On an average day I speak to and listen to over a hundred individuals. I’m a teacher who has 90 students. During the workday, I’m never alone. There is always noise–I need my classes to be that way since I teach Spanish. Communication is the goal! It is true when I am home the noise is not as varied, only my husband, kittens, and the TV.

Also, another tidbit about myself. I’ve never lived alone. I went straight from my parents’ house, to a dorm with a roommate, to my parents’, and then with my husband. That is many years of never truly being alone for any length of time.

Part of the reason I wanted to go on my three-day writer’s retreat by myself was to see once again if I could be alone and quiet. I’ve done it twice before on research trips. And somehow, I managed. Yet, I find I prefer to have people to talk with and listen to daily.

As an author, the act of writing is a solitary job. These three days without cooking, washing, and teaching gave me the time I needed to organize my papers, my ideas, and actually put some words on paper. I appreciated the quiet, the nature trails, the lake, the rain, the deer, and long hours to do some things that I love–writing and reading.

I’m home now where I should be, happy and rested with a plan for my writing, ever thankful for the hours to focus, regenerate my excitement, and set a few goals.

I asked a friend last night if she could go away for three days alone. She said she couldn’t. Could you? Where would you go and what would you do?