RETREAT

2. : a place of privacy or safety : refuge
3. : a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director

It is a difficult
  lesson to learn today,
to leave one's friends
  and family and deliberately
practise the art of solitude
  for an hour or a day
    or a week.
For me, the break is most difficult...


And yet, once it is done,
  I find there is a quality
to being alone that is
  incredibly precious.


Life rushes back into the void,
  richer,
    more vivid,
      fuller than before!
-Anne Morrow Lindbergh

My retreat this weekend was lovely.  If you've never been on a directed silent retreat, I can't recommend it highly enough.  It is more than self-care.  It is soul-care.  And our souls desperately need care.

Upon return, a note from K was waiting on my pillow.  It read:

Dear Mom,

We miss you so much! We LOVE YOU! We have something that we want to say to you, and this is the thing we want to say to you.  You are the best mom in the whole world!

They were words I needed to hear and the fact that they came on the heels of time away assured me that I don't have to take care of myself at the expense of my children.  I can take care of me to take care of them and leave us all healthier, happier and more whole.