🌑 Rest & Retreat 🌕 (Erin Jean Warde)

What if the monthly Chaos Land calls were more like mini-retreats? What if we spent 2 hours together & you received grounding rituals & writing prompts, with time to share and receive care?

A small look into the beauty of Trinity Retreat Center in Cornwall, CT.

🌑 Rest & Retreat 🌕

Thank you for your grace as I was out last week—caught within traveling back after Thanksgiving holidays, then packing and flying to Connecticut on Thursday.

I spent Thursday through Sunday at Trinity Retreat Center in Cornwall, CT. I was invited to help lead Trinity Church-NYC’s annual Women’s Retreat. What an honor and a joy! I met so many new, amazing, wise people. I feel deeply blessed by our time together. I spent a long weekend trying to offer rest to others, but by God’s grace, I received rest for myself, too.

I had a long travel route back to Nashville—to get to Nashville, TN from Hartford, CT naturally I ended up in Orlando, FL—which means I had a lot of time to think. (I also grabbed a copy of Stephen King’s The Long Walk & I’m loving it!) My thoughts kept meandering back to RETREAT—how much I love offering retreats, how much I love receiving them when I can, how much I want to infuse my whole life with retreat, and how it doesn’t feel as much like work when I am there, even when leading.

Retreat is something I often lead, but rarely receive. I yearn for more retreat in my life (the kind where I am not leading anything at all, at least every now and again) and you might be yearning for that too. The problem of course, as many of you know, is that going on retreat often requires a lot of planning. And money. I see retreats all the time that I’d love to attend, but I can’t afford the flight, the lodging, not working for a week but with no PTO, etc. So, going on retreat often feels like a yearning I don’t have the ability to enjoy in my life right now, similar to vacations.

For the retreat this weekend, my work was inspired most deeply by Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry. So between reading her book, leading a RETREAT on REST, and my own soul’s yearning, it’s fair to say the “center” of my seeking right now is, unsurprisingly: rest & retreat.

Yesterday I ended up in an organizational nightmare that was totally my fault. I thought we only had one person coming to our Chaos Land call, so I offered them a 1:1 in January instead, if they wouldn’t mind, since the 4:30PM pitch black darkness has really left me struggling in the evenings with energy. Once we had decided on that, I got word that a few other people were going to come, but it was too late—I had sent a cancellation email. I just truly bungled it up communication-wise. I’m deeply grateful for everyone’s grace with me around it.

This morning I started dreaming up something different…

What if the monthly Chaos Land calls were more like mini-retreats? What if we spent 2 hours together once a month and you received grounding rituals, time to explore writing prompts and their impact, time to share and let us care for you, and more?

The second I had this thought, I felt myself come alive. I felt myself get excited. I knew I had landed on something.

So, in the new year, we’ll be trying one monthly 2 hour call as a mini-retreat. I know very well the barriers to retreat. I know how hard—or should I say impossible—it can feel to go on retreat. That’s a big part of why I want to change calls in this way: so that if you are struggling with the inability to go on retreat, maybe this could be a support to you. No, there’s no gorgeous retreat center, but: maybe having a monthly time set aside for a short at home retreat might offer you some consistent care.

Monthly calls are for people in the paid community ($7 per month), but if you are struggling financially and could use this support, please reach out. <3

I’m sharing this, because I’m excited about it. I’m excited about the creativity I will get to practice as I dream up each month’s time together, because I know that makes me come alive. I’m excited about being able to offer what I hope is a special and meaningful space for the community.

I also realize this is part of a deeper call: a deeper call to retreat leading. I have done plenty of it over the years, but something has shifted, and I realize how much more I would like retreat leading to be part of my vocation, because I love doing it! I love offering people rest and support and care. I love reminding people that we are more than we produce. I love helping us—myself first and foremost—SLOW DOWN in a world functioning at a toxic break neck speed.

I’m at a place of seeking deeper joy and contentment in my life, and I know in my soul that rest is how I will create the space to find it. I am even taking January off social media, to try to retreat FROM the intensity of that distraction. I’m removing social media because I know it will create a vacuum and I will learn so much about myself as I try to fill that empty, holy space. I yearn to have hobbies and interests that are not on my phone, because I want to let rest & retreat become a much higher priority in my life.

I know this is a deviation from the theme of “the gift of darkness & light,” but I really wanted to share this with y’all… because, well, I’m excited! And I’m hopeful.

Next week, I’ll be back to reflect on the gift of darkness & light for our last post of 2024, before I disappear into Christmas holidays and return in January. Until then, please know how grateful I am for you and how excited I am to keep pouring into this community, especially in these new ways. <3

With love & care,
EJW

P.S. If you have any thoughts on REST & RETREAT, I’d love to hear them in the comments. Are you great at low cost retreat hunting and have skills to share? Do you do staycations that don’t feel like you’re still at home? How do you bring retreat into your day to day life, instead of relegating it to retreat centers? I’d love to receive your wisdom. <3

GOOD NEWS & GRATITUDE PODCAST

I’m thrilled to share that the podcast I host for United Thank Offering—Good News and Gratitude—has lots of new episodes for you to explore! I especially encourage you to do a deep dive through our Advent episodes!

• Introducing the Season of Advent

• The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength

And we have new episodes releasing every Tuesday! Subscribe via your favorite podcast app (mine is Spotify) to get alerts when new episodes arrive. Don’t forget to like & review the podcast so we can welcome new listeners! <3