retreat news

a peek at the Your Story 2012 Retreat

I'm delighted to share that registration for the Summer 2013 Your Story Retreat began this morning. The retreat will be held from June 19-23 in Gearhart, Oregon.

This year I am so excited to be welcoming back Ali Edwards and Kelly Barton and adding Vivienne McMaster to our gathering of teachers for this incredible adventure. Also a dear friend and frequent retreat participant, Sasha Clements, will be joining us as my assistant who will help our bellies stay happy as we play and recharge and connect. 

Throughout the retreat and workshops, Ali, Kelly, Vivienne, and I will share stories and creative tools while creating a safe, encouraging environment for everyone. During our daily gatherings, we will explore the theme "Tell Your Story" as we dive into self-portraits, go on photography excursions, play with journals, have lots of creative fun, and so much more. We will also have some group discussions on topics like blogging and the intersection between our personal and private lives and how to navigate sharing our stories online. And this year we plan to visit Manzanita again for a field trip day!

Learn all the other juicy details here.

Note: There are just 25 participant spots at this small retreat (18 spots include lodging, 7 spots available for those who want to find their own lodging). In the past, this retreat has sold out in less than a week, so keep that in mind if you are hoping to attend. Updated: Almost half of the spots are already taken.

***

Additionally, if you have been thinking about coming along to the Feast Retreat this April, I want to let you know that there are only 7 retreat participants spots left.

During this five-day soul care gathering in the Pacific Northwest woods outside Seattle, Kelly Barton, Hannah Marcotti, and I will be your guides as we create a safe space where you can show up as you. As a group, we will cook meals together (with chef Persephone Brown), make necklace and bracelet talismans to take home with us, explore ways to practice self-care, play with paper and color and words in journals, and circle to share stories and make deep connections. 

At the Feast Retreat, you will find a place where you can: lean into trust and your inner wisdom, open your heart to kindred spirits, and spend time playing, resting, and sitting in the quiet.

Learn more about Feast here.

If you have any questions about these retreats, please just send me an email. 

Feeling so blessed that I'm able to create these retreats and do this work. Yes. I also deeply appreciate that not everyone is able to fly across the country (or the world) to come to a retreat like these. If you feel called to deeply connect with taking time for yourself and the practices we'll be sharing, consider my "tea + you + me" one-on-one option here.

Sending light and love to you in your corner of the world,
Liz 

(photo credits: Vivienne McMaster)

these hands...

The following words came to me yesterday after I took this photo...as I read them again, they feel like pieces of a longer bit of writing, but I will let them just rest here in this space for now...

When these hands were little they smeared Ponds Cold Cream across my grandmother's face, clasped my mother's hand when we walked through the grocery store, and held books that took me on adventures late into the night.

Years later, these hands lightly brushed my grandmother's forehead with a kiss after she died, hold my daughter's hand when we walk through the grocery store, and write words that I hope take others on adventures in their corners of the world.

These hands gather stories and moments each day.
They hold possibility and love.
They guide me through prayer.
They reach out toward connection and grace.

(If you've read Inner Excavation, you know that letting the body speak is one of my favorite prompts. I was inspired to take this photo + write these words after reading yesterday's prompt in Vivienne's Be Your Own Beloved class. So loving her gentle invitations each day. She is one of the best teachers I know.)

embarking on Project Life 2013

Week 1 (love including items Ellie makes at school)

This year, I'm using the Seafoam Kit with bits from the Clementine Kit and a few other good things. And hopefully I will begin to get a bit better at photographing these layouts but my intention in sharing these is more to encourage you to print out your photos and write down your stories and less about me saying, "look how pretty!" (Insert me smiling and winking here.) Because my Project Life album isn't about perfect. It's about getting these stories out of my computer (and my head) and onto paper.

Week 1 close up (made the collage instagram photo of EJ and me at the top using an app - love it!)

