Retreats are one of the tools I use for finding out what’s important to me in order to stay on a simpler life path. If all I hear are media messages, what family and friends say I should do or should be, or what I think other’s expectations of me are then I lose what is authentic and important in my life.

You can’t create a simpler life by using everyone else’s expectations of your life. It won’t feel right. But, if you find out what’s important to you and do more of that and less other stuff imagine how much more fulfilling your life could be. Retreating allows you to to do this.

The one who taught me to retreat through her books is Jennifer Louden. She has written a post on using retreats to hear your authentic self especially when you have been so busy you don’t know how to ‘be yourself’.