Temonos - A Writer's Retreat
On Saturday past I attended a day long writing retreat with Kathy Dunn. It was bliss. Pure, unadulterated bliss. If you love the outdoors and are in the Western Mass area, I cannot recommend this amazing place more. Temonos has a really cool history and once you walk into its space you sorta know it. There is a peace that comes with being unplugged that I can't quite describe.
After spending several hours with seven other writers and listening to their stories or their poems, the weight of a work week is long gone. After sipping on a cup of hot chamomile tea and nibbling on cheese and strawberries, the worries of email and voicemail have gone over the horizon and out of sight. There was nothing to think about but the white blank page and filling it with words that flowed and sentences that built themselves. It was a magical day.
Before leaving, Kathy asked us to write a brief piece about what we hoped we would leave behind and what we wanted to take with us. Here was my writing:
I hope I leave nothing behind. I hope Temonos forgets I was here so there is space for the next visitor who sits in this chair and steps barefooted across this warm, wood floor. I hope my loud laughs will fade away and wait for me back home where they match the resident decibel level. I hope that whatever tiny piece of myself that escaped will welcome me back one day.
What I will take with me is an echo of the words I was privileged to hear. The stories that were shared and the honesty that released them out into the universe. Writers are brave folk. They don't just say the words, rather they scribble them down madly as they lay bare the essence of their souls. Writers cannot hide who they are; heroes of humanity and soldiers of their story.
Thank you Kathy!
After spending several hours with seven other writers and listening to their stories or their poems, the weight of a work week is long gone. After sipping on a cup of hot chamomile tea and nibbling on cheese and strawberries, the worries of email and voicemail have gone over the horizon and out of sight. There was nothing to think about but the white blank page and filling it with words that flowed and sentences that built themselves. It was a magical day.
Before leaving, Kathy asked us to write a brief piece about what we hoped we would leave behind and what we wanted to take with us. Here was my writing:
I hope I leave nothing behind. I hope Temonos forgets I was here so there is space for the next visitor who sits in this chair and steps barefooted across this warm, wood floor. I hope my loud laughs will fade away and wait for me back home where they match the resident decibel level. I hope that whatever tiny piece of myself that escaped will welcome me back one day.
What I will take with me is an echo of the words I was privileged to hear. The stories that were shared and the honesty that released them out into the universe. Writers are brave folk. They don't just say the words, rather they scribble them down madly as they lay bare the essence of their souls. Writers cannot hide who they are; heroes of humanity and soldiers of their story.
Thank you Kathy!
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