So far I'm really loving the 4x4 page protectors for mostly Instagram photos (printed from PostalPix) and a few 4x6 photos that I cut to fit. Because of the turnaround time for the PostalPix photos to get here (it isn't long but can be a week), I'm using a post-it with the photo description as a space holder if I'm waiting for a photo. This way I don't get too behind and can finish the rest of the layout.  

Week 2

Another reason I'm using more Instagram photos this year is because 1) I usually have my iphone with me and often upload my favorites to Instagram and 2) perhaps more importantly, this way I'm included more in the album, which is a goal for me this year. (I take a lot of self-portraits on Instagram.) Plus iphone photos are the only ones I really take with both me and Jon or of all three of us.

Week 2 closeup (I was feeling out of words during this week and loved that I could just use the "who what when where..." card and the "life looks like" card)

I've also been uploading my 4x6 photos to Walgreens and having Jon pick them up on his way home from work (or I upload them at 11 at night and pick them up in the morning and stop for a Starbucks treat as a way to get out of the house on studio days). For some reason, this feels easier right now, but I still use the Selphy if I want to print one or two photos.

Week 3 (with an insert of these photos)

A few favorite supplies in addition to the kit:

• Journaling with my Smash pen and these Sharpies
• Martha Stewart labels
• Ali's journaling cards
• Grid journaling cards cut to 4x4 for journaling on those layouts
• I changed to this corner rounder this month and I love it!

Week 3 close up

One big piece I've realized so far this year: I've let go of narrating the photos I use. Meaning, I don't always journal about the photos. Sometimes there is a story I want to tell with a corresponding photo or two, but often I want to include stories that don't have photos. And really the photos themselves tell their own stories. This is another way I keep letting go of any need for perfection with this project. Week 3 is a great example of this.

Just like last year, I'm continuing to include bits of journaling about the real life/hard stuff. Like the awesome beauty and intensity of being a mama to a smart little girl who understands so much but still has the emotions of a two year old to sift through each day. Including these pieces is really important to me and has helped me see how much of this experience is for me.

To read more about how I approach Project Life (and how I let go of perfection big time with it), see this post.

If you are new to Project Life, head over to Becky Higgins' site to watch a fun short video that explains everything.

PS You shared some awesome comments/emails after I wrote this post about why I take self-portraits and I want to respond to them. Look for a post about that next week.

PPS Registration for the Summer Your Story Retreat will begin next Wednesday, February 6. (The retreat website will be updated with more info on Monday.)

one joy.filled moment

The scene: She was tucked into bed for her nap. A story read. Stuffed animals and blankets gently placed around her. I walked down the hall to finish up Week 3 of Project Life, and inpired by Ali's post of photography tips, took my album outside to photograph Weeks 1-3 to share with you here (which will now happen tomorrow).

I moved the chair across the cement floor so I could stand on it, and after I snapped two photos, the blinds inside her bedroom window moved and a face suddenly appeared. She looked all around until suddenly finding me standing on the chair frozen as though not moving would cause her to decide to lay back down. 

After two seconds passed, we both started laughing.

I walked over to the window and snapped a few photos, capturing this one of her dimple and sheepish look of joy.

Ninety minutes later she is sleeping again (after one show please + one story + one more please + one or maybe three drinks of milk), and I've moved to taking photos of my album indoors and letting go of quite a few things on the to-do list.

Choosing to see the joy.

This is how I create space for more patience and love in the midst of toddlerland. This is how I fill the cracks in my heart. This is how open up just a bit more. This is how I find myself surrounded with so much beauty in the midst of the stuff that makes up this life. I do this again and again because at the end of the day, when I take a few moments to just notice, a version of these words so often comes to me:

 

*****

For more stories about joy and creative self-care, sign up for my (almost) weekly newsletter that is really more like a note from my heart to you.

things i keep meaning to tell you...

how I'm feeling these days
(plus a new soul mantra in the heart.full collection in my shop)

If we were settling in for a long conversation over a pot of tea, these are a few of the silly, serious, everyday things that might come up today:

1) Earlier this month we saw Fabio at the grocery store. Yes. That Fabio. He was there promoting something. There were a lot of women waiting to meet him. They were putting on lipgloss. We were just buying lunch.

