Creativity Retreats Q&A
Hi hello it's me again!
Back with a little toe-dip into your inbox to tell you more about the two retreats I have coming up this spring!
Since these are the final two creativity retreats I plan to teach (at least for a looooong time), they are particularly special and I hope you can come!!!
Here are a few questions you might have:
Give me the deets!!!!
Well okay!
RETREAT: YOUR SACRED STORY
May 2-4, 2025 in Boone, North Carolina
I’m coming back to Art of Living Retreat Center in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains to teach a weekend workshop on telling YOUR story. I’ll focus on writing stories from lived experience and memory, with optional art prompts if you’d rather draw it out. I’m also here to give you aaaaalllll the practical tips for getting published once you’ve put your life into words!
Getting There: I fly into Charlotte Airport and take the Hickory Hop Bus which is super easy and goes straight to the retreat center!
BUILDING CREATIVE MUSCLE
June 6-8, 2025 in Rhinebeck, New York
I’ll be at Omega Institute (for the first time!) teaching a brand-new workshop all about “getting in shape for a creative life.” Think of it as going to the Creativity Gym and getting a bootcamp workout! If you’re completely out of creative-shape or would like guidance creating a sustainable “personal training” plan for your work (this is just the BEGINNING of the metaphor, by the way :), you are so welcome to join us here! It will be messy, creative fun in a peaceful town at a stunning time of year.
Getting There: Easy peasy from NYC! Take the Amtrak from Moynihan Station to Rhinecliff, and from there is a 15-ish-minute taxi to Omega.
Which one is right for me??
I would personally choose a retreat based on how easily I could get there and how well it worked within my calendar, but that’s me!
If you have both weekends wide open and you have a private jet which makes both equally as accessible, then I’d look at it this way:
The May retreat in North Carolina is for people who feel like they have a story in them
—whether they’ve discovered it yet or not! For people who have that inner pilot light of personal storytelling always lit, I designed this workshop to help ignite that burner and let it really heat up!
The writing/art prompts for this retreat will be geared toward folks who want to create from their own life experiences (narrative nonfiction), and may want to get published some day. I’ll share tips for that at the very end of the retreat, so if you’re already on the publishing road, you should still come!! ;) And if you don’t think you have anything to write about, you should still come!
The June retreat in New York is for people who just want to get creative in general!
The prompts I offer will be much more general to help you find your creative groove. We’ll be playing around a lot! We’ll also create your personalized, sustainable plan for regular art-making or writing or puppeteering or whatever you like to do!
This retreat format will be more relaxed as we “go to the creativity gym” and try out different methods of creative fitness: flexibility, strength, and endurance.
But what if I’m not a creative person??
About half my retreat attendees every year tell me upfront that they are NOT writers, NOT artists, and NOT creative. That’s exactly why I love teaching these workshops so much!! We ALL have a creative self playing around in our souls, just waiting to come out and play in the real world! I take a lot of care to create a supportive, encouraging, safe environment for all levels of creative types!
What if I’m SUPER CREATIVE and maybe too advanced for this?
That’s for you to decide, but you’re more than welcome to come into a creativity retreat with a specific project you’re working on—if you simply want time and space to devote to it. You can work during our sessions, and feel free to ask me for any feedback or tips on getting it out into the world.
What if I’m an introvert and I don’t want to talk to anybody?
I pride myself on creating a very introvert-friendly retreat!!!
You will NEVER EVER have to share your work, participate in a group activity, speak aloud, or even make eye contact unless you want to.
You can sit in the corner with your headphones in the entire time if you want to. You can lie down and take a nap if you want to. Or, you can go up to every single person you see and introduce yourself with a big shiny grin if you want to.
Your soul, your choice!
What’s the food situation?
Retreat centers have notoriously great food—usually local/organic/all that good stuff! It may be a different way than you’re used to eating, though, especially if you eat meat! I pack LOTS of snacks just in case, but love trying new things during meal time. Snack breaks are highly encouraged :)
My IG story from an Art of Living retreat:
What’s the room situation?
Retreat centers tend to have a simple vibe when it comes to accommodations (shared bathrooms are the MO), but they always offer private options. Retreat centers also have a lot of common areas with cozy personal nooks, plus yoga/mindfulness classes and spa treatments, so you may not spend much time in your room aside from sleep! If you’re a high-maintenance girlie or guylie though, you might want to bring your own comforts (pillow!).
Are men allowed?
DUH YES OF COURSE and we always have a couple men who are everyone’s favorite attendees :) I wish more men would come! It makes me very sad that so many experiences related to wholeness, mental wellbeing, health, creative exploration, and self-reflection are marketed toward women—who are simply more likely to take advantage of them.
Ladies, gentlemen, gentletheys, and gentlethems are more than welcome!!
I’m somewhat intrigued but this is out of my comfort zone!
I get it! I get VERY nervous before any retreat, especially the ones I’m teaching! My advice is to see if a friend or family member wants to come (we always have at least one mother-daughter combo!) to be your emotional support being.
Also know that this is really YOUR experience; nothing is obligatory and everything is made for fun and exploration in mind. You’ll have opportunities to get more serious about your craft if you like, but that’s just one way of creating your weekend.
What are the people saying!!!!
The retreat was such a calming, grounding, way to enter this next season (of the year and of my life) and I felt so well held by everyone - in part because of the space Mari created for all of us long before we entered into a space with her, and then continued to offer us throughout the weekend.
The retreat was life changing for me. It made me step back and evaluate some really hard things in my life in a positive way with steps and the confidence to improve these areas. I thought I would be more attuned to the journaling aspect as I'm not very good at drawing but I found the most peace and comfort in the drawing exercises. All levels would enjoy Mari's teaching.
Mari created a beautiful vibe and safe space for us to explore creativity on our own terms. That magical retreat weekend changed my life, lifted my heart, and empowered me to share my own work for the first time in my life.
I truly learned so much from Mari and from everyone at the retreat center, who all created such a safe space. Since the retreat, I've been inspired to write more essays and share my writing more. I never thought I'd do that! Mari gave me the confidence to believe that my story is important.
I went on the retreat with my mom, and we were both so refreshed by Mari's authenticity. We soaked up every bit of her teaching and it was the most fun getting to have a space with my mom where we were both students together. Thank you for fostering such a safe space for us to share our words. Thank you for reminding all of us the value of honoring our bodies and our souls. Mari modeled what it looks like for our creative work to be in service to others. What an honor and a gift it was to learn from her.
See?? :)
Here’s a little preview of my teaching style if you’re curious!
