The Retreat to Plan the Retreat

For many years, I've been going to Create in Me, a retreat at Lutheridge which explores the intersections between spirituality and creativity. It was only recently that I could be part of the planning team.

When the retreat first started a decade ago, the planners were mostly local people who would come over to Lutheridge for lunch and planning. They'd do this several times a year, and the retreat got done.

Now most of the planners are coming from much further away. Last year, for example, my spouse and I took some vacation days and managed to get to one of the planning meetings. I think we win the award for furthest distanced travelled for a lunch meeting, but I'm happy for an excuse to escape to the mountains any time.

This year, we're trying something different. We're having a retreat to plan the retreat. We'll meet for 2 days, and the hope is that we'll get it all planned out. Last year, in addition to the planning meetings, the camp director and I spent more hours than I want to count in e-mailing, both each other and all the retreat leaders. Since the workshops and art drop in station parts of the retreat are mostly led by participants, we had about 20-30 people to coordinate.

Will it work? I don't know, but it's worth a try. Much as I love the idea of getting to the mountains 4 times a year for a lunch meeting, the realities of my work life mean that getting away is increasingly harder.

Once we've had the retreat to plan the retreat, I'll blog more about it, in case it helps those of you who are planning retreats big and small.