Retreat

I started looking up "women's retreats" online tonight.  Somewhere to go, to meditate, to journal, to feel a sense of grounding.

I was looking for a place...to hold the Earth.

I found plenty.  Beautiful places, offering wonderful guided meditations, some even spa treatments.  They promise hikes, and places of peace.

They also come with a pretty hefty price tag.  The most inexpensive one I could find was four hundred and ninety five dollars.  Too many of them were hosted by this pastor, or that pastor, and some even suggested one "pack their bible".  Ummmmm. No.  I don't think anyone by any pastor's name wants to see my bible...

Here's the thing.  I don't need to leave to find quiet.  I can find quiet right in my home.  I don't need to flee to a retreat for a massage.  I can have that within a ten minute drive.  Heck, if I wanted, I could toss in a pedicure.  (and in a small town, I can get both for roughly $100.00).  I can meditate in space that is my own, and maybe, if I cross the line of bravery, I could journal it.  (Today's secret - I have a journal by my bedside.  It's blank.  I can't bring myself to write down those intimate thoughts where someone might actually read them.  They are safer in my head.)

I have what I need right here. I have, here within my reach, exactly what I need to hold the Earth.

Grateful.

And so I will.

...and when I win the lottery... I will retreat here.