I’ve been wanting to write about the retreat since it ended. I still haven’t found the words.

Here are some the attendees used:

moving

healing

divine

inspiring

so loving

It was an honor to be in the presence of these women. Their willingness to be open, to be vulnerable, to do the work, was incredible. We were all changed by the experience. I want to do it justice, to somehow convey the depth of the healing and the way we all flew on the energy of newly stretched wings. I want to touch the happiness that filled my soul every night as I went to sleep, the awed internal stillness as I realized that everything was happening as I had dreamed it would.

Re-entry into daily life has been bumpy. A sick child. A traveling husband. An issue that sucker punched me and left me heartbroken, struggling to catch my breath. I want to watch a movie, crack a book for fun, get a good night’s sleep. I want to celebrate what happened, absorb it into my bones instead of moving quickly on to the next item on my list.

I will write about it in more depth here, soon. For now, I leave you with one of my favorite poems – one that rings particularly true for me today.

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,

meet them at the door laughing,

and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

– Rumi