I make time for this because I experienced firsthand what a retreat at a monastery can do for a person’s soul, and therefore for their creative life. I received something there that I did not want to keep to myself. But I also came to understand how difficult it is for someone to step into that kind of experience alone.

For years, I would go on retreat by myself and return refreshed. Life felt more integrated. The desire to create felt good and possible again. My work returned to me not as obligation, but as mission. When I tried to describe this to my artist friends, many would say, “I’d love to do that.” I would give them the monastery contact, but not a single one of them ever went on their own.

After this happened again and again, I realized there was a threshold people wanted to cross but could not quite manage alone. I began to wonder how I could help them cross it. It occurred to me that the structure artists already trust is the residency model. If retreat could be offered as an artist residency, perhaps we could cross that threshold together. I wrote to the monks at Mount Saviour and asked if I could bring a small group of artists for a one-week trial. With the support of a few brothers, they said yes.

It was clear from the beginning that it works. The artists inspire one another, while the monastery does much of the heavy lifting. Time slows. Meals are prepared. Prayer bells mark the hours. During the day, artists follow their work. In the evenings, we gather to share. What emerges is real community and truer work, and with it a more integrated and beautiful way of living and making that many of us continue to return to long after our time there.