Good morning! I have just returned from traveling to Chicago to attend my friends’ son’s wedding. It was lovely, and also quite poignant for me, as Chicago is where my hair pulling first reared its ugly head – and consumed some 2 decades of my life afterwards…
The really awesome thing is, I went back with a full head of hair, and clear skin, and rejoiced in being able to do so.
Anyway, wanted to catch up the blog, and thought a good topic would be the Annual Retreat as it is fast approaching. This year’s retreat is August 9th -12th, 2009 and will be held in the Santa Cruz Mountains of Californie. Just a hop and a skip from TLC’s offices, which really makes it very convenient for me! Next year, we will be moving to a site on the East coast, so if you are a westerner, and want to participate, now is a good opportunity before it moves 3000 miles.
I just took a few minutes and looked at some pre-retreat comments (what are you hoping to get out of the retreat) and post-retreat comments (what have you gotten out of the retreat). They are very indicative of what happens at a TLC retreat, so I’ll share a few of both with you!
Comments from last year.
What do you hope to gain from attending this retreat?
“”Less shame and more respect for myself.”
“I want to regain my hair as a part of me that I can connect with in a positive way.”
“To be inspired – to quit pulling, or more realistically, to improve pulling.”
“How a family member can help, not hurt.”
“Have some inner peace.”
And here are some comments given AFTER the retreat:
“I came exhausted and am leaving feeling renewed, reminded of what I need to work on in my life.”
“Restored faith in myself and others.”
“I came looking for peace for my daughter and now come away having found some peace for us both!”
“Given me new hope.”
“This retreat has shown me who my true friends are in my life, and life is worth living after all.”
“I now have a better picture of which strategies work for me and how they inter-relate in order to move forward on the road to recovery. I feel better.”
For those of us who have struggled long and hard, and those of us just beginning the arduous journey, it is events like a TLC retreat that can transform one’s direction, focus and level of acceptance in a way that can be life-changing.
It certainly has been exactly that for me, after attending 17 of them. This year will be my 18th, and I will say that they have become touch-stones in my life, markers at which I pause and review the past year.
I do hope many of you will join us this year! For more information simply follow this link http://trich.org/involved/cal-retreats.html and if you have additional questions simply post them here and I will do my best to answer them!
Much love to all, Christina
