Silent Stories
Two weeks ago I went on an amazing writing retreat with the truly magical Chris Kay Fraser.
Imagine this: Waking up in a sweet little cottage on the shores of Georgian Bay, staying in silence to focus on your writing space until 3pm, a loving writing coach serving up delicious buffet breakfast and lunch as well as a bowl full of writing tips in case you get stuck, going for a walk, listening to the waves, and knowing it's almost 3pm because your adorable writing coach is signaling so with the smell of cookies baking, hearing a bell at 3pm and gathering with the five other writers to speak your fist words of the day and check in about your writing.
And that is just taking us to 3pm. After that, there are cottage board games, swimming, wine and yummy dinners, guitar around a campfire, writing workshops, new friends and fabulous conversation. Oh, and fireflies.
It was an incredible treat for myself to dedicate that time to my writing, and take my creative process on a long and loving date. There is no better place than away from the city with no internet access to be able to really hear the whispers of longing that need to be written.
The only downside to this experience was the horrifying sunburn I received on the first day. That's what happens when you get lost in your writing and loose your sense of time. If I hadn't had sunscreen on, I may have ended up in a hospital. Somehow I think the purpose of the sunburn was to really make sure I slowed right down. Because boy, I really had to. It was not pretty. It still isn't, but at least I can sit down painlessly.
I was amazed at how much I wrote, and the stories that burst out of me like uncontrollable laughter. I decided to work on some memoirs. It was so powerful to have Chris there as a midwife of our writing, I could feel worlds of difference in the attention I was able to give to my stories while being so well taken care of and supported. It also was very powerful to know that I was surrounded by other writers, all swaddled in their own writing process, silently nearby. Hearing what they wrote later on was so moving, I'm still on the edge of my seat to find out what they are writing next.
So often photos don't do my memory justice, but it was really glorious to see these images taken by one of the participants, photographer Michelle Yee (not to be confused with my other friend, massage therapist and Power Pod member, Michelle Yee of Soft Mechanic). You have to check out the fun we had writing in the night sky with branches glowing from the fire. It was magic. Take a look at Michelle Yee's beautiful photos of the writing retreat here. She has arranged them so beautifully, I feel like they tell a silent story of their own.
For more information about Chris Kay Fraser and how amazing she is,
here is her website. She runs truly fantastic writing courses, memoir,
poetry and fiction, as well as one-on-one writing coaching. Not in
Toronto? She also runs brilliantly inspiring Satellite classes you can
do from anywhere she can reach you by mail!