Did you get to go to sleep away camp when you were a kid?   I didn’t.  I always envied those lucky kids who did.  Truthfully, none of my friends went to summer camp either and so I didn’t really know all that much about it. 

Everything I knew, I knew from watching TV in the 80’s.   And, man, did it look fun!

I’ve carried that longing for sleep away camp with me all these years.  That is until 2 years ago when I finally made that dream come true! 

{Well, as close to true as I could.  I brought my husband and 1 1/2 year old son along for the ride.  I will still nursing and we camped as a family, while the rest of the ladies stayed in the lodging and did NOT have their kids with them.   (Except one instructor who had not one child but two twirling around her skirts)}

Nonetheless, it was amazing.  I had a whole week to get into the flow of making, learn some new skills, pick up a trick or two and spend time with like-minded souls.  Time to just be me.  It is not an exaggeration to say that it restored my soul.  

It was just what I needed.  I had no idea it would be so fulfilling and heart warming.

You see, I had a dream for years and years to teach the hand skills, like sewing, that I find so empowering and that I feel have the power to connect us. 

• to connect us to each other as we make with our hands
• to connect us to ourselves as we release the expectation that our bodies need be any size other than the size they are
• to connect us to the planet and consider what we purchase and how it’s produced and what conditions the makers are living in
• to connect us to place…our place in the world  (there is pure magic in knitting a sweater from Alpaca that is raised and milled into yarn mere minutes from your home!  It’s even more exciting to knit it over the course of two years and really have no idea if it will still fit you…when it’s done)
• the power to connect us to our ancestors (I feel my Grandma every time I sit down to sew)

So it was this dream, that allowed me to spend the money on myself in order to attend a retreat those years ago. 

I wanted to have a retreat of my own, but I needed to experience one (I needed to experience sleep away camp!) if I were going to build the type of magical experience I hoped to build.  These last two years, I’ve made great strides in my sense of self-worth and I’d like to say that today I could take that leap…spend that money and time on myself…because I wanted to rather than waiting for a practical excuse to give me permission to go.

I want you to have that type of experience too.  To give yourself the time and space to get in the flow  without a care in the world. 

Whether you went to sleep away camp as a kid or have attended dozens of retreats as an adult or whether you’ve never been to either.    I’ve got you.   We are going to have the most magnificent time.  

In Kinship,
Tina

You can see our retreats here.