RETREAT: Goals for 2026 How to find creativity on a solo adventure for the soul
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RETREAT: Goals for 2026
How to find creativity on a solo adventure for the soul
My favorite kind of break is a break by myself. It can be as simple as taking a shower or going for a walk, but a longer retreat is a true creative vacation for one’s soul.
My virgin adventure started with a writing retreat. At the time, my kids were young but in school, and I was ready to begin a DYI MFA. I found the courage to apply for a workshop, got it, met other creatives, and grew my writing. I put down my phone, shut off my email, and wrote. It blew my mind.
A workshop is a good gateway for a solo retreat void of classes and structure, but going on one’s own can offer more. Without distractions, you can enter “flow” states, experiment, and find unknown freedoms. When you’re out of your normal space, you see differently—and that shift often leads to creative breakthroughs. Your body relaxes, and creativity becomes more intuitive and embodied. Time away helps you remember why you create. It’s nothing short of a creative extravaganza.
A retreat does not need to be at a spa or a fancy hotel in French Polynesia. All you need is a little space. Spend the night at a friend’s house while they’re away. Swap apartments with someone. When I’m deep into revision, I find a floor and spread my outlines across the carpet. I eat when I want to eat, sleep when I want to sleep, work when I need to work.
There’s an old haunted hotel not far from me that has proved especially inspirational for my creativity. Sometimes, I’ll hear a noise, hoping it’s a ghost and not just the wind. I’d hide under the covers and write poetry. When I take a retreat to fill my creative tank, I read, write, and make some art. I take long, hot baths and don’t care if I drop a book in the water. A retreat may only last a night, but can feel like thirty.
Folks are often afraid to travel solo, let alone take a night for oneself to nurture creativity. So, if going alone isn’t your thing, take a weekend to play with a friend with creativity as the focus. My bestie and I have begun to do this regularly. Cook together. Find an art project online to share. Discuss a book. Once, I took a four-day retreat with a few friends. My mother-in-law helped with the kids while my husband was at work. When I returned, she asked me what four friends could possibly say to each other for four days. I realized it said far more about her than it did about me and let it go. But I can answer the question easily. It’s endless. We talk and share and laugh and cry and find time for ourselves.
When I’m on a retreat, I get into the rhythm of myself. I nurture my creativity and my sanity.
Give it a try. It’s a great goal for 2026!
Retreat.
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Quotes for the Soul!
“If you are never alone, you cannot know yourself.”
“The secret of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.”
“Seek to be alone much to commune with Nature and be thus inspired by her mighty whisperings within your consciousness. Nature is a most jealous god, for she will not whisper her inspiring revelations to you unless you are absolutely alone with her.”
“Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.”
“The right to be let alone is indeed the beginning of all freedom.”
“Solitude is a silent storm that breaks down all our dead branches; Yet it sends our living roots deeper into the living heart of the living earth.”
Thanks for reading. Creativity is not a command performance, but I hope you’ll stay and become inspired. If you know someone interested in creative endeavors, please forward this on!