37 Days

I’ve been following Patti Digh’s blog, 37Days for several years and I’m so excited to be part of The Circle Project retreat in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina next weekend. Her blog’s theme is about the choices we make in our lives if we were faced with 37 days left to live. A small group will gather next weekend at this retreat with Patti and David to share, learn, reflect and grow together. I can’t wait to also get a copy of her new book, Life is a Verb and embark on the adventurous drive on Friday from Raleigh to Ashville.

As always, the timing of this retreat is very appropriate. I do retreats well and have been to many from couples intimacy retreat in Escalen to an intentive Yoga retreat, to a women’s spiritual retreat to a creative writing retreat in to a communications retreat, etc. I know how to show-up, participate, eat meals with everyone, share awareness and develop weekend bonds with people you will never see again.

The part I don’t do well is the time before I leave for the retreat and the time after returning from the retreat. It always happens before I go, I decide there is no way I can go and figure out some sabotage tactic with a splash of guilt mixed in there. Whether it’s about money, time, busy schedule, distance, new project deadline, there is some pressing reason keeping me from going.

And sure enough for next weekend’s retreat, I tried to bail out of it. My mother has been very sick and her condition has taken a turn for the worst so we’ve all been on high alert and taken a bigger care taking role.  I didn’t want to travel far from her and yet believe the best way to care take my mom is to care take myself by going on this retreat.

Now my work begins as the days get closer to this retreat and I think about my life and my choices to live intentionally as though I only have 37 days left to live. What would I do? What would I leave behind for others? What will shift from this experience in my life and how will I incorporate it into my life?