2) I finally bought a huge calendar for my studio wall and am planning to use Elise's sticky note method to keep track of blog posts/projects so that my content will be more consistent over here. My schedule has felt upside down since the holidays, but I'm craving a rhythm again. Small movements each day to get back to this rhythm are helping. (Revisiting the wisdom in Zen & the art of being a work-at-home mama is helping too.)

3) Several loved ones are having some health issues right now, and almost each day, we've been lighting a candle with the specific intention of sending them love and light and healing. I share this because this simple practice helps me feel like I am doing something when it feels like there is little I can do from far away. 

4) My retainer broke. Yes, my retainer. The one that has been on the back of my front lower teeth for 23 years. Twenty-three years. I haven't felt the back of those teeth since I was in 8th grade. Wow. It is awesome. Except for the glue/cement stuff poking me that will be there until I can get in to the dentist. Still, flossing is like my new favorite past time these days.

5) In the last few months, I've become one of the top 25 most followed Pinterest users in the world. I know. It is crazy. So crazy that I have struggled trying to talk about it over here because it was so unexpected. For a few months now, Pinterest has recommended boards to new users based on a few pins they choose. My "YES" board is one of those recommended boards. I say again, crazy.

So far it has meant a few interesting opportunities, like being one of the first users of Luvocracy and being asked review things. (Yes, I would be delighted to review this new chocolate [post coming soon] because who turns down chocolate. No, I don't need new car mats or want to do a giveaway for them.) It has meant a slight increase in traffic over here on the blog. (Yes, it is really fun to be connecting with a new audience. No, it doesn't mean I now have millions of readers here or thousands of customers for my offerings.) I look forward to sharing more about this wacky, fun new path of seeing myself as a curator. And connect with me over on Pinterest. I'm having a lot of fun and will be sharing more about how I use Pinterest for inspiration and other good things here on my blog.

6) Feeling deeply called to gather with women in person. Teaching, sharing stories, creating together. Spending time thinking about how that could happen. Knowing in my bones that this is my path. Hosting my retreats fills me up but I'm only able to organize a small handful a year. So I'm hoping to be invited to teach other places...to visit you in your corner of the world and help you create a safe space where your kindreds can connect. Also dreaming about holding "retreats for one" here in my corner (where women would come for a personal retreat with me as their guide). 

7) The part where "they" tell you to be careful what you say around kids when they start talking is true. I know you know that. But each time I swear and Ellie repeats whatever fantastic phrase I've said in a sing songy voice while dancing...well, those moments are equal parts awesome and oh my goodness please don't say that in front of Grandma. 

Now, it's your turn. What would you share over tea today?

Blessings,
Liz 

here: a list

here

chai tea latte, chatter surrounds, adele singing in my ears
cafe date with jonny, each working, choosing to be together

here

new favorite cinnamon wrap made with love
talismans on wrist, ears, neck, reminders of friendship
white even though it's winter and raining with labor day many pages behind

here

gratitude
connection
the choice to be open the only way

***

Thank you for you. For your kindness. For your understanding. It would be silly to pretend that we bloggers never show up simply seeking validation. That was me yesterday. And I deeply appreciate you seeing that without judgement.  

seeking :: connection

(ornament by nina bagley)

This week has been one of those weeks where I've questioned a few things...how I move through the world online and off, why I'm invited to repeatedly sift through a lesson around feeling forgotten and left out, the contrast of that "left-out" feeling with the way I feel called to create safe spaces for women to show up as themselves, why I live in a corner of the world that I really love but I struggle to make deep connections with people in my own community.

Each day, as the morning fog gave way to grey sky, the winter blahs and the lonelies were clashing around and inside me.

Yesterday, after Ellie and Jon left for school, I was eating breakfast in my pajamas and trying to decide if I had time to take a shower and answer the stacking emails before diving into orders. And then all of a sudden, all I could think about was, "Get out of the house girl because you need connection. And PS you need a haircut." 

