A Solo Writing Retreat for Election Season and Beyond
Election Day is nine days away, and many people are not okay.
For the past several months, I have been more mindful of how I want to inhabit my relationships, conversations, and online spaces regarding the election, the political season, and whatever happens in the days, weeks, and months after November 5, 2024.
I’ve also thought about the type of person I want to be in the world. Here’s what I came up with: I want to be a loving presence to everyone I encounter. This very real desire is—at least to me—evidence of God’s existence and grace. I know I will fail often, but I truly desire to be a loving presence to others, regardless of their political views and affiliations. I may not want to go to lunch with people who will vote in ways I disagree with, but I do want to be a loving presence to them as I encounter them throughout my typical daily life.
Notice I didn’t say I want to love everyone I encounter. I’m not there yet. Being a loving presence feels more doable than loving others. Words matter when it comes to the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.
Whether or not you’ve given much thought to how you want to engage with other people for the next several days and beyond, uncertainty is high, and the chances we will know the outcome on election night are tiny. That means the uncertainty probably won’t go away anytime soon. So, what do we do?
One way forward is to give our bodies, minds, and souls adequate nourishment.
We weren’t meant for depletion. I am not a huge fan of saying we need to take care of ourselves so we can take care of others because what’s more accurate is that we should take care of ourselves because our bodies, minds, and souls have wants and needs and are worthy of care. I am not a fan of saying we need to take care of ourselves so we can do the work we are called to do because what’s more accurate is that we should take care of ourselves because our bodies, minds, and souls have wants and needs and are worthy of care.
Of course, our work and caregiving will unfold more easily if our bodies, minds, and souls are well nourished. Still, I don’t prefer to let the work or caregiving I do be the ultimate motivation for taking care of myself.
Also, we are often called to do work and provide care during less-than-ideal times, when our circumstances aren’t great, when we are a bit or a lot depleted, and many of us will do the work and provide the care anyway because that’s what we do. Even if we aren’t nourished at that moment.
I could write more about my philosophy of body, soul, and mind nourishment, but I’ll stop there for now.
Another way forward in these days leading up to the election is to write. We must be writing our way through this season in some capacity—even if it’s only taking notes for 5-10 minutes each day. Writers write. Writers discover what they know through writing. Writers process feelings through writing.
It’s okay if you don’t consider yourself a writer. Call yourself a journaler or a note-taker or whatever. Writing your way through this season will benefit your whole self and help you wrap words around your ideas, hopes, fears, and desires.
I’m providing four hours of prompts and practices for this solo writing retreat guide. You are welcome to plan a half-day retreat before or after the election and use everything below as your starting point, tweaking it as you go. You can plan a full-day retreat and do two rounds of what I’ve laid out. My goal is to set aside an hour most days between now and WHO KNOWS WHEN to write and nourish myself through this season. If you don’t have an hour each day, use any item from below for 10-15 minutes, as you have pockets of time available.
I encourage you to use this resource in ways that serve you. My suggestions will help you get closer to the retreat practice you need, but your priority should be having the retreats that are best for you.
I hear you if you are frustrated reading this because you believe this is no time for a retreat. Maybe you must do something, too. I love this list that Lyndsey Medford shared on Threads. A good, full life includes action and contemplation. So, if you need or want to do something, make a plan to do something. Then figure out how to have a retreat, too.
Retreats are opportunities to ignore everyone and everything else to give attention to what you want and need without interruptions and distractions. Retreating is a practice that welcomes you into a pauseful (yes, I just made up that word) state of mind, body, and soul for the purpose of curiosity, discovery, and nourishment.
May we slow down, set everyone and everything else aside for an hour or four or more, and find our way through this election season and its aftermath.
Hour One
Breathe and Rest (10 minutes): Do several rounds of 4/7/8 breathing. You can find the instructions here. Then close your eyes and rest. Set a timer if you like.
Explore (10 minutes): Look through images from the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama Journal or take notes in response, if you like.
Journal (15 minutes): Start with a brain dump list of anything that comes to mind about the election and its aftermath. Then pick one or two items from the list and answer these questions: What are my hopes? What are my fears? What true story do I need to tell myself?
Move Your Body (25 minutes): Stretch, take a walk, or do a mild-to-moderate body weight workout using these instructions or another plan that works for you.
Hour Two
Rest (20 minutes): Find a cozy spot anywhere in your home. Set a timer for 20 minutes and rest or take a nap.
Lament (20 minutes): Set a timer for 20 minutes and make a list of the hard things you have experienced around this election or previous elections. Then pick one or two items from the list and answer these questions: How has this experience changed me? How has this experience negatively affected my writing and other work? How has this experience kept me from loving others (or being a loving presence to others)? How has this experience helped me know how to better love others (or be a loving presence to others)?
Explore (10 minutes): Look through art and information about the Democracy exhibit at the Athens National Gallery. Journal or take notes in response, if you like.
Nourish (10 minutes): Set a timer for 10 minutes and do something that nourishes your mind, body, and soul. Fix a cup of tea, go for a walk, take a bath or watch a favorite TV show. Are you hungry? If so, make a sandwich. If you aren’t sure what you want or need right now to care for your mind, body, and soul, try to journal your way into it. Freewrite for at least five minutes and see what happens next.
Hour Three
Release (20 minutes): Set a timer for 20 minutes and write about the things you want to let go of during this election season. Begin writing a new essay, poem, short story, or letter to a friend. Not sure where to start? Try making a list. Lists are easy.
Connect (20 minutes): Set a timer for 20 minutes to plan some connection time with others about the election and anything related to this particular season. Text a couple of trusted friends or family members to express your feelings about the election, its outcome, or the aftermath. Or try to have a phone call with someone you trust. Or make a coffee date. Look at your calendar and determine how you can have some quality time with people who know you and love you at least once each week between now and the end of the year. Do some visualization—see yourself checking in with these people over coffee, text, or phone. See yourself saying, “This election has really been affecting me…” or something like that. See yourself asking them how they are doing.
Loving Kindness Meditation (20 minutes): Take 20 minutes or so to do a Loving Kindness Meditation using this resource that a friend suggested. I found this particular resource via LETSS (https://letss.org.au/). While doing the meditation, feel free to make it election season-specific. Hold space for people you agree with and disagree with. For people you are voting for and people you are not voting for.
Hour Four
Nourish (20 minutes): Set a timer for 20 minutes and do something that nourishes your mind, body, and soul. Fix a cup of tea, go for a walk, take a bath or watch a favorite TV show. Are you hungry? If so, make a sandwich. If you aren’t sure what you want or need right now to care for your mind, body, and soul, try to journal your way into it. Freewrite for at least five minutes and see what happens next.
Write (20 minutes): Set a timer for 20 minutes and write about one specific worry or hope for each of the presidential candidates. Journal, take notes, begin writing a new poem, essay, story, or letter to a friend.
Review (20 minutes): Set a timer for 15 minutes and read through everything you’ve written and considered during this retreat. Set a timer for five minutes and make a gratitude list of what this retreat has given you.
Charlotte Donlon’s writing and work are always rooted in helping her audience and participants notice how art and other good things help them belong to themselves, others, the divine, and the world.
Charlotte's first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other, was published by Broadleaf Books in 2020. The Great Belonging explores various angles of loneliness and belonging. In vulnerable, thoughtful prose, Donlon helps us understand our own occasional or frequent loneliness and offers touchpoints for understanding alienation.
She is currently writing her second book, Spiritual Direction for Writers, which will be published by Eerdmans in 2025.