Serendipity for a Day

Beach treasures and my chosen word

This year I wasn't able to attend the full Serendipity Retreat

in the Outer Banks

because my daughter n law's due date

was at the exact time the retreat was happening. 

But as luck would have it,

Annabelle was born two weeks early ...

So I was able to come for the day and take one class,

fellowship with cherished friends

and have a tiny Serendipity experience,

it was a most perfect day!

There is always something so magical

about the Outer Banks,

but add in the retreat experience

and it becomes hard to put feelings into words.

I took a writing class with Amy Tingle and Maya Stein,

Writing the Collective:

Transcending Creative Solitude

It was a small intimate group

and I so enjoyed spending the day

with kindred writers,

being motivated to write from the heart,

to share my feelings,

being inspired to write

for the entire day.

I remember thinking to myself

I could have been working,

instead I am in this magical place

writing all day long!

This class was a gift in so many ways,

it opened up feelings I had kept buried deep inside,

for they found their way onto the page.

It is sometimes difficult to write

the hard stuff

all the while so good for you

 to share with others sitting in a room

feeling safe and secure.

One of the exercises we did

was to walk the beach,

find three white objects

and return to the room.

We were to then write

a word or phrase on each item,

we put them in a collective bowl

and we were to pick from the items,

not our own ...

I chose Amy's word

Fortunate

We then found a corner outside

and wrote and wrote and wrote

using our chosen word.

We then shared our writing out loud

with each other

and it was awesome!

Thank you Amy and Maya

for showing me how to express

myself in different ways.

For guiding me to reach inward 

and to write deeply.

You two are amazing

and inspire so many of us,

you always have my heart.

Thank you Michelle and Jen

for creating such a beautiful 

retreat environment.

I am sure those who attended the

four days

were filled beyond measure

You are both beauty and light!

We need your insights and love.

How Fortunate am I

to live in such a creative circle,

to have wonderful

friends and peers along the way.

Serendipity was a gift for me,

if only for a day.

I am filled and refreshed, 

I am hopeful

and I am truly inspired

to keep walking gently each day.

I attended my first retreat

four years ago in the OBX,

it truly changed my life for the better.

While driving home 

from Serendipity the other day,

I realized just how far I had come

in that time, 

how much I had grown,

all I had accomplished artistically,

how I still cherished the friendships

 that were built then.

I knew just how much I liked who I had become

and for that I am truly grateful!

Donna Lee