Time to retreat...

In this busy life it makes sense to step back every once in awhile and spend some time alone. I guess this would be called a ‘retreat’. It can be an act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy. A retreat can also be a place of seclusion, privacy, or a refuge. Retreating or going to a retreat can have strong restorative powers. It can help one gain perspective, especially if troubles are being troublesome. It can also help one gather strength needed for going back out into the world again. It will also help one give more time and energy to others once they have been able to recharge their own self.

I am fortunate be have the opportunity this coming weekend to retreat to a place where there will be much silence and solitude; a place surrounded by nature. It will afford some much-needed time to step off this crazy merry-go-round of life. While I will be sharing the space with others, there will be plenty of time for each of us to pursue some time alone. We shall share meals and walks together, but there will be stretches of time where each of us can spend some time alone, recharging our selves so we are better able to handle life once we return back to the real world. It is in this spirit that I offer you the words to a beautiful song by Mary Chapin Carpenter called “I Have a Need For Solitude”.

I have a need for solitude
I’ll never be safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound of silence coming on
I’ll come around when everyone has gone.

I have a need for cool, verdant places
Beneath the trees in secret empty places
Nobody knows so no one will intrude
I have a need for solitude.

But you can find me when the light is changing
At that time of day, when there’s little day remaining
And you can find me, where I’ve been waiting,
Waiting here, for you.

I never was the pretty girl in school,
I never was fast, tough, and cool
All I ever was, for all my life it seems
So hard to love, and harder now to keep.

But you can find me
When the light is changing
At that time of day , when there’s little day remaining
And you can find me, where I’ve been waiting
Waiting here, for you.

I have a need for solitude
I’ll never be safe in crowded rooms
I like the sound of silence coming on
I’ll come around when all the rest have gone

~Mary Chapin Carpenter
“I Have a Need for Solitude”
Age of Miracles


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13l3w50a65o