Away to the Abbey

Abbey of Gethsemani

It is time for my annual Thanksgiving week retreat to the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky. I have been spending the holiday week with the monks for the past few years, and I have been on retreats to Gethesmani many times over the past 30 years or so. 

Last year, because the Abbey's guest house was closed for refurbishing, I retreated to Saint Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana. Although I spent a pleasant few days there, there is nothing quite like the silence and contemplative atmosphere of Gethsemani.

I'll have a private room with bath, a bed, a desk, a comfortable chair, and days of unstructured time.

I am so ready.

Of course, my biggest decision is what books to take. I usually pack more than I could ever read in a few days, but I never know what I might be in the mood for. The guesthouse has a wonderful library and I usually end up plucking a book or two off its shelves to explore as well.

After much consideration, I'll take only two books with me.

I just purchased a copy of The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll.  I have toyed with my own version of this popular way of tracking time and tasks, and although it might sound an odd choice to take on retreat, I want to give the author's ideas and suggestions uninterrupted attention.

This is the opening line:

The Bullet Journal method's mission is to help us become mindful about how we spend our two most valuable resources in life: our time and our energy.

Seems like a good choice for contemplating the upcoming year.

The other book is one I have had for a while but have not had the opportunity to fully examine: A Book That Takes Its Time - An Unhurried Adventure in Creative Mindfulness by the editors of FLOW magazine. It is filled with essays on slowing down, living with intention, and all sorts of creative paper goodies - postcards, stickers, collage elements, and fill-in lists. I love lists! It is a beautiful book and I can't wait to dive in. Slowly, of course.

I'll also take a few basic art supplies, my journal, and an open spirit. There are always surprising adventures to be enjoyed in this place that feels almost as familiar as home - but without chores and errands and the constant interruptions of technology.

If you are in America and celebrating this week, enjoy your Thanksgiving however you choose to spend it. 

In Which I Sit and Stare at the Trees and Contemplate Keys to a Creative Life

Postcard photo of the Balsam Mountain Inn
(George & Roberta Gardner Assoc.)

The Balsam Mountain Inn is in Balsam, North Carolina just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smoky Mountains. I spent this past Monday night there for a mini autumn retreat on my way back from visiting my brother in Charlotte. The inn opened in 1908 and sits at an elevation of 3500 feet. There are no televisions or phones in the rooms. Its wooden floors creak (which I found to be strangely comforting) and the huge lobby is filled with wicker furniture and woolen rugs. Two fireplaces ward off the early morning mountain chill. Having coffee in its library, which holds quite an eclectic assortment of books, was like being in a used book store.

There are tables and shelves full of art, pottery, jewelry, and quilts crafted by local artists displayed (and for sale) in the wide hallways. The hallways are so roomy, I learned, in order to accommodate the huge steamer trunks brought by the guests from days gone by.

I arrived at 1 o'clock and for the rest of the afternoon I sat in a forest green rocker on the long veranda reading, sketching, and staring at the trees. I chose a chair away from the inn's gravel parking lot so as not to be disturbed by people coming and going. I sat there until 6 when it was time to get dressed for dinner. 

I was back on the veranda after breakfast the next day until 11 when I had to check out. 

My reading choice was a small paperback titled 99 Keys to a Creative Life by Melissa Harris. The keys are awareness, spiritual, and intuitive practices that are meant to encourage and inspire. I found it the perfect companion to my rocking chair reading as each 'key' is explained in only a page or two. Therefore,  I could read and ponder, read and ponder. 

Her creative awareness keys include setting intentions, making time for play, taking responsibility, and monitoring your energy. Under the spiritual keys she suggests meditation, celebrating your creations, and sharing your knowledge with others. The intuitive keys (I would like to delve deeper into these) look at honoring hunches, contemplation, and chaos as a creative force. 

One of the intuitive keys suggested communicating with one's pet by sending a message telepathically and seeing if it is received. Ms. Harris writes that she will 'call' one of her cats to come upstairs and the next thing she knows, it will join her on her bed. At one point I looked up to see a black cat stalking about in the bushes and silently called to it a few times but to no avail. Apparently I need more practice with that key.  

This is the type of book that is handy to pick up and choose a suggestion at random to think about or act upon when stuck or in a rut. It is one that I borrowed from the library but will most likely buy for my own collection.

Below are photos I took of the inn. I had a great leaf-peeping and restful experience.

A view of the inn from the drive going up the hill.

The view from my rocking chair. 

I was surprised at the number of bare trees.

From the end of the veranda.

