{The Haven Writing Group}
I have a theory on groups. My belief is that we spend our whole life in groups. Our family is our very first group but groups can be based on almost anything…nationality, race, religion, an environmental issue, the love of a college football team, a branch of the military or sexual orientation. Groups share our values, makes us feel part of something and we know our place in life when we find the “right” group. The worst feeling in the world is when we can’t find our place in the group or worst yet feel like we are not part of a group. We feel small and untethered.
Last week I found a new group of kindred spirits. I was in Whitefish, Montana to participate in the Haven Writing Retreat to become a better writer and found a sisterhood of women who all have a passion for telling a story through the written word. These folks were real book people. No one gave me the cocker spaniel head cock when I said I keep a list of all the books I’ve read by date. We compared favorite authors and exchanged must-reads. But it was more than that; this intergenerational group of storytellers came together to support one another in their passion to do a better job at writing. Yes there were tons of discussions on how to make a living writing, whether social media is the bane of a writer’s existence or electronic books vs. paper books but the retreat centered on “telling our story”.
Laura Munson is the heart and soul of the retreat. She creates a safe place for people of all skill sets to explore their abilities. For Laura, the joy of writing, is writing. But in the end it was the group, coming together to share, cry, laugh and work together on their passion that made the retreat special. If writing is your “thing”, I can’t encourage you enough to consider joining one of Laura’s retreats but if writing is not your thing but cooking, Yoga, comic books, vintage cars or something else is, find a group. Venture out and find a group who shares your passion. You will learn more and possibly make life long friends.
Hugs
C