Wednesday, October 30, 2013

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

5 comments:

  1. Oh, honey! I'm so glad you got to get a day just for you by the sea. That's awesome. Loving you xo

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  2. one day full of creative. soul-flled. plenty.
    (plus tinglestein) who could ask for more.

    i am thinking of our time and the margaritas, amazing cheeses and the walk to the other cottage. that proved to be rather hilarious. love you so.

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  3. xoxoxoxo loved getting to see you !!!

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  4. This sounds like a wonderful workshop and one that had meant so much to you through the years. I am glad you got to the if only for a day this year..Sounds like that one class opened lots of hidden feelings...

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  5. oh how lovely. I love that you were able to have this day. Thinking back to that retreat four years ago puts such a smile on my face. For it is there that our friendship began....and we didn't even realize it was happening. xoxox

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