Oregon.

I'm home from my art and writing retreat in Oregon. In many ways, it turned out exactly as I thought it would-- lots of emotions, SO MANY TEARS, and opening up about the difficult situations of this past year (or at least trying to). But I ended up getting far more out of the retreat than I was expecting. Whereas my first time at Squam Art Workshops opened me up to the possibilities of a creative life, this retreat kept bringing me back to myself-- reminding me that I am okay exactly how I am, that people will still want to be friends with me even if I'm ME, and that my whole life will make a lot more sense and be far more enjoyable once I come to love myself a little bit better.

I have about a bazillion other takeaways from the retreat, but as I learned while I was there, I tend to first process visually (through photographs or art) before the words and stories can take shape. So for now, all I can share are these photos. In the meantime, I'll be digging deep into my journal to process the rest of what I learned, and I'm sure the stories and lessons will begin to float out over the next few months.

PS - The last photo is courtesy of Mia M., one of my bunk mates. We took about a dozen self-timer/multi-shot photos to get this one, and I LOVE it.