Meeting space at the retreat centre taken from the 37 Days Blog.
When my friend Patricia suggested back in the beginning of April that we go to a week-end retreat in North Carolina at the end of September it seemed extravagant, improbable, far away and thrilling. I had just started my chemotherapy the week before, and she had enough confidence for both of us that by the end of September I would be up for this trip. "And besides," she said, “it will give you something to look forward to.”
When I checked it out the retreat looked useful, I was certain the people would be interesting and it would give Patricia and me an opportunity to spend time together after a two year hiatus. She was persuasive and I loved the fact that it would round out my birthday month of 2008.
So I said YES! I had points that could be used for the ticket, I booked the flight, renewed my passport, set aside the information and settled into several months of treatment.
Time went on and before I knew it September had arrived and I was indeed able to keep this date. Patricia and I arrived in Asheville, NC on Wed evening and had a day and a half to explore and get acclimatized before the retreat began on Friday.
Patti Digh and her business partner David Robinson co-facilitated the retreat based on Patti’s book Life Is A Verb. The week-end was spent in an idyllic setting, with delicious vegetarian food prepared by the kitchen goddess Deva, while we worked with the stories of our lives around the six practices, for intentional living of which the first one is:
Intensity: Say Yes
I love the spirit of “say yes,” because of course when we accept invitations from reality, even when they aren’t in our comfort zone, we so often thrive. Saying yes to this implies a ‘no” to all of the other things that could have been done in that time slot. So “Saying YES” doesn’t mean being stupid or being a door mat. It can mean taking risks to be ourselves, putting ourselves out for the benefit of others, saying yes to love and friendship, learning something new, making time for our passions, our health, or our spiritual practices. Saying yes is sometimes “yes” to the sorrows and disappointments in our lives. Rather than fighting a reality that we can’t do anything about we can say “yes” to what is and work to change the aspects of our life that are within our control.
An interesting question we were asked to write on was “…what do I yearn to say yes to in my life.”
I say “yes” to writing my stories, reading more good poetry, to more celebrations, to generosity and joy and laughter, to going back to work, to dropping everything on a beautiful day and heading outdoors. Yes to friends and family, especially to grandchildren, yes to cooking and letter writing, and going to Japan and noticing the beauty in nature as well as the old man in the grocery store line-up. I say yes to being “good enough,” to quiet time and getting on with the things that are important from where I stand.
It got me started, this "yes business" and in everyday life on the home front I am making the change from less “yes but” to more “yes and.” I am going to try an experiment and see what happens for the month of October by making “ yes and” a priority.
“We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we may as well dance." Japanese proverb.
So glad to be back home. Farewell to an incredible September and welcome October.














Recent Comments