SQUAM 2011— Just the Therapy I needed

My new Squam Friends!

I mentioned in my previous post before I left for SQUAM that I was in a bit of a funk. Whenever I got into a funk growing up, my Mom would say, "Life is tough. Life isn't fair." It always just made me more mad when she'd say that, but she's right. Life IS complicated! And just when I think things are going great, WHAM! Somebody throws me a curve ball and I've got to figure out how to deal with it. That's just life I guess. If we didn't have problems to deal with and challenges to overcome, then we wouldn't really appreciate the good times when they come around. 

My latest curve ball was thrown just days before I left for SQUAM. I actually called Elizabeth (the Director of SQUAM) to see if I could cancel my trip. I just didn't think I could go and enjoy myself. But it was too late to cancel, so I packed my little bags (actually it was one oversized bag that cost me $50 to check on Jet Blue) and left for the Great North. 

Suffice to say that SQUAM was just the therapy I needed. From the moment I arrived, I felt like I could breath and relax (Ok, I lied. It wasn't until I dragged my honkin' suitcase up the narrow rickety stairs and down the hall to my room and sat down on the bed that I could actually take a deep breath and finally— relax. And think. And just be me. Not a wife, or a mom, or a volunteer, just me. The creative me. That part of me I think I love the most. For three whole days that's who I could be and man, it felt good.  

It was a gathering of over 150 extremely talented women. No one knew me, but everyone genuinely wanted to get to know me. And I wanted to get to know them. We were all so different, yet we had the same creative passion. We talked. We laughed. We ate. Boy did we eat! And we created. Together.  

We displayed the art we created each day on the mantel in our cabin.

The Squam Art Fair

The view from our Dock

I'm keeping in touch with the uber-talented women I met at SQUAM and I can't wait to go back there again. What an incredible experience! Thank you ladies for getting to know the creative me. I kinda like her.