Re-Emergence: A Writing Retreat for the Moment

the world has changed, and so have we

As we seek to re-emerge from the collective trauma of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have the opportunity to engage with our creative energy in mindful, intentional ways. We have the opportunity to release some of the fear, grief, sorrow, and anxiety of the past year. We have the opportunity to use the power of our imagination and all of our senses to lean into creative energy, even knowing that to create is inherently vulnerable. We hold our stories in our bodies, and our bodies know, if we listen, how to manifest those stories as art. We will make ample use of the beautiful grounds of the retreat center in our writing work over the course of the three days, harmonizing our energy as we connect fully with ourselves, nature, and each other. As natural storymakers (whether we are writers or not, we are storymakers!), language is our tool, and one of our aims will be to tune into the music of language as a means of consciously and positively re-entering our lives as whole-hearted creators with new, deeper ways of seeing and sensing the world and manifesting ourselves as the creators (and personal life architects!) that we want to be in this next normal. This intimate retreat is limited to just 15 participants and is about half full. We are very happy to answer questions to help you decide if this is the right retreat at the right time for you. Just send us an email.

where is the retreat?

The Re-Emergence Retreat will be held at Hackmatack Retreat Center in Richmond Illinois (bordering Wisconsin). Hackmatack Retreat sits on almost 30 acres of protected land in the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge in the heart of the Midwest. The land is native prairie with a winding slow river, two ponds, 200+ year old oaks, and big sky.  With countless places to curl up and write, gathering spaces for our group work, and writing nooks and crannies indoors and out, Hackmatack seeks to offer “time out for time in” amidst this noisy world. Only five minutes from two small towns with all the amenities needed, and within an hour or so of major airports of O’hare, Midway, Milwaukee, or Rockford, Hackmatack is all about ease.  We’re also 15+ minutes from the world class historic resort town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

who is the retreat for?

This retreat is for anyone eager to explore writing as a means to re-enter post-pandemic life in a more conscious, more authentic, and more creative way. Elephant Rock writing retreats are highly unique. People tell us year after year that no matter how many writing workshops or retreats they’ve attended, Elephant Rock is different. We build creatively intense spaces that are also deeply nurturing. This helps to open and challenge every writer at every level to go further into the work, see new angles, discover sharper facets. Our intentional workshops lead you toward unfolding and connecting, discovering and uncovering. We use precise writing exercises to guide us to the page in ways we never imagined. Language comes alive again, grows more elastic and expands with possibility. We welcome writers of all levels and all genres. And we take your work as seriously as we take our own. Many find this work life-changing.

who are the faculty?

Writing will be taught by  Jeannine Ouellette, author of the memoir, The Part That Burns, and creative director of Elephant Rock Writing, a creative writing program she founded in 2012. Jeannine is the recipient of numerous awards for her essays, fiction, and journalism. She is also a skilled teacher and facilitator, with more than 20 years experience leading diverse groups across a broad range of ages and in a wide variety of settings, from elementary classrooms to college lecture halls to Sri Lankan retreat centers to remote islands to private living rooms and backyards. She currently writes and teaches at the University of Minnesota, The Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, and through Elephant Rock. You can learn more about Jeannine here, and hear from others about Elephant Rock retreats here.

Meditations will be led by Tyler Lewke and Grant Goehler, LCSW. Partners in life and work, Tyler and Grant own and operate Good,Works Collective, a community of clinically licensed and experience-based healers working together to enhance the emotional, psychological, and spiritual well-being of individuals, families, organizations, and communities. Good, Works collective provides affirmative, trauma-informed services to individuals, relationships, families, groups, teams and companies. They believe that to be truly happy requires living with an open heart and a beginner’s mind. Their focal areas include meditation, mindfulness practices, systems theory, EMDR, DBT, CBT, trauma informed psychotherapy, resilience mind/body therapies, cognitive-behavioral and expressive, developmental, psychodynamic therapies, yoga, body movement, compassionate accountability and performance based coaching.