On retreat but not in retreat

A few times each year, I go away for a weekend retreat with some dear friends of mine for a few days of writing, rest, and snacks.

I could only join them for one night this time but I am making the most of it.

So far I’ve had great conversations and delicious snacks and now I am doing a little resting before doing some writing.

Every time I come to one of these retreats, I tell myself that I’m going to re-create some of this feeling at home.

So the key for me should be making sure that I revisit these ideas.

Of course, that’s often the problem with my good ideas is that I forget to revisit them.

Let’s hope that the smallness of these ones helps.

Decisions, decisions – a good problem to have ;)

This is the kind of evening I dream of when I feel tense or when it feels like the winter will never end.

I’m sitting on my patio on a warm summer night, deciding whether to draw or to read while I drink my (non-alcoholic!) beer.

A photo of a table with a bottle, an ereader and a sketchbook and markers on it.
Image description: a angled-down view of a small red patio table with a bottle of Corona Sunbrew non-alcoholic beer (which is covered in condensation), an e-reader in a blue and gold patterned case, and an open sketchbook with six markers on top of it. In the background there’s another patio chair, the bottom of the railing, and the end of a string of warm white lights.

All peopled out

I’m really enjoying my conference but it’s really easy to get all peopled out.

I wish that, even in a crowd, I had some sort of personal bubble device I could step into and regain my equilibrium before stepping back out.

I truly love interacting with people and hearing what they have to say so this isn’t about them being a bother, it’s about my brain needing a break so I can be present as my favourite self.

Reminding Myself To Rest

No matter how many times I remind myself that work and rest are part of the same cycle, I still forget.

It’s not that I am so caught up in productivity that I refuse to rest.

And it’s not that I think that my value lies in my work.

It’s that I literally forget that doing a lot of things a lot of days in a row makes me tired.

So at the end of a flurry of busy days, I find it weird to be tired and my brain wanders off in search of the reason why.

And then, when realization dawns, I have a good laugh at myself and take some downtime.

Brains are weird creatures.

When to move and when to rest…who knows?

A light-haired dog walking among some white flowers.
Image description: My dog, Khalee, in the middle of some white flowers with green leaves.

Yesterday, I did something weird to my back and all the muscles winched themselves two notches tighter.

All last night and today, I have been alternating between resting and moving.

I took a couple of short walks.

I lay down on the floor for a while.

I did a little yoga.

I sat in my chair with a massage ball on a few pressure points.

I stretched a bit.

I lay on my bed with a pillow under the small of my back.

It’s a tricky business, back pain, and it’s damn hard to know whether to keep moving or to get more rest.

I guess I’ll have to keep figuring it out as I go.