1. TWIL (This Week I Learned.)

This week I retreated. We paddled across a lake to a small campsite where my husband and I sat for four days.

I’m still in a state of disbelief and wonder at how important retreat is.

I knew — but I didn’t know. We sat by a fire under a tarp in the rain and read, talked, watched the occasional duck. Ate. A lot.

Of course, I was not the one to instigate (insist) on this retreat. Sometimes I think this project is meant solely as a reminder to me to do the things I know I should do.

I went, a little unsure why it was needed, or if it was. My entire body is still saying “Welcome back,” in a quiet way.

2. Quote

“To win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the  acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of  skill.”  
 ―  Sun Tzu,   The Art of War

3. Prompt

I am kind of breaking a rule with that above quote. Sorry? I would like you to consider, though, that we often use “war” and “battle” and “fighting” language when we talk about ourselves.

We fight colds and injury. We battle our weak nature to try to subdue it. We are at war — our ideal self against invisible germs, unknown financial threats, injury, etc.

I feel that retreat showed me clearly that befriending the “enemy” is key. Sitting without distraction, with myself, helped me subdue this “enemy” — at least showed me clearly how tired I was from fighting.

I would like to offer the prompt of writing to your “enemy” — your injury, your weakness, you sickness or potential sickness.

4. Quest

Contemplate retreat. Is retreat — a media fast, time alone, quiet — possible? What would make it possible? Can you take steps to create retreat space in your week?

Ear plugs, hiding your phone, noise canceling headphones, eye mask, guided visualizations, walks in the woods, time on water — a few ideas to get you started.

5. Level-UP / Go Deeper

Consider taking four days per season to retreat. Just consider it.

1. POD Poem of the day   Robert Duncan: Childhood’s Retreat

1. Course     (I made a self care kit course. See what you think. It’s free.)

1. Video (Pico Iyer — The Art of Stillness )

9. Hero: Didi Bertrand — Founder
Why?     I finally read Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder’s 2003 book about Paul Farmer. .The entire time, I wondered about his wife, Didi Bertrand. Is she still married to him? What has she done in her life? Who is she? Look, Paul Farmer is a hero — no doubt. I have been changed by reading about him and his life. But, like that old saying about Ginger Rodgers: she did everything he did, but backward and in high heels…Didi Bertrand raised their three kids while Paul Farmer saved the world (well worth it — don’t get me wrong)
When I found out that she became a medical anthropologist and founded her own organization to help women and girls — and that she is changing lives, too, well…I am still kind of in shock. The Farmer-Bertrand family is my hero.

10. Take Care of Yourself This Week and Share if you know someone who might like this.

Wild  and Precious Podcast, the audio partner to 10 Things, is available  everywhere you download podcasts.Retreat episode Thursday.