Lesbos was the home of Sappho, considered to be one of the greatest lyric poets of Ancient Greece – so what more suitable place to head to for a writers’ retreat? That was our thinking anyway, as we boarded a plane and jetted off for a week of creativity with beautiful sea views.
This was to be my first writing retreat, so I was curious to discover what it would be like … and, more importantly, who my fellow writers would be.
At our introductory meeting, I was surprised that most people were writing memoir, not fiction, and the stories they were telling often involved terrible personal tragedies. So I felt rather shallow when it was my turn to be introduced and I announced to the group that I was writing a cosy murder mystery.
But the oracle card I chose during our writing session told me that everything seems to work out when you allow the sea of opportunities to wash over you. So I hopped down to the beach and inched my way very slowly into the (freezing cold) Sea of Opportunities.
And of course, I couldn’t go on a trip abroad without investigating the local cuisine. The first thing I noticed was that most of the restaurants had a row of octopus dangling on a string outside. Sometimes it was a whole octopus and other times it was just a row of severed tentacles. I wondered if they were intended as protection from the evil eye – or even perhaps some sort of traditional fly screen. But it turned out, much more prosaically, that they are hung up in the sun to tenderise them. Although it obviously doesn’t occur to the restaurateurs that some people, like my vegetarian friend Bev, don’t want to spend their evening gazing at dead flesh swaying gently in the breeze.
As you would expect, the fish was amazing – caught locally that morning – and expertly filleted by the waiter. And every restaurant offered several varieties of Greek salad, which were healthy and enormous. I even went foraging for apricots and found one that was shaped like a bottom. Sadly, there’s no longer a TV programme that features humorously-shaped vegetables and fruit, so I had to content myself with a photo and a quiet snigger before I ate it.
So what did I learn on my writing retreat? I learned that I know more than I think I do, and that mental blocks are just as effective as physical blocks in stopping you from achieving … and I need a good kick up the bum to make me get on and stop faffing around.
All useful lessons, that Sappho must have learned in her lifetime, and they’re now being passed down to me. And I’m certain that Sappho must have also plunged into this same Sea of Opportunities, as it was right on her doorstep, so I’m hoping to benefit from it just as much as she did.
