Post Retreat Report
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Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful weekend — I certainly did!
Ironically, we never had a fire.
Fellow Lichtenbergian Craig and I headed up to a small cabin in Cherry Log/Ellijay, GA, for the annual Lichtenbergian Retreat, the purpose of which is to provide us with the opportunity to work on work we’ve been avoiding or perhaps want to start.
The weather was perfect, the mountains were gorgeous, the hot tub was relaxing, and the work got done.
As you will recall, I was taking the lizard painting project and Lichtenbergianism for Kids to work on, and I got some work done on both. I also got some serious journaling/meditation done, more about which in a moment.
I had planned to work on illustrations for Lichtenbergianism for Kids, but mostly I just did another pass with the text, making minor changes and edits. I think it’s okay, but something keeps nagging me to break it all up and turn it into something funky. More work is required.
The lizard was much more successful. I know it’s all too hippie-woo, but sometimes you gotta listen to the art to see what it wants — after all, that’s GESTALT and RITUAL: NUMEN, isn’t it?
So I started out with four lines around the eyes, blue and red:
Seen here pre-red lines.
That soon inspired the use of the four colors, vaguely representative of the four directions, both around the eyes and on the toes:
Followed by fluorescent dots everywhere…
You should see it in the dark.
And that’s where I left it. More work is required.
Some serious talk. One of my goals for this Retreat was to do a lot of work on a feeling I’ve had that perhaps my lack of productivity is not solely related to Covid Adjacent Malaise, that I may in fact be done. Is it that I just don’t have anything left in me, or am I just being lazy?
In my downtime and in the evenings, I did a lot of writing and meditating on that question, and I have to say that the good news is that I’m still the master of my creative fate; I think I still have music in me, perhaps another book or two, I’m still that guy.
The bad news, naturally, is that I’m lazy and that’s why you don’t have Ten Little Waltzes on your music stand this very moment.
More work is required.
As usual, I must acknowledge my privilege in being able to ditch all my responsibilities and flee to a mountain cabin for a long weekend. Not everyone can do that. If you’re thinking you could swing it, I highly recommend the practice. For affordability, check out state parks with cabins/lodges, and although I have not tried this company myself yet, Getaway looks as if it might be perfect for an individual Retreat. (They don’t operate in every market, alas.)
