I was at a small writing retreat in Mississippi over the weekend. If you're a writer-type or always dreamed of being a writer-type, I highly recommend trying one. For me, the concentrated time where I'm not expected to be any of the other parts of myself (mama, educator, wife, helper, friend...) is amazing, either for shaping ideas or getting a ton of words written on an idea I already have mapped out in my head. It feels magical to me, which was confirmed when a fellow writer and I were coming back from a walk on the beach and saw a rainbow sitting over the retreat house. See? Magic. ;-)