21 Feb
2018
Posted in: Retreats
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I’m Thinking About It

When I arrived at the Forest Refuge last December (I think this photo was taken about a week after I got there), I was delighted to find that someone I knew from the CDL program was already there — someone who I didn’t really know all that well, but who I’d sat several long retreats with, and had developed a very sweet, very heartfelt connection with.

The Forest Refuge is a silent retreat center, so of course we didn’t get a chance to chat — until just before I left, when I found out that my friend had already been there for 3 months before I’d arrived — and that they’d be staying on for another 9!

Meaning: they are at the Forest Refuge — on retreat — for a WHOLE YEAR.

Which is amazing enough. Except that last November, when Spring Washam was here and she was telling me how she had spent a year on retreat in Peru, I found myself saying: Wow, that’s so cool. I’m been thinking about going on retreat for a year at the Forest Refuge.

Which I had! Except that I’d never said that to anyone before. Maybe not even to myself quite that clearly.

So I backtracked right away. Saying: of course I couldn’t really do anything like that. What would I do with my house? My cats? My responsibilities!

And then I forgot about it. Sort of.

Until I saw my sweet friend: RIGHT THERE — DOING IT!!!

So while I was waiting for the van to take me to the airport (I was in the office, where it was OK for us to talk), I told my friend what I’d said to Spring and we talked about it.

They said that the first 3 months had been pretty intense. And that maybe it was a crazy thing to do. But maybe not. They said some people do it in 3-month “chunks.” Meaning: 3 months on retreat, then 1 month back out in the world (to integrate the retreat experiences), then back in again for 3 months, then out for 1, and on like that, for a year.

Which sound surprisingly doable!

Not any time soon, of course. But at some point. Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Let’s just say: I’m thinking about it.

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