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My Poem vs The World (The place of personal creativity in the midst of chaos)
And yet, here we are. It is not too much, I think, to say that the world is beset—or at least to say that the version of the world I love is beset, a world that includes polar bears and alpine meadows and the freedom for people to live and love as they see fit. And it is beset despite all the art of all forms that has been made in the eons over which people have been making art. And, so, really, I have to ask whether this whole thing is true. Does the world really need all this art stuff? I mean, as an example, what about this poem I just mentioned. Does the world need this poem?
The Reasons I Retreat (What could happen if you gave yourself the gift of a temporarily uncluttered mind?)
Who could benefit from a retreat?
The funny thing is that, the more I’ve thought about this, the more it feels like maybe the answer is pretty much anyone. Because, seriously, the temporary and intentional mental decluttering of a retreat could give you the space to do anything from thinking through an upcoming career or life transition to starting a new series of paintings to learning a new creative skill.
![That Creative Retreat Sounds Really Cool (But I’m not a Real [Artist] [Writer] [Photographer] [Musician]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/67cda6ad461c922cd2fb8e6d/1753311270339-YV5MWCH34H78MOEL3PP3/Image+-+no+preview+-+square+%282%29.jpg)
That Creative Retreat Sounds Really Cool (But I’m not a Real [Artist] [Writer] [Photographer] [Musician]
What if the thing that makes us 'real' in any particular way is not some threshold of success but is rather that we are working on becoming that thing? In other words, what if the very act of practicing to be something is what makes us become it?
Collaboration: The Magic of Difference
We become better–more creative, more kind, more human–when we work, spend time, and have meaningful conversations with others who aren’t like us.
As we launch, we thought we would take a moment to talk about how the process of creating Grove Creative Collective has embodied these ideas. How has the collaborative creation process played out for the three of us given all of our differences? Also, how does this kind of collaboration show up in other areas of our lives? Where have we found magic in difference?
Welcome to Our Grove!
“Maybe we should talk about a retreat.”
This offhand comment at a social event was the beginning. We were drinking wine, laughing, and painting little wooden hearts. Maybe it was the wine or the hearts or the laughter (because, if nothing else, we are really good at laughing). Whatever it was, the idea stuck and, a couple of weeks later, we found ourselves (now drinking tea) asking a little bit more seriously: What if?