I am heading off on a retreat with some friends this weekend.

Normally, when I go on these retreats, I plan too many things to do and then I have trouble getting any of them done.

I imagine myself spending the weekend drawing, spending the weekend writing, spending the weekend reading, and doing a ton of yoga.

This time, however, I have decided that my time would be best spent by making plans about my writing.

So I guess for me it isn’t a writing retreat. It’s a planning retreat.

Truthfully, that’s probably the best use of retreat time for me.

I need planning time.

I need thinking time.

I need to put the structures in place to help me make creative things happen.

My challenges don’t often lie in a lack of writing time, they lie in not knowing what to write when.

It’s more complicated than that, of course but that’s the neighbourhood that the problem lives in.

I had a great taekwondo class tonight.

Because my mood has been so low, because I’ve had so many migraines and minor injuries, and because the weather has been so weird, I have been struggling with TKD lately.

It’s hard to stay motivated when you don’t have the energy to feel connected to my practice and my goals.

I was still showing up as often as I could though because I do love it and I do know that the motivation and connection always returns.

Tonight, I felt that spark. The joy of learning. The desire to challenge myself a bit.

Well, I felt all of that right up until the last move of the class when I landed a little oddly and hurt my heel.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh, right?

The weather has been so crappy and the roads aren’t well-cleared so I was reluctant to get out for a walk today.

But I felt bad that Khalee was stuck in the house so I made myself go.

I don’t know if I felt any better but at least I didn’t feel guilty any more.

I had a great time leading a workshop about clothing-inspired stories today.

It was so fun to provide the space for people to create connections between ideas and to grow them into stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I was proud to be able to help them with their stories.

And I was really pleased that my plan developed the way I hoped it would, that the exercises I chose provided a way for them to find a powerful story.

I can’t wait to do it again!