best of both worlds. We each got to experience solitude while walking around our favorite lake in Seattle and we also got to meet up at the end. We went to PCC (our local, organic supermarket) for a bit of dinner afterwards and I felt so refreshed.

Do you enjoy solitude? How do you spend your alone time?