My inspiration for this post came from my dear, longtime blogging friend, Debbie @ Musings by an ND Domer's Mom, who is not only a gifted...
Once a year, I like to go on a solo retreat.
By a solo retreat, I mean time in seclusion where I spend three or four days totally alone without anything to distract me from myself.
No computer, no TV, no phone, and no contact with people.
In the past, I’ve gone on several retreats where it involved being with many other people, but found it much too distracting for why I went there in the first place…to be silent.
A little over a year ago, I found the perfect retreat spot. It was a Franciscan Hermitage that was tucked away in a secluded area in the county. There were five beautiful little cabins (hermitages) sporadically spaced throughout the woods.
(the photo above was the hermitage I stayed in)
One of the requirements to take the retreat, was that there could only be a single occupancy in each hermitage, so I knew this would be the place for me.
Since I don’t have a car, someone was nice enough to dropped me off and then picked me up four days later.
I took one book, a journal, one music CD to mediate with, and enough food to last me for four days.
All the bed linens and towels were supplied.
It just so happened, that on the weekend I had chosen to take my retreat, no one else was renting a hermitage, so I was completely alone.
It was heaven.
Several people have asked me if being alone and silent for four days was difficult.
Not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Yet coming from a city, the silence was almost deafening.
You see, taking the time to retreat does several things for me….
It allows me to pull away from all the things that distract me from my feelings, because when I’m alone and silent…my feelings have no where to go, except to be felt.
I spent much of the four days just sobbing, and it was for no particular reason, other than I had forgotten what it was like to FEEL myself.
Taking a retreat also allows me to spend quality time reconnecting to nature, which helps to ground me. I’m one of those people who enjoys hugging trees, so I did a lot of tree-hugging.
And I found that within those four days, once I was able to start feeling myself again; along with being within nature, I was able to experience the main reason why I came on the retreat…
…to commune with my spirit.
Through everyday life, I will sometimes loose touch with my spirit, which causes me to loose direction, however, when I’m alone and silent…I have nothing else to do except hear it’s voice.
Taking the time to retreat is by no means a way to escape the world, but rather a means for me to deeply rediscover…
…my purpose in the world.
.jpg)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)