Have you ever experienced a win before you stepped on the field?

That’s how I was feeling before I boarded the plane to Spain last May.

I was in Spain when I sent this note out, hosting our first Open Your Art Retreat with Marleen Vermeulen.

I learned so much preparing for the adventure and I developed what I know will be life long friendships. To practice the art portion of our retreat, I asked my Dad, my cousins and a family friend to be my guinea pigs for a few months. After Marleen and I would create an art exercise or come up with an idea, I would test it out with all of them. We worked together almost weekly and it was invaluable. Not only did I learn so much but I got to spend precious time with them. I just loved sitting back and watching them create, play, help each other and it was wonderful to see them relax and unwind for a few hours with me.

Both Marleen and I also witnessed changes in some of the participants as they too prepared to take themselves away from their daily lives and give themselves the gift of two weeks of creative exploration. It almost seemed like the intention of the retreat started to begin to work its magic the day they signed up.  They were experiencing the same phenomenon that Marleen and I were feeling, we set something in motion, something positive, something wondrous and something life-changing.

We were just so thrilled to be offering this experience and honoured that all these wonderful people decided to join us during our first year.

That whole adventure is yet another reminder that the win comes from just playing the game, the win is in the process.

Namaste

Marlene