How to Plan your Personal Creativity Retreat – What to create?

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Linda

One of the things that I DIDN’T do well was photograph the steps and days of my retreat.  Photos of me don’t come out all that well and I never seem to be truly comfortable with shooting pictures of everyone around me. So even though I have a camera in my iPhone and another digital camera in my bag I forget to use them! So please forgive my lack of visual documentation of my time. Remember to do this for your retreat as you will want to tell everyone about it and pictures help. You may even want to create a memory book for yourself as one of my friends suggested!

PLANNING – THE GIST OF THE MATTER

Once you have determined the where and when of your retreat, then you have to decide the what. What you focus your time on doesn’t matter as much as that you do have a focus. You MUST decide this before you go! Without a subject or topic to work on the creative mind will wander aimlessly over a lot of ground. Creative people often feel themselves running off in tangents with just the slightest suggestion from outside sources. Doing this often results in a lot of cool ideas plus the frustration of not knowing which one you even want to do. So to avoid having your mind wander out too far, choose a topic/subject/material to focus your time on and leave your decision making stress at home.

In my case, I have a LOT of different interests. These are spread out around my home and I fully intend to get to them. Sometime. Among all the crafts and arts that I am interested in doing a few just aren’t that portable. I really wanted to work on polymer clay, but I didn’t want to shlep my toaster oven along and I was afraid it might not be wise to bake the clay in my room – if there wasn’t an openable window, or a working bath fan. Painting could work (acrylics). Weaving could work (I have a small portable loom). Beading would work (though I have a pretty big supply of tools and materials). Zentangles and coloring. Drawing. Knitting. Scrapbooking. Card making! 

Two considerations for my choice of focus was could I find a class to take – to get me out with some playmates – and did I already have a supply of materials and projects to work on. I didn’t really want to have to spend a lot of time planning out every step – I have been too busy for that. Time also has a way of rushing by me so I really didn’t get too much planned until 3 days before leaving. Don’t do this!

My suggestion is at least one month before your travel date,

  1. decide on a focus,
  2. research classes/workshops,
  3. make out a tentative daily schedule,
  4. and gather supplies and materials for your retreat.

Finding classes to participate in can be a bit more problematic. In a day where everything is on the internet, many shops and art centers just haven’t gotten up to speed yet. I’ve never been one to just pick up the phone and call someone either. I was disappointed that I couldn’t find more classes available in my target area. I had a car and I was willing to travel at last some miles to a class. I actually started looking for class offerings before I decided on a focus for my retreat. I’m glad that I did because that information helped me to decide what I was going to do.

There are several places to look for information you might not have thought of:Local galleries could offers classes via their artists

  • City listings like chamber of commerce, or visitors bureaus
  • Community centers
  • Stores – craft, specialty, name chain stores
  • Local artists listings – some people teach in their studios
  • magazine listings both in print and online
  • museums and institutes sometimes offer classes
  • Facebook/twitter/Linkedin friends where you are going
  • Even major crafts companies keep a list of their designers and where they will be teaching – try them!
Next: Timing – Creating a Smooth Agenda

 

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How to Plan your own Personal Creativity Retreat

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Linda

It doesn’t seem like a month has passed since I had my retreat. I’m ready for another one! In lieu of that however I will answer your questions about how YOU can have your own Personal Creativity Retreat. Keep in mind, this is how it worked for me. Just like on Christmas, anticipation is half of the fun, so planning your retreat can be part of the enjoyment your derive from it. Your circumstances may be different from mine, but with some of my suggestions and your own ideas, you should be able to develop a retreat that will suit your needs. So, let’s begin!

First off, there is no denying that everyone needs to take a retreat sometime! When I was younger we called it a vacation. To me, a vacation is more about travel and site seeing than answering the call to be free to be creative. However, traveling is a lot of work. Either way, stepping out of our daily lives for a time feeds our souls. The first step is to recognize that you should and can take the time to go away by yourself and discover your inner artist. The idea is to eliminate stress so you can create, so don’t make planning your retreat stressful. But do take time to think about it and  organize some things before you go.

Location and date is your first decision.  In my case, that was decided for me. It is ideal if you can piggy-back onto someone else’s travel. You not only take the stress of determining where to go, but also the dates for your retreat and some of the expense will be pre-determined. My hubby did all the reservations because it was work related. If you will be planning everything yourself, look for a friend or acquaintance who has a cabin, time-share or rental and ask if and when you could use it for your retreat. Be somewhat adventuresome when determining your location and dates and stay open. However, you don’t want your time away to be stressful, so stay away from places (cities in my case) and climates that aren’t conducive to your creative activity and peace of mind.

Length of your retreat should always be long enough to be able to turn off your ‘life’ and get into a creative mode. For me that is about 5-6 days. A week. It takes me 2-3 days to unravel the tangled nest in my brain  and open a window for a breath of fresh ideas. My days were cut short by the responsibility I had to chauffeur Dale and do a little sight-seeing with him. But I also needed that time away from the motel room to connect with the world energy. And I planned for gathering inspiration through classes and shopping so my time wasn’t strictly ‘creating’ at a table though I could have been happy doing more of that. Build your own retreat time around what you want to do, but be sure you are doing something every day and not falling into a ‘dreaming’ state – that’s for another time.

