Retreat

I'm finishing up my first draft of Sweet Spot Style (the book) and I needed a little quiet space to collect my thoughts, so last weekend I had the pure luxury of staying at The Sanctuary in Westminster West, Vermont. Homeowners Caitlin and Peter where out of town and I was in charge of making sure Sasha and Maya (the kitties) didn't get eaten by wild coyotes after sunset. I am good at that kind of job :)

It's funny, I was dreaming of being all alone, getting uninhibited free time to write and focus, but oddly enough I found myself creating my own distractions. Maybe it is b/c I'm so used to being interrupted, with 50 things to do at all times, the phone ringing, dinner to make, or my child who wants to play Barbies.... and all of these things were gone. Yet, what did I do, but pick up the phone and ask my family if they would like to join me? How crazy is that??? I told hubby, "I think I kinda I miss you..." but actually I think it was that I'm not used to spending much time alone.  Luckily, hubby reminded me of my mission and told me to get back to work :)

And I'm proud to say I did. The writing itself, dare I say, is done with over 43K words and 125 pages, time for editing and picture placement. To celebrate, hubby and daughter joined me for lunch in the garden and a gorgeous hike on Sunday. What I learned this weekend is that I really do need to be careful about not creating distractions that pull me from my mission and that sharing the beauty of a magical place does give me joy, but there is something to be said for keeping a little of that magic all to myself.