Getting Away

I just got back from the EASL (Ethics and Servant Leadership) retreat, and I feel so refreshed! I have gone on a number of weekend retreats, but this one definitely was one of the best. This weekend we went to the Nannahala River in North Carolina. Although I knew a couple of people going on the trip, I was still a little nervous at the beginning about meeting new people and spending an entire weekend with strangers. How foolish I was for being nervous! Not only did I meet incredible people, but I was in the North Carolina mountains away from everything! It is really interesting how easy it is for people to come together when they are taken away from the chaos of everyday life and put in a natural setting. On the EASL retreat, it literally took a day and a half for all 13 of us students to feel comfortable enough around each other to crack jokes and poke fun at one another. We all commented at the end about how awesome it is that thirteen random students could become so close after only a couple of days. I think it has a lot to do with getting away. In going to the mountains like we did, we were able to forget about the worry and stress of our lives and focus on not only each other, but also on the beauty surrounding us. Personally, I felt more relaxed than I have in a long time. I realized as the weekend progressed that in getting away from campus and from my friends, I was able to simply be me. A large part of that, I concluded, has to do with the fact that at school I am constantly busy- always thinking that I should be doing something at all times even when I have nothing to do. It is quite ridiculous, actually. At Oxford, I was extremely involved on campus and had meetings all the time. Even though I am not as involved, at least yet, at main campus, that feeling of inadequacy- of worry that I am forgetting something or am screwing up- has followed me. I hate the fact that I can’t relax at school. I find myself partying in order to get stress out, even though I know that partying is definitely NOT the way to relieve stress. But mentally I just can’t go without constantly thinking I should be doing something when I am at school. I guess that is why I really love retreats. When I was on the EASL retreat, I let everything go. On the first night we had some down time and I went with a couple of the guys to the edge of the river. Although we all had just met that night, as we sat by the river in silence we all looked at each other and smiled- each absorbing the peaceful sound of the running water and letting loose the built up stress. It is moments like these that I realize how much we are missing out by being constantly on the move. We have separated ourselves from nature, and in doing so are missing out on so much.