Celebrations : May is Artist's Soul Retreat Month (Month of May)

A Celebration of Creativity, Self-Care, and Reflection

Artist's Soul Retreat

By Chris Dunmire

Self-care coach Linda Dessau was the first on Creativity Portal to write about the Artist Retreat, a kind of vacation that helps artist's (of all kinds) to get outside of their usual routines, connect with other artists, and contemplate their creative dreams in a larger context. In her article 10 Signs You Might Need an Artist Retreat Day, Linda encouraged awareness for signs of creative burnout and showed how we can incorporate elements of a retreat into our daily lives.

Before her "Fabulous Friendship Festival" was published in 2007, creativity author SARK shared on her PlanetSark.com message board how she went away on solitary writing retreats to get her books written. I remember thinking how brilliant that was and wondered how many other artists and writers carved out this type of intensely focused space to get projects done. Closing the door to our office or studio may be helpful, but emerging ourselves deeply in the creative process may be more of a challenge when we're constantly distracted by the needs of others and even by our own wandering minds in familiar surroundings.

Artist Retreats can take many different forms and need not be expensive or time consuming affairs. A few hours, days, or weeks with private time and space is all you really need. They can also be self-designed to meet your own personal preferences and needs... for some this may mean less time working on "stuff" or connecting with others and more time resting, relaxing, and replenishing.

My first retreat came 20-some years into my working life and consisted of two weeks alone in a rented cottage in the Arizona mountains where I had no creative expectations and took replenishing daily walks and naps. I focused on being "unplugged" from work demands and spent important "me" time reconnecting with my body — and myself — under cool starry night skies. I did some creative things and read a lot, and discovered the new joy of snail-mail art. I came home to a full inbox and lots of work waiting for me, but that stuff is always there. The nourishing gift of a retreat, however, is not.

Some may call them retreats, vacations, or sabbaticals. I like the idea of combining the best of them all into an Artist's Soul Retreat (with emphasis on self-care of the soul). Let's celebrate May with creativity and self-care!

If you're interested in designing your own Artist's Retreat, here's some recommended reading I've culled out from the Creativity Portal corridors to support your journey:

Self-Care, Health, Wellness

• See Jill Badonsky's Body Blissmas and Linda Dessau's Self-Care series.

Being an Artist, Creative Process, Clarifying Inner Obstacles

• See Barbara Bowen's empowering Snapshots, Lynda Lehmann's Writings, Deanne Fitzpatrick's Stories, and Art of the Song Essays.

Collage or SoulCollage® for Self-Discovery, Contemplation

• See Anne Marie Bennette's Inner Voices of Creativity and Shelley Klammer's Collage for Self-Discovery series.

Journaling & Writing from the Deeper Self

• See Naomi Rose's Deep Writing series (especially her piece, The Intimate Fruits of a Writing Retreat) and Cynthia Morris' work on Writing Your Journey.

Mingling with the Muses & Inspiring Things

• See Molly Anderson-Childer's Multicultural Muses and Jill Badonsky's Modern-Day Muses.

Playful Art, Coffeehouse Journaling, Expressive Art

• See Chris Zydel's Intuitive Painting series, C-P's Art Therapy section, Violette's Folk Art Fun, and Molly Anderson-Childer's Juicy Journals & Wild Words.

Art & Writing Prompts

• See C-P's Writing Prompts, Imagination Prompt Generator, and 365 Pictures Prompts.