Day Six: Rehab Retreat

Upon entering my new rehab room, after such an upsetting walk through the halls, I announced with confidence, “This is going to be my retreat space!” I look out onto an enclosed garden courtyard – not exactly ‘the’ secret garden, but green and mostly private.

The windows needed Windex, but that didn’t phase me as much as the locks. Three inches –that was it. That was as far as they would open. Everyone knows that I need fresh air at all costs. I guess some terrified people might try to climb out, but I began climbing out of my mind. We laughed a lot when Uli arrived with a set of Ikea wrenches and cleverly managed to free up air passage for the rest of my stay.

My creative daughter Rachel arranged flowers and set up an array of family pictures directly in my line of sight.

Tea of every flavor lined up, I settled into my private retreat program for healing. Dear friends started coming in during the visiting hours that I had set. While I rest in my bed or chair, a lot of beautiful souls come through the door and sit in my wheelchair, but my Rachel sure is the loveliest!

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What secret garden of your soul waits to come alive in the most complex hours of your life?

How do you create retreat space, to be alone in the daily pressures of your life?

How might nature’s beauty be calling you?

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