More is Not Always Better #127
I was just at an all women’s retreat as an attendee rather than a presenter, what a luxury! Or so I thought…
What I’ve noticed, is that many retreats are full to overfull with programming. It was wonderful content, every bit of it. It was just too much. It’s like choosing food from a buffet table of all your favorites. You’d like a bite of everything, however when you get to the end of the table your plate is overflowing and you’ll likely end up too full and miserable.
That’s exactly what happened. Though I enjoyed the content, I was overfull. I ended each day exhausted; which is a lot to say for an extrovert who loves to learn.
I found myself wanting time alone to marinate on what I’d learned, wishing for some time to savor what had happened, some time to connect with others and discuss nuances and deepen what we’d experienced.
Without space, all that goodness remains knowledge. No less beneficial but will require time outside of the retreat to take it in fully. Many of us won’t make that time as life catches up after three days away and we turn our heads to sprint into the next events. To move the information into learning or wisdom, you need space, dialog and time to integrate what was heard and seen. Without it, you will miss the richness of what was available. It’s like preparing that buffet table for 20 people when only three showed up. The leftovers remain, and they just aren’t as good the next day.
More is not always better. More is more.