In that moment, I actually listened to myself instead of brushing off that wiser than me voice. And that action made something shift.

Maybe it was the self-care move of finally getting a haircut. Maybe it was getting out of the house. Maybe it was taking a break from work even though the to-do list is so long. Maybe it was knowing that a few loved ones who have health issues are doing okay right now. 

All I know is that when I opened my heart to connection, I suddenly found it everywhere:

• The delightful chat with my hair stylist and a conversation about cultivating trust so that I don't wait five months to come back and say "I didn't really like the last hair cut" but next time trust her to be able to fix it.
• Laughing with the receptionist at the salon about mama brain and being forgetful.
• An email from a friend telling me how much she has enjoyed our talks lately (and being so thankful since a huge part of our talks has been her holding space for me).
• The way the temperatures warmed and the blue sky peeked out against the tall tall evergreen trees in my front yard and I remembered why I feel so rooted in this part of the world.
• A package from a friend containing not only the bracelet I ordered but also thoughtful treats including the poetry ornament above that will hang in my studio.
• Your beautiful faces smiling back at me and peeks into your world on Instagram.
• The easy chatter with my studio assistant as we packaged orders reminding me why it is so important to not always work alone. Having a home studio is such a gift, but it can get lonely because you don't leave the house. Having someone there so you can say, "What do you think about?" or even just chat about what shows you're watching is such a gift. (And of course it is a plus that she's also Ellie's babysitter too!)
• A few new knitted pieces from my mom, including a cowl meets wrap meets poncho that is exactly like what I've been wanting forever. And hearing the joy in her voice when I called to tell her that.
• The conversation Ellie and I had in the car after I picked her up from school. She tells me stories now. Even though our evening was intense at times because she was really over tired, I continue to feel awe that she can share how she's feeling and what she needs. And she is so darn funny.

And the list just kept going probably because I was paying so close attention and literally making a list in my head. But the truth is that there was a lightness to the day that I simply needed.

Yet, the other feelings are still there at the edges. And I'm aware of them and listening and trying to understand and be open to all that is there. I still feel lonely sometimes. And that is okay. I still wish for a few things to shift. And that is okay. I still keep finding my way and sometimes it feels like I don't. And that is okay. 

But seeking what I feel like I'm missing is where the choice comes in. Seeking connection. Seeking a friendly voice. Seeking understanding. Being open to it can be scary because you might get hurt, it might not go as you hope...but I was reminded again and again yesterday that the being open part is the only way for me.

Thanks for listening...for sharing your light, your stories...for seeking connection so others can know they are not alone, so you can know...

Blessings,
Liz 

seeking truth one photo at a time

Oh truth...

You arrive and sometimes puddle at my feet. You push and pull at me. You sneak in like fog and wait for me to find you when the sun comes up. You confuse me and nudge me and invite me to stretch further than I think I want to.

And the truth is that you feel intangible and hard to find at times. You mingle with another's truth and mirror and hide and sometimes seem to laugh.

But I can't turn away.

I will keep sifting through your layered ways as I take photo after photo trying to find you on my own face.

***

About five years ago, I was talking with a friend and said that I don't tend to take photos of other people at gatherings, but I always take several photos of myself. "I guess I'm a self-portrait photographer" came out of my mouth before I could stop myself. This was before it was "in," before I wrote a book about it, before Instagram, before one easily admitted such things. My friend and I laughed at the time, but I couldn't stop thinking about the incredible, vulnerable truth I had just said aloud.

Taking self-portraits is one vital way I make sense of my everyday. It is how I look for the truth. It is how I check in with myself. It is how I seek confirmation that I am not alone. It is why so many of my Instagram photos are of me, my hands, my feet, my neck, my face, me.

Meeting my own eyes makes me feel deeply seen every time. And when I pair the photos with words pulled right from the guts and make the choice to push publish, I trust that maybe just maybe they will invite you to feel less alone too.

Try it. Take a photo of yourself. I dare you.