I’m so glad I was finally able to get away for a Creative Retreat last week.  It’s been over four years since the last one, so it was way overdue!  I had my first Creative Retreat in 2018 and it was a special experience.  Other than blog conferences, I had never taken time away from home and work specifically for creative and professional growth, study, rest, and rejuvenation.   In early 2018, we had just moved to Minnesota, I was transitioning my business from furniture refinishing and selling antiques to whatever was next, and I had some big things to think about and questions about the future of my creative work to answer.  I came home with clarity and a renewed enthusiasm for my work.  Since then, I’ve taken a few Creative Retreats and learned that I need about one a year to clear the cobwebs, brainstorm, and gain a bit of distance from everyday tasks.

When Shaunna and I put this one on the calendar for late April 2024, I was giddy with anticipation.  Even though I had just spent a lovely 10 days at Isle of Palms with family, this was going to be a very different kind of trip.  There would be a lot of reading, listening to podcasts, walking on the beach, collecting shells, and kicking around ideas and questions with a good friend and creative force.  I mean, I needed it so much and I just couldn’t wait.

I packed way too much stuff, but I wanted to make sure I had a buffet of books and art supplies to chose from!  I brought along several notebooks and sketchbooks, books on creative work, art, gardening, and design, bought a few new audiobooks for the drive down, and a canvas bag filled with watercolor palettes, brushes, pens, pencils, markers, and more.  I decided to stop and spend the night in Raleigh with my in-laws to break up the long drive and give myself a day to decompress before getting to the beach.  This also meant I could take my time and stop at a few antique stores on the way down.  I didn’t buy anything, but it was nice to browse.

Unfortunately, I found out once I got to Raleigh that Shaunna would have to delay her trip by a day.  I talked it over with Jeff and we decided I should go anyway since the place was already rented and paid for and enjoy a little time alone before Shaunna could join me.  I arrived in Mt. Pleasant, SC (just outside of Isle of Palms) a couple of hours before check-in time at the condo, so I went to Barnes & Noble to browse the books and magazines, bought some new sunglasses (mine were scratched), and shopped for a few basic groceries to make simple meals.

While the time alone wasn’t planned, it was really nice to be alone with my thoughts.  I didn’t have anyone who needed anything from me and I could do what I wanted when I wanted.  I checked into the condo, hauled all of my gear up, and got settled before setting out to the beach to check out the shelling possibilities and explore.

The condo, which is in the Wild Dunes resort area in a neighborhood called Tidewater, was perfectly situated.  We had a good view of the pool and ocean and easy access to the beach.  The screened-in porch was a perfect place to sit for meals, reading, and painting.

Of course, it was a good place for washing and drying our beach finds, too!

I took the time before Shaunna’s arrival to rest, read, and listen to podcasts.

I found a book that was just made for me at Barnes & Noble – Color Charts: A History.  As the title states, it’s a history of creating standards of color in science, design, fashion, interiors, and more.  It’s a gorgeous book and both of us poured over it.  Shaunna brought along The Art of Anthropologie and I purchased it after looking through it to enjoy further at home.  There are so many amazing ideas that were used for Anthropologie displays that could translate to smaller-scale projects.

Since Shaunna needed rest more than anything, she slept in each morning while I went out to look for shells and gather my steps for the day.  That gave me more time to listen to podcasts and think further about things we could discuss.

We caught up on life (although we talk on the phone and text regularly, it’s not the same as sitting with each other and talking for hours) and we got out our notebooks and talked about business.  We asked questions of each other and talked through things that have been a struggle and things that have been going well.  We laughed and cried, shared frustrations and new possibilities.

We also painted together.  We had both brought a bunch of art supplies and had gone most of the trip without spreading them out on a table.  We decided we had better make the packing and bag-schlepping worth it, so we got the paints out, put on some music, and chit-chatted while we played.  Naturally, we had to check out all the new-to-us gear and share sources!

I don’t know if either of us really felt like painting at that moment, but we got lost in it.  Over two hours later, we realized it was getting late and we should probably clean up and have some dinner.

It’s true that working with your hands stimulates the mind.  I think having the paints out, mixing colors, and observing our surroundings more closely helped us enjoy the time even more and it got the creative gears turning for more conversation.

I’ve been home for a few days and have had some time to think about the Creative Retreat and what I took home from it (other than more shells!)  I usually have a big question or problem I need to think through and I come home from a retreat with answers or at least some clarity.  I didn’t have anything big to contemplate during this time and I didn’t have one big epiphany.  Instead, it was a time spent mulling over little things in my business, simmering on new ideas and thoughts, and, probably most importantly, it gave me time to plug in to a lot of creative encouragement from authors, podcasters, and Shaunna.  People spoke into things like time management, the energy required for good creative work, cultivating a flow of ideas, ways to prevent or deal with burn-out, some of the pitfalls of social media, failure, and more.

It was all a good reminder that rest is a crucial part of work and input is every bit as important as output.  I’m already looking forward to the next one…