I’m writing to let you know that I’ll be in Flagstaff in mid-August to attend the Run, Write, Repeat retreat at Dream Run Camp. It’s a 3-day intensive workshop focused on all of our favorite things. I hope you’ll consider joining me, and please do not let fear that you’re not “enough of a runner” or “enough of a writer” get in your way.
People write to me from around the world with stories to tell. They reach out with the correct assumption that I care.
They write hoping I’ll support a stranger’s impulse to fabricate their feelings into vessels sturdy enough to sail across a sea of others’ attention and time.
And I do.
But I also warn them, if they’re willing to listen, that answering the impulse to write must offer fulfillment on its own.
An audience is nice. And compensation is great. But, in my experience, many writers get so wrapped up in possible outcomes that they lose focus on the kernel of craft that they’re driven to put into the world.
Write because you witnessed something that you never want to forget.
Write because a series of sensations threaded together into a moment you want to capture for the world.
Write toward the thing that takes your breath away.
And write to make sense of, sort out, and hang onto kernels of life without a care or concern for where they will end up.
Sure, you can share ideas generously, but please do so without seeking approval for your speech.
In short, write what you feel must exist. Start there, and fulfillment will follow. I hope. It has for me.
In August, I’ll be attending the Run, Write, Repeat camp to learn from authors Matt Fitzgerald and Emily Pifer.
Flat out, these people know how to write. I’m thrilled to share moments of reflection and miles down the road with them to continue to hone my ability to grab onto the shards of experience that fly by me each day.
So please, write. Find the words to help make sense of the world. Don’t self-edit before you’ve even had the chance to speak.
Also, consider joining me in Flagstaff in August; it will be excellent.
The agenda for the retreat is below,
What a wonderful introduction to your work and this retreat sounds like a DREAM. In fact, maybe it is the seed of a dream that may one day find it's place down under. I'll hold on to it. In the meantime, thanks for carving out this exceptional space for the niche that is writing and running and the contemplative life.
Peter, wonderfully worded reminder to focus on what matters. It's funny that I came across this post today, as I touched on the topic in my latest newsletter. The external world encourages us to focus on extrinsic rewards like money and status. Where the real success lies though is in the intrinsic joy and fulfilment we feel from doing the thing. Writing is no different. If your joy depends on external rewards, it will always be out of your control. When success is determined by the joy you feel from an experience — no additional layer of success is required. It is already abundant.