My bravery started back in the later summer of 2010 after a weekend at the beach when a dear friend suggested I needed a time out....a break...a sabbatical....a restart. So I started looking for a retreat-a grown up version of camp basically (but without the polar bear club thankfully). I looked on-line for over a month and explored retreats offered from meditative retreats at the Deepok Chopra Center to yoga retreats in the mountains of Asheville, NC. Each retreat I found, and there were about 15, spoke to me in some small way but they did not make my heart sing. One day as I was reading a favorite blog I stumbled upon Be Present Retreats and after reading and re-reading about it I book marked the site. Then I began to let this idea simmer. A day or two later I e-mailed Liz, the organizer and brain child of the retreat and asked her several questions. I remember telling her that I was not an artist, I was not a photographer, I was not a writer, I was not a yogi, and that I was not practicing meditation but that I felt so drawn to her retreat. She said come. In hindsight I can now say I am all of those and so much more. Don't get me wrong, I am not a master at any of those roles, but I can honestly say that I practice each role and enjoy the practice. I was still so afraid. Afraid of everything that I was not and everything that the other women would be. I was lucky to be among 12 bright, talented, loving, creative, sharing, caring and light bearing women for 4 amazing days. That space I was given along with the love and encouragement from my husband, my mother, and my two best friends has brought me to this place...of bravery.
I look forward to where this will lead and of the journey ahead.
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| New Beginings |