A word about costs. Don’t spend any more money than you can afford. BUT you can always afford to ask for something in trade. In my case, my room and board (food) were about $17-20 a day extra over what Dale spent (through work) for his accommodations at a chain motel. If you have a relative with a cabin or  extra house ask to trade some artwork or even cleaning work for your use of the space. You might even be able to pay with the creative results of your retreat!

I would also suggest that you choose a destination that is drivable. #1 – you have to take your ‘stuff’ to work on and who knows how many bags that will take! and #2 – its too expensive and stressful to fly these days. Although the high cost of gas is difficult to ignore, going 3-4 hours from home is better than the motel in the next town over. You want to feel like you have truly gone away and won’t be tempted to step back into your daily life fore even a short visit.

There is a certain amount of anonymity in staying in a motel. You can come and go as you please and no one cares. I put the do not disturb tag on my door and even the staff stays away. I like that. (Although they always put little notes under my door that they are ‘so sad that they couldn’t service me’ and ‘please call if you need anything.’) However, be aware that you should attend to your physical needs and plan for things like meals and showers while you are retreating! If you will be emerging from  your space often, please make sure you have adequate personal care facilities available – and use them! Some people feel that living in pajamas and neglecting yourself is a desirable part of being “away” on retreat or vacation. I don’t. Treat yourself well and take care of your hygiene  when on retreat – your spirit will respond better when you do.

Since many motels offer free breakfast with rooms now, I have to say that we will only stay where they do. You get more bang for your buck. Since I avoid urban areas I can usually find adequate inexpensive food resources and as a seasoned camper I know what to select to put together a meal with little effort. If you will be staying in a cabin or house where food isn’t served for you – plan for your needs accordingly. And I also advise NOT opting for a cooler and ice. It’s a pain in the —- to have to take care of that every day and you never know if your food is kept at a safe temperature. It’s better to make sure you have food storage and preparation facilities, or plan to eat out for every meal.

My motel not only served a full breakfast buffet every morning but there was a microwave and a small refrigerator in the room. We ate breakfast in the dinning room every day (why buy when it came with the room? cha-ching). I scarfed up a few extras like a banana or a hard boiled egg or muffin each day and stashed them in the room. There was a restaurant adjacent to the motel where we ate a supper or two. If there were leftovers I stored them in the frig for the next day. I drove by a Panera when delivering Dale to his class and bought lunch food in the morning – usually enough for 2 days – so I didn’t have to go out again for lunch. All in all I was able to put together enough food to satisfy a lunch meal and some snacks every day. I took small bottles of juice and snack bars along but didn’t eat much of them. Dale and I often share restaurant meals because they are always too large for one of us. You can save a lot on food if you have a partner with you and do this.

To plan or not to plan?

Spontaneity is definitely a good thing when on retreat. However, planning for your needs while away from home is advisable even if you will be gone a short while. I din’t spend too much time on this, and actually not enough time. Be sure you give your needs and requirements enough thought and determine that you will be able to meet them. Some surprises are better not to have happen. Your focus should be on having a creative time!

NEXT: How to Plan Your Own Creativity Retreat – What to Make?

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Day 5 – Personal Creativity Retreat: Wrap Up

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Linda

Dale went in to class early again this morning. Test Day for him. And an early dismissal. Which means that I don’t have as much time for my projects as the other days. AND I’ve also gotten down to the last of the kits –  the winter cards. Somewhat appropriate – the end of the retreat, the end of the year seasonal cards, and time to pack up for the trip home.

By this point, I’ve gotten my process down and I’m really enjoying the act of crafting the cards. Being alone isn’t a problem for me. The solitude has helped me to shut out the clamor of my day-to-day life. It’s also been a time to find some peace with where I am going in my life. You don’t have to purposely set out to discover these things. They will just occur if you become truly involved in the days of your life.

Taking time off to step away helps. On Wednesday evening after Dale finished up with class, instead of driving back to the motel room, I picked up a brochure at the front desk and discovered a small lake town just to the south of our location. Actually it turned out to be about 4 miles from the motel. So I suggested we drive down there.

What we discovered was a darling resort town on Lake Minnetonka, Wayzata, MN. We strolled past shops and eateries on the main street and crossed over to the park where even in early April there were people fishing on the dock and a flotilla of sunfish sailboats on the water. This is the kind of place I love! We stopped for a flatbread pizza and decadent cheesecake supper at an Irish Pub, then headed back to the motel for study time. These little discoveries make any trip worthwhile. And none of it was planned!

After Dale had finished his class on friday he suggested returning to that little spot. Or going back to my shopping hang-outs from the week. But I thought that spending a little down time in the hot tub was probably a better idea. Late afternoon is a good time to have the pool area all to yourself, and we did. Soaking some aching bodies (motel beds are known for less than therapeutic sleep), and just relaxing for a while seemed like the perfect way to wrap up our trip. We had supper at the restaurant next door an retired to the room to read and pre-pack. We hadn’t turned on the TV the whole week, so it seemed like it would be un-likely we’d enjoy it now.

We would have two more days before we reached home. Long days of driving, but across country we love – northern Wisconsin through Upper Michigan and down the state. We would stop in Ann Arbor to see Dale’s mother who had been hospitalized on Tues. but was released to rehab today. Some things you just have to do.

Next: How to have your own Personal Creativity Retreat

 

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