Rocking chairs lined up on the veranda.
You can see my books
and other paraphernalia on the table
in the foreground where I staked
out my territory.

The dining room with its
windows overlooking the mountains.
I love the green and purple tiled floor.

I think this must be a balsam tree? It is the same huge tree
pictured in the middle of the photo
 at the top of the page.

Finding Harmony in New Harmony

A sketch of my cottage at New Harmony.

As fall arrives, I find I am wanting time alone to reflect and come into myself. Sometimes that means hunkering down at home and other times I long to be somewhere else. I have a friend who calls me The Queen of Retreats. One of my favorite places to go to 'get away' is New Harmony, Indiana.

I have been visiting New Harmony for many years and have often stayed at the inn there. In case you don't know it, New Harmony is located about two hours west of Louisville just off Interstate 64. It was founded in 1814 as a Utopian community and has quite a lively arts scene along with historic buildings, gardens, outdoor sculptures, and two labyrinths. It lies on the Wabash River, has a small smattering of shops and galleries along its main street, and sports a population of about 900.

In the spring of 2014 I had a chance to spend a week in a little cottage there. I shared a few photos (here) of my time then, but thought I would revisit that retreat in a little more depth. To prime the pump, so to speak.

What was I looking for during that week-long retreat?

First a bit of peace and quiet away from my daily routine without the distractions of deadlines, household chores and errands, and a never-ending To Do List. Second, I wanted to spend time with my sketchbook and watercolors and knew that there were plenty of artful spots in the small town to explore. Third, I wanted a place that held a bit of historic interest.

This is what I found:

Art is everywhere.

Peace and Quiet

There is plenty of this in New Harmony. Even the town's name offers up the idea of solitude and serenity. My cottage, the 1840's Guest House, was across from the town's Roofless Church at the corner of North Street and West Street. It consisted of a living room with a fireplace, a desk and bookshelves tucked into a hallway, an adequate kitchen, a bedroom with a comfortable four-poster bed and a fragrant lilac bush blooming outside its window, and the smallest bathroom I have ever seen. The best part was that it had a screened-in porch on the side that overlooked gardens and a small gazebo. There were no other houses in view. I spent every morning and evening sitting on the porch watching the wasps trying to get in to make my acquaintance. A few were successful, but I shooed them away. Here is where I did a bit sketching, reading, staring into space. Every morning I walked the two short, shady blocks to the New Harmony Inn for a breakfast of fruit, cereal, and muffin, but other than that, I ate my meals at the small table on the porch and thought I would be quite content to spend the rest of my days there.

The parabola dome of the Roofless Church.

Time with Sketchbook

New Harmony is home to visual artists of all stripes: potters, watercolorists, sculptors, weavers. There are two art galleries in the town and many impressive outdoor sculptures and gardens that just beg to be sketched, photographed, contemplated. My cottage was filled with a nice selection of art all painted or created by local artists. I carried my sketchbook with me and came away after a week with many renderings of places and people that I encountered.

A fountain garden for reflection.

Historic Interest

I admit to a curiosity about the past and how people lived. New Harmony has a great deal to satisfy that curiosity. There are restored nineteenth century buildings - a potter's shop, log cabins and barns, an opera house, the old granary which is now a museum and meeting space, and the Working Men's Institute, an imposing brick building built in the late 1800s that houses the town's library. I spent a few hours here one morning looking through flower and garden books trying to identify the plants and posies blooming in the cottage's garden. I was fortunate that during my stay the annual Heritage Artisan Days were held and the streets were filled with well-behaved school children visiting from all over the state. The fair featured booths with artisans demonstrating crafts such as tin punching, paper marbling, glazing of redware pottery, wood carving, and that wonderful paper-cutting craft done with tiny, tiny scissors, Scherenschnitte.

One day I rented a golf cart – the preferred mode of transportation – and toured the town at a stately speed of maybe five miles per hour enjoying the architecture, the scents of flower gardens, and the friendly waves from pedestrians. I found my way down to the banks of the Wabash River and spent more than a couple of reflective moments there.

Another piece of outdoor art.

I loved my time on this community-centered retreat. It was a wonderful week full of many quiet adventures.

I have already started thinking about when I can return. I did spend one night there last October but one night is not enough time to shake off the dust of big city life.

Next month I will be heading to the Abbey of Gethsemani for my annual Thanksgiving week retreat. You can read about last year's time away here.

What are you planning to do to quiet yourself and welcome in fall and winter? Any books on your list that you have been saving for the long nights to come?